Abstract
While students once had only pen and paper to use to take notes, multiple technologies are now available to do the job. The focus of this research is not the choice of method to use for note taking but if students do take notes, and if they consider the process helpful or not. A before and after design is employed; the treatment is the practice of note taking and student perceptions of the outcome is explored. The outcome is do they think note taking helps them retain information such that their grades improve. Students are from a set of sociology and criminal justice classes.
TopLiterature Review
Predictors of a college student’s success have and continue to be of central focus for educators. Undergraduate students’ academic success can be a determining factor not only for continuous course matriculation and enrollment but for future career opportunities, admissions to post-baccalaureate studies, and other life endeavors. While there are many means of gauging student success, the grade earned at the end of a semester is one of the most common measures of academic success. Although there are several gradable components within a course (e.g., exams, research papers, class assignments/projects, etc.), how well a student performs on the course exams is often a crucial determining measurement of failure or success. Attempting to determine if note-taking makes a difference in a student’s exam performance requires obtaining quantifiable data. The attempt to gather scientific data on the relationship between note-taking and exam performance is not new. This line of inquiry has been on the minds of researchers for many years.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Longhand Notes: Notes that are taken by hand instead of on a computer or tablet.
Encoding Function: Note-taking process.
Gen Z Students: Individuals who were born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s. They represent the majority of today's incoming college students. Gen Z students are tech savvy.
Linear Framework: As explained by Kiewra et al. (1991), “The linear framework lists the lecturer’s main topic and subtopics in an outline form and provides spaces between ideas for note-taking” (p. 241).
Note-Taking: As explained by Cohen, et al. (2013), effective note taking is “The ability to take in information and make it one’s own by processing it, restructuring it, and then presenting it in a form so that it can be understood by others (or by oneself at a later point) is one of those ‘basic skills’ that is useful throughout life.”
Markers: As explained by Kim (2018), “Markers are any identifiable signs for structuring (e.g., numbering, bullets), emphasis or indexing (e.g., asterisks, underlining), connecting (e.g., drawing connecting lines), and summarizing or schematization (e.g., boxes and matrixes).”
External Storage Function: Note review for exam preparation.
Matrix Framework: As explained by Kiewra et al. (1991), “A matrix framework presents the same information in a two-dimensional table; main topics are named across the top of the page and subtopics are listed down the left margin” (p. 241).
Mind Map: Mind Mapping involves displaying information visually and is a great way to keep track of the relationships between topics and ideas.
Meta-Analysis: Examination of data from a number of independent studies of the same subject, in order to determine overall trends.