Students learned how to improve their classroom skills at “Effective Note Taking: Getting the Most Out of What the Instructor Says.”
   Steve Rakoff, South Campus counselor, presented the speech, which focused on listening and note-taking systems, last week on South Campus.
   “ You probably remember only 10 percent of what you hear,” Rakoff said.
   Elaine Kusiak, a South and NE Campus student, attended the speech because she needed help on taking notes.
   “ I need to find a better way to abbreviate so I can listen more and write less,” she said.
   Kusiak found the Cornell system, a set of note-taking guidelines, interesting.
   Rakoff said the system has three basic steps. The first step suggests separating a piece of paper into two columns: one for notes and the other to jot down key words or phrases.
   Secondly, the system recommends taking notes in paragraph form, skipping lines and using abbreviations.
   The third step suggests going back to write down key words and reciting the general ideas to assist in recalling the main points of the lecture.
   “ It has streamlined the way I’m doing it,” Kusiak said. “It makes it easier to get the information to use and learn.”
   Debbie Wright, South Campus student, said she attended the speech to learn how to take notes more effectively and be more efficient in class.
   Wright found Rakoff’s speech very informative and learned different ways to take notes in addition to the Cornell System.