Note taking
Thank you for the suggestions on how to teach students to take notes. I remember many of these from my education but had forgotten them. I think I will use structured note taking, not only to get them to take notes correctly, but also to get them to pay attention in class. Perhaps I will require the notes to be filled out and turned in.
Jane,
Using structured notes really help my older and/or non-traditional students that have not acquired note taking skills or have forgotten how to take notes. Structured notes really help them with self confidence.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I always encourage my students to take notes and I find the one's that do are more successful in the course.
My school has incorporated a study strategy and note taking class in the first term. In this term I introduce different note taking techniques. I then take the next couple of lectures at a slow enough place to allow the students to practice with the different styles to help them determine what works best for them. I give them an outline of the lectures at the end of the week to ensure that they did not miss anything.
Lisa,
I wish more schools did this. Your students are very fortunate to have such resources available to them and I hope they take advantage of them. These resources can be the difference between success and failure if they are valued and used by the students.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I always like to highlight pertinent information by way of providing fully structured notes/ study guides. This has become a tool that the students rely on. On the down-side, the students are not putting as much effort into their reading. I am now going to use the "guided notes" concept. I think this this will help students learn how to take notes and organize their ideas.
Rebecca,
I think you will like the results you get because guided notes puts them into the material. They are guided not given in terms of notes and this is an important difference when it comes to student engagement.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
The notes can be used as a sort of reward to the student learner; particularly when the notes are a key to the success or outcome of a given product.
I like the idea of having a class on note taking. Many students that are older or have not been to school in awhile would really benefit from reviewing the basics of note taking.
Amy,
This is a good idea for returning students. By giving them a few note taking strategies and supporting them with guided notes they will soon acquire the confidence needed to see themselves as being successful in the course.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I tell my students that I take my quizes and test questions and answers directly from my notes. That technique always works for me to get them to take notes from and I put a * by the really important/ possible test questions.
The note taking also aids students in learning, as some students retain what they write better than other methods of learning.
I encoarage my students to take good notes and give a little help on things they may need to no in the future. I also have a self study for my students to find the answers in there notes
Kelly,
I am sure your students really appreciate your efforts in this area. Many students do no have effective note taking skills or have been out of school for a period of time. These kinds of supports help to get them back into the student mode.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I teach a textile science class. The best book for our course is also a little too long to be completely covered in our time frame, and has a great deal of chemistry illustrations in it that we don't cover. So I give them an outline of the key components, I want them to remember. They have to fill in the definintions, besides writing on the board or using the power points as I lecture. I also let them hand these notes in when we have a quiz for extra credit. I give them a point per chapter, not a great deal, but over the time of the course, adds enough, to equal about half the points of a regular quiz. What it facilitates, is not only getting the key terms, but the students that have their lecture notes filled out are usually the ones who do better on the quizes.
Carol,
You are using a number of different methods to get the students into the content and gaining the cognitive information that is required. The more you can do this and the more students will be engaged. Keep up the good work.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Note taking is very important. Student should not depend on their memory to record everything that is needed to learn. In my personal expierience, I would take notes during lectures and then I would type them up, this way I was able to process the information twice. Of course all students learn differently but if notes are not taken something important will be missed.
Margarita,
You make a number of very good points about note taking and the value of it. They need to learn how to listen/view content and then select the key concepts out of the material and record them in a way that will make sense to them later on.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
This is very true. But the students that are organized with their note taking are the ones that tend to do best.
Henry,
I agree about the organized students. The biggest problem I face is that the majority of my students don't know how to identify key concepts nor take notes. They need a guide to help them see what the critical course components are.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
