Resources for Peer Notetakers

Congratulations on volunteering and being selected to be a Peer Notetaker for the Office of Accommodated Testing & Services (OATS)! You will be providing an invaluable service to students with documented disabilities and your work will be greatly appreciated.

Quality notes are an important part of being a Peer Notetaker, as students will rely on your notes to help fill in parts of lectures they miss due to their disability. 

In order to help you with any questions you might have about taking quality in-class notes, the OATS office has compiled this list of resources you can use to improve your skills for your benefit, as well as the students you are assisting! Please note that these are only tips and resources.

You are not required to use any of the methods or resources in your note-taking.

For more information about become a Peer Notetaker, contact notes@case.edu.

The Cornell Note-Taking Method

The Cornell method provides a systematic format for condensing and organizing notes. It most commonly uses the “two column” notes system.

The Cornell method has been proven to allow students to take notes at a faster rate, but also absorb the information from the lecture faster as well.

YouTube videos with instructions on the Cornell Method that could help you:

Note-Taking Resources

Case Western Reserve University has a list of different note-taking resources including Common Academic Terminology, Critical Reading Strategies, Note-Taking Strategies, and Reading Strategies for College Courses. Visit Student Success - Learning Resources and select "Printable Student Resources".

Case Western Reserve University also has an online PDF presentation that discusses note-taking best practices and efficient reading strategies.

The University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia has a great resource page with tips and suggestions for notetaking.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also has a resource page with tips and suggestions on how to take quality notes and improve your skills.

Howtostudy.org has a great list of note-taking resources, along with other types of reading and comprehension strategies.