The encompassing goal is to help every student develop an effective notetaking system, even if it is a modification of the school's adopted system or if it is an entirely different notetaking scheme. Once a notetaking strategy is learned, students can use it in all their classes. The Cornell Notetaking System is the most preferred notetaking system, but other systems, for example, outlining and note cards, are as impressively effective. The author's hope is for all teachers to adopt a notetaking system appropriate for the age level of their students and then teach it to their students. An even more comprehensive hope would be the adoption of a structured notetaking curriculum for all students at all grade levels that is enthusiastically supported by all teachers.
Teachers talk and students listen.
When teachers lecture or discuss subject content, they expect their students to listen, to take notes, and to learn. Of all areas of study skills, those associated with listening are, in many ways, primary. Research evidence indicates that . . . It is also one of the most effective ways of communicating certain aspects of the affective dimension of the lesson, such as important values, attitudes, and feelings. Inactive listeners are usually uninvolved and disinterested in what a teacher or speaker is saying.