©2007 Landmark College Strategies for Note-taking and Retaining Information Linda Hecker Landmark...

©2007 Landmark College

Strategies for Note-takingand Retaining Information

Linda HeckerLandmark College for Research and

TrainingSeptember 2007

Renton Technical College

[email protected]


Workshop Goals

Understand the purpose and rationale for note taking

Understand how memory and attention affect learning

Learn and practice note taking strategies that support memory, attention, and learning

Review the barriers to note taking and some strategies to address them

Learn how instructors can support note taking in their classes


Old Chinese Proverb …

Tell me and I forget.

Show me and I remember.

Involve me and I understand.


Activator

Turn to a partner and discuss:

What do you currently do to

encourage students to take

effective notes in your class?


What is Note Taking?

What do we mean when wetalk about note taking?

What do people do when theytake notes?

Brainstorm individually


Purpose of Note Taking

Helps students to understand the material presented in the class

Serve as reference material for later study

What else?


Purpose of Note Taking (2)

Keeps students active during lectures

Helps to clarify confusing information

Improves long-term memory storage

Better grades on tests


What Does Research Say about Note Taking?

Note takers are better able to recall main points than non-note-takers

Students who review their notes do better on tests than those who take notes but don’t review them

Transferring written information to a visual format may improve comprehension and recall


What Does Research Say about Note Taking? (2)

Note-taking behaviors (underlining, copying, listing) are tangible indicators of internal cognitive processing

Note-taking techniques (summarizing and highlighting) are ineffective unless students are taught the underlying cognitive processes that underlie these techniques


What Does Research Say about Note Taking? (3)

Writing after reading contributes more to knowledge synthesis than note-taking

Good essay writing is associated with generative, active note-taking strategies

Active note-taking strategies include summarizing and concept mapping


Conclusion from Research

The important aspect ofnote-taking is not WHATstudents do, but HOW theydo it.

“Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.”

Confucius, The Confucian Analects


Cognitive Processing: Memory and Attention

Regulates Attention


How Does Memory Work?

Three components of memory

– Sensory memory

– Short term memory/ Active working memory

– Long term memoryCerebellum:

MemoryAttentionLearning

Motor Control


Information Processing

SensoryMemory

Short Term/WorkingMemory

Long TermMemory

INPUT OUTPUTattention

rehearsal

encoding retrieval


What are the Components of Attention?

Interest in the subject plus how the subject is presented

Motivation– Affected by past successes and/or failures

Ability to distinguish more important information from less important information

Vigilance, or the ability to focus and ignore distractions


The Role of the Executive Functions

Management functions of the brain Enable the brain to engage in self-

regulation Six executive functions:

– Activation

– Focus

– Effort

– Emotions

– Memory

– Action


Brown’s Model of Executive Function Impairment in ADD Syndrome

http://www.drthomasebrown.com/brown_model/index.html


Learning requires sustained effort

“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”– Abigail Adams, 1780


Attention & Executive Functions: What We Know

Selective attention requires sustained effort and energy

Attention and EF work together to motivate, evaluate, synthesize, associate, organize and connect information to be stored into short-term and long-term memory

Controlled by specific brain structures and neurotransmitters (dopamine and noradrenaline); influenced by hormones, stress and emotion


Attention & Executive Functions: Implications for learning

Learners need to be actively involved, to explicitly know what they should skim and what they should deeply focus on (Reading & Writing: previewing= “prethinking”, self-checking, self-correcting)

Learners need to regulate internal and external distractions (environment, emotional state, active working memory strategies = problem-solving strategies)


Why are Lectures so Difficult for Students?

They are inaccessible to deaf students

They make high demands on linguistic and cognitive abilities– Memory

– Attention

– Background knowledge

Length and passivity place high demands on concentration and executive function


Note Taking Strategies

Two Column Method (Cornell)

Outlining

Visual/Concept Maps

Topic and Concept Cards


The Master Notebook

A Process and a Product Integrates reading, writing, and

organization Taught to all Landmark College students


spaced studyrehearsal

overlearning

STUDY PRINCIPLES


MASTER NOTEBOOK

test preparation

study process

active learning

time managem

ent

filing system

organization


The Master Notebook Product

•Course syllabus

•Daily calendar of assignments &• appointments

•Highlighters

•Divided sections for class notes, • tests/quizzes, completed homework, and • handouts


The Master Notebook


Semester Calendar

Course Syllabus

Daily Calendarof

Assignments & Appointments

yellow highlighter

The Master Notebook


Semester Calendar

Course Syllabus

Daily Calendarof


yellow highlighter

bluehighlighter

The Master Notebook


Semester Calendar

Course Syllabus

Daily Calendarof


class notes

handouts

tests/quizzes

completedhomework

The Master Notebook


The Master Notebook Process

Daily:

Take a complete set of notes on 2-column note paper.

Within 1-24 hours after class, revise notes.


UNREVISED NOTES



Note revision:

• Pull out main ideas

• Highlight key points and important vocabulary

• Compare notes with a study partner to fill in gaps



Note revision:

• Ask questions on the opposite page – “sweat page”

• Draw visuals to represent information

• Summarize

• Self-test to check understanding and retention


NOTE REVISION


NOTE REVISION

The Pizza Has Cheese And Such Dark Sauce

Take a complete set of notes. Within 6 - 24 hours meet with a study partner.

Highlight the main ideas, important subtopics and vocabulary.

Pull out the main ideas.

Compare notes; identify missing information and clarify abbreviations and unclear facts.


NOTE REVISION

The Pizza Has Cheese And Such Dark Sauce

Ask questions (clarification, association, test).

Summarize the main ideas from the page of notes on the bottom of the sweat page.Draw a visual/ graphic organizer that summarizes or represents the information.Self-test by covering one column and trying to recall information from the other.

(continued)


All text on this “Sweat Page” was added after the lecture REVISED NOTES

Q

SR



For studying and remembering, the Master Notebook is a way to organize and retrieve important information.

Weekly:1. Organize all class material in logical order

2. Write a master summary of the main ideas from that week


The Master NotebookPoints to Remember for the Instructor

•Micro-unit each step of the system.

•Monitor the application of each step.

•Check the notebook regularly (an expectation).

•Provide plenty of feedback.


Electronic 2-column notes

2-column notes easily adapted to electronic format on laptop or PDA


Concept Mapping

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Conceptmap.gif


Mind Mapping

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mindmap.gif


Inspiration™ Software


Outlining

I. MAIN IDEA A. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I B. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I 1. Subsidiary idea to B 2. Subsidiary idea to B a) Subsidiary idea to 2 b) Subsidiary idea to 2

II. MAIN IDEA A. Subsidiary or supporting idea to II B. Subsidiary idea to II C. Subsidiary idea to II

III. MAIN IDEA


Partial Graphic Organizer

GestaltPsychologyLaws:

______ Similarity ______ Pragnanz

Definition: People tend to perceive as a unit those things that are close together in space.

________________________________________________

People tend to fill in missing pieces to form a complete picture.

____________________________________________________

Example: ________________________________________________________

A person sees the word Texas in a stadium because some fans wear orange shirts, while others wear white shirts.

____________________________________________________________

Mary falsely remembers that a shape she saw was round when it actually was oval.


Electronic Textbook Note-Taking

Create a skeleton

List Vocabulary

Add any subtopics you find in

the text

Fill in the Details

Self-test for understanding

Dr. Lynne Anderson-Inman, Center for Advanced Technology in Education, Univ. of Oregon

sample



An alternative to loose leaf paper for notes

Index cards used

Can be manipulated and rearranged

Can be used for self-testing

Best used for specific topical information



TOPICAGRICULTURAL

REVOLUTION

Main IdeaSupporting Details

Farming has manyAdvantages over hunting and gathering:1. Stable food source2. Less undernourishment3. Efficient use of land

Front

Front

Back

Back

SMART cards


Guidelines for Recording Lectures

Recording can be done with a tape recorder or a voice recorder (mp3 player)

Record course name and date

Listen to the tape as soon as possible after the lecture

Record missing information in written notes based on the taped lecture


Barriers to Note Taking Success

Illegible handwriting Poor spelling Difficulty deciding what to include in notes Difficulty retaining information presented in

lectures Difficulty selecting main ideas to include in

written assignments


Strategies to Support Note Taking

Barriers Strategies for SupportIllegible handwritingPoor Spelling

Course handoutsRecorded lecturesTechnology: word processing, voice recognition software

Difficulty deciding what to include in notesDifficulty selecting main ideas to include in written assignments

Graphic organizers for class activitiesAdvance organizers to show topics In-class note review with question/answerNote revision with highlighting

Difficulty retaining information from lectures

Multiple means of presentation in classesNote Taking strategies that incorporate review and revision (2-column notes, e.g.)


Why Paid Note Takers are a Bad Idea

Note takers are students themselves with variable ability to take good notes

The value of notes lies in the act of taking them. The note taker deprives the disabled student of that opportunity.


A Universal Design Approach to Note Taking

Used by David Rose (CAST) at Harvard Graduate School of Education

Notes are required but not graded

Notes are collected weekly and posted on the course web site for all to see

Five students are designated to post notes


Benefits of Note Sharing

Students express content in many different ways

Students are highly engaged with notes on the course website and in class

Students enhance notes, knowing that the notes will be public

All students learn to take better notes from exposure to others’ notes


How Instructors can Support Note Taking in Classes

Make note taking an expectation of the course

Allow course time for note review and clarifying questions

Use multiple means of representation, such as graphs, visual organizers, images, and PowerPoint slides

Use PowerPoint or advance organizers to provide the structure of the lecture


In Conclusion …

A reflective, mindful process of note taking is more important than the specific strategy

“Learning and teaching should not stand on opposite banks and just watch the river flow by; instead, they should embark together on a journey down the water.“

Loris Malaguzzi

©2007 Landmark College Strategies for Note-taking and Retaining Information Linda Hecker Landmark...

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