Summarize Your Class Notes With the ’GIST’ Method

Whether you’re revising your notes right after class or condensing them later so you can study using the Feynman method, you’ll need a solid system for pulling out the most critical information and distilling everything down into something digestible and easy to retain. This is where the GIST method can prove extremely useful.

What is the GIST method?

The GIST method is a system for condensing your notes (or anything you’ve read, like a chapter in a book) so everything is as simple as possible to read through and review. This method requires you to resist the natural urge to pack your notes with too many details. The GIST method helps you break that habit; it’s intended to help you discover, well, the gist of your materials and break each point down to 25 words or so.

‘GIST’ is an acronym for ‘Generating Interactions Between Schemata and Texts’. What this means, in simpler terms, is creating a framework between the text you’re working from (whether that’s your full class notes or a textbook excerpt) and your condensed notes. Once you have identified the GIST of whatever you’re studying, it can serve as a framework to guide your review sessions, so you’re sure you’re focusing on the most critical details.

You ask yourself a few questions: What is happening? Who is doing it? When is it happening? Where is it happening? Why is it happening (or why is it important)? How is it happening? It can be helpful to think of the familiar “Five Ws and H.” Once you have collected all of that information, write it out simply in a short-form block.

To clarify, the GIST itself isn’t what you’ll be studying. The goal is to help you identify the main message or idea of a text and hone in on it until you understand it at its most basic level. From there, you can move on to the more complicated, weedy parts, too—and methods like mind mapping will help you get there.

How to start using the GIST method to summarize your class notes

As American University advises, the GIST method starts with a close reading of your notes/chapter/assigned text. (Here’s a full guide on close reading.) It’s better to do this with shorter chunks of information than multiple chapters or lessons. Next, grab a sticky note or notebook paper and write, in a column, the who, what, when, where, why, and how. Answer the questions simply, taking the information straight from your notes or reading. Next, write a paragraph underneath, limiting yourself to approximately 25 words. The paragraph should summarize the answers to the questions above.

You can use a prepared GIST template to help you through the process, though some limit your GIST to 20 words, and some even call for 10. For condensing notes or studying at a higher level, 25 words is a good number to aim for, as it lets you expand complicated concepts with just a little more information—but not too much.