Cornell Notes - A lyx or latex solution needed

Question

I teach academic writing to computing students and one of the tasks they have to carry out is to compile a set of research notes which can then be developed into an essay. I find that the Cornell format is the most useful for the students to use as it relates chunks of researched information to cues and cue questions.

The Cornell format divides each page into two columns. The cue column which contains questions and cues takes about a third of the page width on the left hand side and the notes column takes the remaining two thirds of the column on the right hand side.

The student makes notes by recording a cue or a question in the left hand column and then makes a note in the right hand column by recording a chunk of research information in the right hand column.

The picture below shows the typical layout of a page.

In the past the students have prepared these notes using pen and paper but I would like to use Lyx/LaTeX to prepare their notes as Lyx is also used for typesetting their essay, the result of the research process.

I know enough about LaTeX to know that a package like parallel would take me some of the way to implementing this but my students would have difficulty with raw LaTeX and would be better with a Lyx template.

So, I would like to know of any approach or packages that could be used to create a Lyx template that provides the Cornell Notes functionality described above.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Here's something that adapts Fran's answer to be a bit more in the spirit of standard Cornell Notes.

\documentclass[a4paper]{article} 
\usepackage{tcolorbox}
\tcbuselibrary{skins}

\title{
\vspace{-3em}
\begin{tcolorbox}[colframe=white,opacityback=0]
\begin{tcolorbox}
\Huge\sffamily Cornell Notes on Something   
\end{tcolorbox}
\end{tcolorbox}
\vspace{-3em}
}

\date{}

\usepackage{background}
\SetBgScale{1}
\SetBgAngle{0}
\SetBgColor{red}
\SetBgContents{\rule[0em]{4pt}{\textheight}}
\SetBgHshift{-2.3cm}
\SetBgVshift{0cm}

\usepackage{lipsum}% just to generate filler text for the example
\usepackage[margin=2cm]{geometry}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{tikzpagenodes}

\parindent=0pt

\usepackage{xparse}
\DeclareDocumentCommand\topic{ m m g g g g g}
{
\begin{tcolorbox}[sidebyside,sidebyside align=top,opacityframe=0,opacityback=0,opacitybacktitle=0, opacitytext=1,lefthand width=.3\textwidth]
\begin{tcolorbox}[colback=red!05,colframe=red!25,sidebyside align=top,width=\textwidth,before skip=0pt]
#1.\end{tcolorbox}%
\tcblower
\begin{tcolorbox}[colback=blue!05,colframe=blue!10,width=\textwidth,before skip=0pt]
#2
\end{tcolorbox}
\IfNoValueF {#3}{
\begin{tcolorbox}[colback=blue!05,colframe=blue!10,width=\textwidth]
#3
\end{tcolorbox}
}
\IfNoValueF {#4}{
\begin{tcolorbox}[colback=blue!05,colframe=blue!10,width=\textwidth]
#4
\end{tcolorbox}
}
\IfNoValueF {#5}{
\begin{tcolorbox}[colback=blue!05,colframe=blue!10,width=\textwidth]
#5
\end{tcolorbox}
}
\IfNoValueF {#6}{
\begin{tcolorbox}[colback=blue!05,colframe=blue!10,width=\textwidth]
#6
\end{tcolorbox}
}
\IfNoValueF {#7}{
\begin{tcolorbox}[colback=blue!05,colframe=blue!10,width=\textwidth]
#7
\end{tcolorbox}
}
\end{tcolorbox}
}

\def\summary#1{
\begin{tikzpicture}[overlay,remember picture,inner sep=0pt, outer sep=0pt]
\node[anchor=south,yshift=-1ex] at (current page text area.south) {% 
\begin{minipage}{\textwidth}%%%%
\begin{tcolorbox}[colframe=white,opacityback=0]
\begin{tcolorbox}[enhanced,colframe=black,fonttitle=\large\bfseries\sffamily,sidebyside=true, nobeforeafter,before=\vfil,after=\vfil,colupper=black,sidebyside align=top, lefthand width=.95\textwidth,opacitybacktitle=1, opacitytext=1,
segmentation style={black!55,solid,opacity=0,line width=3pt},
title=Summary
]
#1
\end{tcolorbox}
\end{tcolorbox}
\end{minipage}
};
\end{tikzpicture}
}

\begin{document} 
\maketitle

\topic{This is a question}%
{The first piece of evidence is mandatory}%
{Now add up to five\ldots}%
{\ldots additional pieces of evidence.}

\topic{Here's another question.}{\lipsum[1]}%
{\lipsum[2]}%

\summary{This is a longer box that floats to the bottom of the page.}

\topic{Here's another question to begin the new page.}{\lipsum[3]}%
{\lipsum[4]}%
{\lipsum[5]}%

\summary{And another summary that will float to the bottom of the next page.}

\end{document}

Answer 2

Here is another possibility for handwritten notes. It is essentially the classic Cornell layout containing three sections: notes, cues and summary. The code is rather overwrought, I know, and improvements would be welcome. I'm working on a LaTeX approach to entering and formatting Cornell-style notes and will post it when it does not embarrass me too much.

\documentclass{article} 
\usepackage{calc} 
\usepackage[top=0.25in,bottom=0.75in,left=0.5in,right=0.5in]{geometry} 
\usepackage{tikz} 

\newlength{\wholeboxwd}
    \setlength{\wholeboxwd}{0.99\textwidth}
\newlength{\wholeboxht}
    \setlength{\wholeboxht}{0.95\textheight}
%
\newlength{\cuewd}
    \setlength{\cuewd}{0.3\wholeboxwd}
\newlength{\summht}
    \setlength{\summht}{0.2\wholeboxht}
\newlength{\cgridht}
    \setlength{\cgridht}{\wholeboxht-\summht}
\newlength{\cgridwd}
    \setlength{\cgridwd}{\wholeboxwd-\cuewd}
\newlength{\xorig}
\newlength{\yorig}
\setlength{\xorig}{0cm}
\setlength{\yorig}{0cm}

\begin{document} 

\begin{center}
\begin{tikzpicture} 
\draw[step=.5cm,gray!80,thin] (\cuewd,\summht) grid (\wholeboxwd,\wholeboxht);
%% Optional:
%\draw[step=.25cm,gray!30,thin] (\cuewd,\summht) grid (\wholeboxwd,\wholeboxht);      
% Summary, top:
\draw [line width=.2pt] (\xorig,\summht) -- (\wholeboxwd,\summht);  
% Grid, left:
\draw [line width=.2pt] (\cuewd,\summht) -- (\cuewd,\wholeboxht);
% Draw the big box:
\draw (\xorig,\yorig) rectangle (\wholeboxwd,\wholeboxht);
\node[anchor=west] at (0.25,\wholeboxht-1em) {\textbf{Cues:}};
\node[anchor=west] at (0.25,\summht-1em){\textbf{Summary:}}; 
\node[anchor=west,fill=white] at (\cuewd+1em,\wholeboxht-1em) {\textbf{\ Notes:\ }};
\node[anchor=west] at (0.25,\wholeboxht+2em){%
    \parbox[t]{\cuewd}{Subject:\par\smallskip Date:}%
};
\end{tikzpicture} 
\end{center}

\end{document}

Here is the output:

Answer 3

A first approach for an easy to fill LaTeX template (may be even for LyX using ERT boxes).

\documentclass[a4paper]{article} 
\usepackage{tcolorbox}
\tcbuselibrary{skins}

\title{
\vspace{-3em}
\begin{tcolorbox}
\Huge\sffamily Cornell Notes on Something   
\end{tcolorbox}
\vspace{-3em}
}

\date{}

\usepackage{background}
\SetBgScale{1}
\SetBgAngle{0}
\SetBgColor{red}
\SetBgContents{\rule[0em]{4pt}{\textheight}}
\SetBgHshift{-2.3cm}
\SetBgVshift{0cm}
\usepackage{lipsum}% just to generate filler text for the example
\usepackage[margin=2cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{lipsum}% just to generate dummy text for the example


%\url{http://tex.stackexchange.com/a/314/86}

\makeatletter
\def\cornell{\@ifnextchar[{\@with}{\@without}}
\def\@with[#1]#2#3{
\begin{tcolorbox}[enhanced,colback=gray,colframe=black,fonttitle=\large\bfseries\sffamily,sidebyside=true, nobeforeafter,before=\vfil,after=\vfil,colupper=blue,sidebyside align=top, lefthand width=.3\textwidth,
opacityframe=0,opacityback=.3,opacitybacktitle=1, opacitytext=1,
segmentation style={black!55,solid,opacity=0,line width=3pt},
title=#1
]
\begin{tcolorbox}[colback=red!05,colframe=red!25,sidebyside align=top,
width=\textwidth,nobeforeafter]#2\end{tcolorbox}%
\tcblower
\sffamily
\begin{tcolorbox}[colback=blue!05,colframe=blue!10,width=\textwidth,nobeforeafter]
#3
\end{tcolorbox}
\end{tcolorbox}
}
\def\@without#1#2{
\begin{tcolorbox}[enhanced,colback=white!15,colframe=white,fonttitle=\bfseries,sidebyside=true, nobeforeafter,before=\vfil,after=\vfil,colupper=blue,sidebyside align=top, lefthand width=.3\textwidth,
opacityframe=0,opacityback=0,opacitybacktitle=0, opacitytext=1,
segmentation style={black!55,solid,opacity=0,line width=3pt}
]

\begin{tcolorbox}[colback=red!05,colframe=red!25,sidebyside align=top,
width=\textwidth,nobeforeafter]#1\end{tcolorbox}%
\tcblower
\sffamily
\begin{tcolorbox}[colback=blue!05,colframe=blue!10,width=\textwidth,nobeforeafter]
#2
\end{tcolorbox}
\end{tcolorbox}
}
\makeatother

\parindent=0pt

%\newcommand{\cornell}[2]{%
%}

%\AddEverypageHook{
%\hspace{.3\textwidth}\vrule width 3pt depth .4\textheight 
%\vspace{-\textheight}}

\providecommand{\LyX}{L\kern-.1667em\lower.25em\hbox{Y}\kern-.125emX\@}

\begin{document} 
\maketitle
\SetBgContents{\rule[0em]{4pt}{\textheight}}

\cornell{Research question}{\lipsum*[2]}
\cornell{Another research question}{\lipsum*[5]}
\cornell[A fancy very important question]{Thi is easy to write?}{Even without \LyX{}, is not too hard fill this template, but you must compile twice.}
\cornell{Another research question very long for one line.}{\lipsum*[1]}
\cornell{Do you want fill much more than a page}{No problem. \lipsum*[3]}
\cornell{More?}{No problem. \lipsum*[3-4]}

\cornell[Last question]{This is the end?}{Yes.}
\end{document}

Answer 4

This is a different approach based on the paracol package that leads to a (much) simpler code and allows for some improvements and features.

Insert the question in the left column using \question {<question text>}.

\question ends with \switchcolumn, so the following notes will go automatically to the right column. Insert as many notes as you like in the right column using \note{<note text>}.

Now the red line will break on page breaks, on \section and between questions, to group together the corresponding notes.

A \summary could be inserted after the question or a group of questions, and optionally will start a new page.

See also Modifying the Cornell Note Template

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[margin=2cm]{geometry}   

\usepackage{paracol} % added <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
\usepackage{tcolorbox}

\usepackage{lipsum}% generate filler text 

\newcommand{\question}[1]{% Ask the question
    \begin{tcolorbox}[colback=red!05,colframe=red!25,sidebyside align=top,width=\linewidth,before skip=1ex]
        #1
    \end{tcolorbox}%    
    \switchcolumn % now write in the right column   
}

\newcommand{\note}[1]{% Add as many notes as you like
    \begin{tcolorbox}[colback=blue!05,colframe=blue!10,width=\linewidth,before skip=1ex]
        #1
    \end{tcolorbox}         
}   

\newcommand{\summary}[2][]{%
\begin{minipage}[b]{\textwidth}
    \vspace*{\baselineskip}
    \begin{tcolorbox}[colframe=green!50!blue!80,fonttitle=\large\bfseries\sffamily,
        after skip = \baselineskip,
        title=Summary]
        #2
    \end{tcolorbox}
\end{minipage}
#1}


\setcolumnwidth{0.40\textwidth/20pt,0.60\textwidth}% column separation =20pt
\setlength{\columnseprule}{3pt} % column width
\colseprulecolor{red}

\title{%
        \begin{tcolorbox}[before skip = -\baselineskip, after skip =-\baselineskip]
            \centering\Huge\sffamily Cornell Notes on Something   
        \end{tcolorbox}
}

\date{}
\parindent=0pt

\begin{document}
    
\maketitle  

\section{Here we start the first topic}

\begin{paracol}{2}
    \question{This is a question.} 
    \note{The first piece of evidence is mandatory.}
    \note{Now add up to five\ldots}%
    \note{\ldots\ additional pieces of evidence.}
\end{paracol}

\vspace*{3ex} % breaks the red line

\begin{paracol}{2}  
    \question{Here's another question.}
    \note{\lipsum[4]}
    \note{\lipsum[2]}   
\end{paracol}

\summary[\clearpage]{This is a longer box that will will close the question and {\Large \bfseries start a new page.} \lipsum[2]}

\section{Second topic}

\begin{paracol}{2}
    \question{Here's another question to begin the new page.}   
    \note{\lipsum[3]}
    \note{\lipsum[4]}
\end{paracol}
        
\summary{And another summary that will close the question and {\Large \bfseries stay in the same page.}}    

\section{Another topic, several questions}

\begin{paracol}{2}
    \question{This is  question I.}     
    \note{I The first piece of evidence is mandatory.}
    \note{Now add up to five \ldots}%
    \note{\ldots\ additional pieces of evidence.}
\end{paracol}
\vspace*{3ex} % breaks the red line
    
\begin{paracol}{2}
    \question{Here's  question II.} 
    \note{II The first piece of evidence is mandatory.}
    \note{Now add up to five \ldots}%
    \note{\ldots\ additional pieces of evidence.}
\end{paracol}

\clearpage% breaks the red line
\begin{paracol}{2}
    \question{And question III.}
    
    \note{III The first piece of evidence is mandatory.}
    \note{Now add up to five\ldots}%
    \note{\ldots\ additional pieces of evidence.}
    \note{\ldots\ and more \ldots}
    \note{\ldots\ and more.}
\end{paracol}

\summary{And another summary that will close the question and {\Large \bfseries stay in the same page.}}        

\lipsum[1]
    
\end{document}

Answer 5

I think it works only well if the notes are written by hand and not by searching the right place for research questions in latex code. If a template sheet for handwriting cornell notes is ok for you:

\documentclass[a4paper]{scrartcl} 
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} 
\usepackage[ngerman]{babel}
%\usepackage{calc} 
\usepackage[a4paper]{geometry} 
\geometry{noheadfoot,nomarginpar,top=0cm,bottom=0cm,left=1.6cm,right=0.7cm} 
\usepackage{tikz, ragged2e} 

\begin{document} 

\begin{tikzpicture} 
\draw[step=.7cm,gray!20,very thin] (4.9,4.9) grid (19,25.8);   
\draw [line width=.2pt, gray!50] (0,4.9) -- (19,4.9); 
\draw [line width=.2pt, gray!50] (0,25.8) -- (19,25.8); 
\draw [line width=.2pt, gray!50] (4.9,4.9) -- (4.9,25.8); 
\draw [line width=.2pt,gray!60] (0,-0.4) -- (0,25.8); 
\node at (2,4.5){Zusammenfassung:};   
\node at (13.5,26.6){\parbox[t][2cm][c]{4cm}{\RaggedLeft Fach:\smallskip

 Datum:}};
\end{tikzpicture} 

\end{document}