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Note-Taking With Computers: Exploring Alternative Strategies for Improved Recall

DOI:10.1037/a0030367
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Dung C. Bui
Dung C. Bui
Dung C. Bui
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Joel Myerson at Washington University in St. Louis
Joel Myerson
Sandra Hale
Sandra Hale
Sandra Hale
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Abstract

Three experiments examined note-taking strategies and their relation to recall. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed either to take organized lecture notes or to try and transcribe the lecture, and they either took their notes by hand or typed them into a computer. Those instructed to transcribe the lecture using a computer showed the best recall on immediate tests, and the subsequent experiments focused on note-taking using computers. Experiment 2 showed that taking organized notes produced the best recall on delayed tests. In Experiment 3, however, when participants were given the opportunity to study their notes, those who had tried to transcribe the lecture showed better recall on delayed tests than those who had taken organized notes. Correlational analyses of data from all 3 experiments revealed that for those who took organized notes, working memory predicted note-quantity, which predicted recall on both immediate and delayed tests. For those who tried to transcribe the lecture, in contrast, only note-quantity was a consistent predictor of recall. These results suggest that individuals who have poor working memory (an ability traditionally thought to be important for note-taking) can still take effective notes if they use a note-taking strategy (transcribing using a computer) that can help level the playing field for students of diverse cognitive abilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)
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Note-Taking With Computers:
Exploring Alternative Strategies for Improved Recall
Dung C. Bui, Joel Myerson, and Sandra Hale
Washington University in St. Louis
Three experiments examined note-taking strategies and their relation to recall. In Experiment 1,
participants were instructed either to take organized lecture notes or to try and transcribe the lecture, and
they either took their notes by hand or typed them into a computer. Those instructed to transcribe the
lecture using a computer showed the best recall on immediate tests, and the subsequent experiments
focused on note-taking using computers. Experiment 2 showed that taking organized notes produced the
best recall on delayed tests. In Experiment 3, however, when participants were given the opportunity to
study their notes, those who had tried to transcribe the lecture showed better recall on delayed tests than
those who had taken organized notes. Correlational analyses of data from all 3 experiments revealed that
for those who took organized notes, working memory predicted note-quantity, which predicted recall on
both immediate and delayed tests. For those who tried to transcribe the lecture, in contrast, only
note-quantity was a consistent predictor of recall. These results suggest that individuals who have poor
working memory (an ability traditionally thought to be important for note-taking) can still take effective
notes if they use a note-taking strategy (transcribing using a computer) that can help level the playing
field for students of diverse cognitive abilities.
Keywords: note-taking, note quantity and quality, computers, individual differences, working memory
Note-taking has long been linked to positive test performance
(e.g., Armbruster, 2000;Crawford, 1925b), and this relationship is
not lost on students, who acknowledge that lecture note-taking is
a crucial component of the educational experience (Dunkel &
Davy, 1989). In fact, lecturing constitutes nearly 83% of college
instructors’ teaching methods (Wirt et al., 2001), and nearly all
college students take notes in class (Palmatier & Bennett, 1974),
even when they are not explicitly told to do so by the instructor
(Williams & Eggert, 2002). Researchers have identified two pri-
mary ways in which classroom note-taking is beneficial: Encoding
and external storage (Di Vesta & Gray, 1972). The encoding
benefit (also termed the process benefit) refers to the learning that
results from the act of taking notes, whereas the external storage
benefit (also termed the product benefit) refers to the benefit that
comes from studying the notes. Furthermore, Kiewra (1985)
pointed out that utilizing both aspects of note-taking in conjunction
provides a more potent learning tool than either aspect on its own
(e.g., Fisher & Harris, 1973;Kiewra, DuBois, Christensen, Kim, &
Lindberg, 1989).
Recent advancements in technology have led to more computers
being introduced into the classroom and incorporated into stu-
dents’ learning experiences, and the availability of portable com-
puters has resulted in a steady increase in the percentage of college
students who own one (89%; Smith & Caruso, 2010). Research has
compared typing speed to writing speed and found evidence that
proficient typists can type faster than they can handwrite (e.g.,
Brown, 1988), and that this pattern emerges in children as young
as sixth grade (Rogers & Case-Smith, 2002). Thus, it would appear
that for many students, portable computers can increase their
transcription speed when they take lecture notes.
The Relation Between Working Memory and
Note-Taking
Despite its benefits, lecture note-taking is a complex and cog-
nitively demanding skill that requires comprehending what the
instructor is saying, holding that information in memory, organiz-
ing and paraphrasing it, and then writing it down before it is
forgotten, all while attending to the ongoing lecture. When note-
taking skill is framed as a composition of more basic cognitive
abilities, it is clear that one reason why students’ notes vary among
one another is likely because of individual differences in these
lower-order abilities.
One ability hypothesized to be important in note-taking is work-
ing memory (e.g., Olive & Piolat, 2002), the ability to temporarily
hold and manipulate a limited amount of information (Baddeley,
1986). While some studies report a correlation between working
memory and note-taking (e.g., Kiewra & Benton, 1988;Kiewra,
Benton, & Lewis, 1987), other studies do not (e.g., Cohn, Cohn, &
Bradley, 1995;Peverly et al., 2007). It is possible that these mixed
results are due to variability in the note-taking strategies that
students naturally use. Without explicit instructions, students may
choose strategies that vary in the extent to which they rely on
working memory, potentially masking a correlation between work-
ing memory and note-taking.
This article was published Online First October 8, 2012.
Dung C. Bui, Joel Myerson, and Sandra Hale, Department of Psychol-
ogy, Washington University in St. Louis.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dung C.
Bui, Department of Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, St.
Louis, MO 63130. E-mail: dcbui@wustl.edu
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
Journal of Educational Psychology © 2012 American Psychological Association
2013, Vol. 105, No. 2, 299–309 0022-0663/13/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0030367
299
... However, in the study by [3], students who took organized notes (quality) on paper performed well on summative tests and those who did computer-assisted note-taking were found to receive high scores on exit tests. When both groups were given time to review, performance of those who did transcribe notes (quality) on computer performed well in summative test of recall. ...
... When both groups were given time to review, performance of those who did transcribe notes (quality) on computer performed well in summative test of recall. In this study, using computer as a note-taking tool was found to 'help level the playing field for students of diverse cognitive abilities' [3]. ...
... This means that given ample time for review, students from different note-taking options will have the same chances of performing well in the summative test. This concurs with [3] finding that the review time given to all may level-off the ground for students with different cognitive abilities. Table 6 shows the results of the Independent Samples t-test. ...
NOTE-TAKING BEHAVIORS of HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
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The research investigated the note-taking behaviors of students in terms of the quantity and quality of notes outputted as well as performance in the exit and summative tests. The note-taking behaviors included use of paper and pen, tablet PC- assisted note taking, and not taking down notes. Inferential statistics using t-test and Chi-square were used to determine the significant difference between the use of paper and pen and tablet PC in delivering better quantity and quality of notes. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the test performances of high school students from the three note-taking options. Correlation coefficient was also done to determine the relationship between the quantity and quality of notes and the students’ performances in exit and summative tests. The results indicated that the students encoding notes on paper and pen covered more lesson items than those using the tablet PC. In terms of the quality of notes covered, there appeared to be no significant difference. The note-taking devices seemed to show no advantage also in terms of students’ performances in the tests. Lastly, the quantity and quality of notes seemed to show no differing significance in terms of aiding students perform better in tests. With these findings, recommendations were offered toward training of students and teachers in the productive use of the tablet PC to create better note-taking environment, toward reviewing existing policies and practice on note-taking as well as technology use in the classroom and toward considering scheduling the conduct of tests at a later date to ‘level off the field’ for students with varying accessibilities to technologies.
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... 1 It is well established that notetaking is a critical skill for academic success, as quality notes are linked to higher student academic performance. 2,3,4,5 This is exemplified by a few studies conducted within healthcare education. Nursing students (n=118), for example, randomly assigned to a notetaking group performed significantly better on knowledge-based tests. ...
... 11 Students are able to capture more information shared in a lecture when typing than when handwriting their notes. 5 However, students who typed notes performed worse on conceptual exam questions than students who took handwritten notes. 12 It was hypothesized that this occurs because digital notetakers often transcribe lectures instead of processing and summarizing information in their own words. ...
... Not only can taking notes on information presented in OT courses be useful for school assessments, but it can also help students recall this information when they become entry level practitioners and serve as a resource for them beyond OT school. 5 This study also demonstrates that students take digital and handwritten notes, and occupational therapy courses should be conducive to both methods of notetaking. Student preference for one method of notetaking over another was not found to have a significant impact on academic performance and GPA in the literature. ...
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Purpose: Notetaking is a critical skill for higher-level thinking and information integration in graduate students, including occupational therapy students. Though there is a growing body of literature about notetaking modalities, strategies utilized, and self-perceptions of skills in college students, studies about occupational therapy (OT) students’ notetaking preferences have been absent from the literature. This study examines how OT students take notes and their perceptions of their notes. Method: This descriptive study of students in a Master of Occupational Therapy program (n=57) completed the Notetaking Abilities and Strategies of University Students (NASUS) questionnaire which captures the constructs of notetaking methods, reasons for taking notes, students’ opinions of their notes, satisfaction with notetaking and usefulness of notes, students’ desires to change their notetaking methods, and organization and review of notes after class. Results: Study found that students utilized both handwritten and digital forms of notetaking, as expected, and took notes in class primarily as a resource to study for assessments and complete assignments as well as to remember information. Overall, students had a moderate degree of confidence and satisfaction with the usefulness of their notes and expressed a desire to improve their notetaking. Conclusions: Understanding the notetaking preferences of OT students can facilitate OT programs’ ability to support these students’ learning.
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... Such findings indicate that students are most likely to commit lecture information to memory after it has been recorded in notes and reviewed. Unfortunately, college students often fail to record many of the ideas and images conveyed during lectures (Bui et al., 2012;Flanigan & Titsworth, 2020), leading researchers to examine factors impacting lecture note taking and subsequent achievement. Some contributing factors recently examined include note-taking medium-whether notes are recorded using longhand or computer mediums (e.g., Bui et al., 2012;Luo et al., 2018;Morehead et al., 2019a;Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014), note completeness-whether notes are recorded completely or partially (Flanigan & Titsworth, 2020;Peverly et al., 2007;Reddington et al., 2015), and note revision-the opportunity to add or complete noted ideas during or following the lecture (Luo et al., 2016). ...
... Unfortunately, college students often fail to record many of the ideas and images conveyed during lectures (Bui et al., 2012;Flanigan & Titsworth, 2020), leading researchers to examine factors impacting lecture note taking and subsequent achievement. Some contributing factors recently examined include note-taking medium-whether notes are recorded using longhand or computer mediums (e.g., Bui et al., 2012;Luo et al., 2018;Morehead et al., 2019a;Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014), note completeness-whether notes are recorded completely or partially (Flanigan & Titsworth, 2020;Peverly et al., 2007;Reddington et al., 2015), and note revision-the opportunity to add or complete noted ideas during or following the lecture (Luo et al., 2016). The present study is the first to address all three of these factors concomitantly. ...
... As shown in Table 1, research supports the notion that computers make it easier to note lesson ideas. Most students type faster than they write (Brown, 1988), and those who type tend to record about 35% more words (Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014) and 20% more ideas (Bui et al., 2012;Flanigan & Titsworth, 2020) in their notes than those who write (Bui et al., 2012;Flanigan & Titsworth, 2020;Luo et al., 2018;Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014). ...
Computer versus longhand note taking: Influence of revision
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Full-text available
Many college students believe that typing lecture notes on computers produces better notes and higher achievement than handwritten lecture notes on paper. The few studies investigating computer versus longhand note taking yielded mixed note-taking and achievement findings. The present study investigated computer versus longhand note taking but permitted note takers to revise or recopy notes during pauses interspersed throughout the lecture. Moreover, the present study analyzed notes recorded while a lecture was ongoing and following revision pauses to determine if lecture ideas and images were recorded completely or partially. Findings did not support the belief that computers aid note taking and achievement and, instead, favored longhand note taking and revision. Computer and longhand note takers recorded a comparable number of complete and partial ideas in notes while the lecture was ongoing, but longhand note takers recorded more lecture images. Among note revisers, longhand note takers added three-times-as-many complete ideas to their notes during revision as computer note takers—an important finding because note completeness predicted achievement. Achievement results showed that longhand note takers who revised notes scored more than half a letter grade higher on a lecture posttest than computer note takers who revised notes. Present findings suggest that college instructors should provide students with revision pauses to improve note taking and achievement and encourage students to record and revise notes using the longhand method. Finally, regarding the computer versus longhand note-taking debate, the need to investigate further the interplay between note-taking medium and lesson material is discussed.
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... No presente estudo, devido à situação pandémica e consequente impossibilidade de recolha presencial de dados, a modalidade escrita foi realizada através de um teclado de computador. Tal como referido anteriormente, parece ser consensual que a escrita a computador é significativamente mais rápida que a escrita à mão (Bouriga & Olive, 2021;Bui et al., 2013). No entanto, para que a escrita a computador seja uma alternativa viável, esta deverá ter atingido um certo nível de automatização e treino (Rogers & Case-Smith, 2002). ...
... , mais frequente do que o método tradicional da escrita à mão. Por exemplo,Bui et al. (2013) estudaram a relação entre a recordação de informação e as diferentes estratégias para fazer anotações durante uma aula. Os resultados mostraram que estudantes universitários que utilizaram o computador para tirar apontamentos, além de terem escrito mais informação, também recordaram mais detalhes acerca da aula do que aqueles que escreveram à mão. ...
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... Shortly after students began to type their notes, scholars began to debate whether these digital notes were of the same quality and thus had equivalent ability to foster learning as handwritten notes (Quade, 1996). Extensive research has been published on this topic, and much is now understood about the benefits and drawbacks of digital notetaking (Aguilar-Roca et al., 2012;Bui et al., 2013;Fried, 2008;Hembrooke & Gay, 2003;Luo et al., 2018;Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014;Quade, 1996;Skolnik & Puzo, 2008;Wurst et al., 2008). Surprisingly, however, little research has been conducted regarding college students' notetaking practices more broadly. ...
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... In Bui et. al.'s study (2013), when participants were allowed to revisit their notes, those who had tried to transcribe the lecture outperformed, as measured by delayed tests, those who had taken organized notes [18]. That seems to suggest that when compared with other methods of note-taking, the function of a specific format is likely to be challenged. ...
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