Kenneth A. Kiewra

Note-Taking Functions and Techniques.

This experiment investigated three newly classified note-taking functions: encoding (take notes/ no review), encoding plus storage (take notes/review notes) and external storage (absent self from lecture/review borrowed notes), relative to three note-taking techniques (conventional, linear, matrix)

Visual argument : graphic organizers are superior to outlines in improving learning from text

Most research on graphic organizers (i.e., figural organizations of text information) has failed to simulate actual classroom learning. Typically, studies have used short, poorly organized text, single graphic organizers, and immediate tests measuring only factual knowledge. Also, there is no convincing evidence that graphic organizers are better than outlines. Two experiments were conducted that represented attempts to address these problems in answering the question, What types of text information do graphic organizers and outlines help college students learn ? Results revealed that when given enough time, students studying graphic organizers learned more hierarchical and coordinate relations, and as a result, they were more successful in applying that knowledge and in writing integrated essays than students studying outlines or text alone. These findings are discussed in terms of efficient indexing through visual argument.

A review of note-taking: The encoding-storage paradigm and beyond

This review article investigates the encoding and storage functions of note-taking. The encoding function suggests that the process of taking notes, which are not reviewed, is facilitative. Research specifying optimal note-taking behaviors is discussed as are several means for facilitating note-taking, such as viewing a lecture multiple times, note-taking on a provided framework, or generative note-taking activities. The storage function suggests that the review of notes also is facilitative. Research addressing particular review behaviors, such as organization and elaboration, is discussed as are the advantages of reviewing provided notes, borrowed notes, or notes organized in a matrix form. In addition, cognitive factors related to note-taking and review are discussed. The article concludes with an alternative means for defining and investigating the functions of note-taking, and with implications for education and for research.

The relationship between information-processing ability and notetaking.

Abstract This study examined the relationship between lecture notetaking behaviors and academic ability and the relationship among lecture notetaking behaviors, information-processing ability, and more global measures of ability (i.e., GPA and ACT scores). Previous research had not investigated working-memory ability and specific notetaking behaviors. Four types of information were gathered from the 32 undergraduate students participating in this experiment: (a) score on a test of information-processing ability, (b) analyses of notes taken during a designated lecture, (c) score on a test pertaining to that lecture, and (d) score on a course exam covering several other lectures. In addition, GPA and ACT scores were drawn from each students records. Results confirmed that amount of notetaking is related to academic achievement and established that ability to hold and manipulate prepositional knowledge in working memory is related to the number of words, complex propositions, and main ideas recorded in notes. In fact, stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that this information-processing ability was a more significant predictor of complex propositions and words recorded in notes than were global measures of ability such as GPA or ACT scores. This research is of practical importance because pedagogical activities may reduce cognitive strain associated with notetaking and because information-processing ability is, in part, controllable.

Students' note-taking behaviors and the efficacy of providing the instructor's notes for review

Abstract College students viewed a videotaped lecture with or without taking notes. Average performance between the two groups did not differ on an immediate test. The encoding effect of note taking was therefore unsupported. Two days later, note takers reviewed their notes while listeners reviewed the instructors notes in preparation for the delayed exam. Subjects who reviewed the instructors notes achieved significantly more, on factual items, than did subjects who reviewed their own relatively brief and unorganized notes. Thus, listening to a lecture and subsequently reviewing the instructors notes prior to a delayed exam leads to relatively higher achievement than does the traditional method of taking and reviewing personal lecture notes.

Notetaking and Review: The Research and Its Implications.

Notetaking and review are positively related to academic achievement, but many students record too few notes to benefit fully from these activities. This paper presents ten factors that may constrain notetaking and review, and provides corresponding implications for improving these study behaviors and for conducting further research. Some instructional implications are that students should record more extensive and conceptual notes and that instructors can help students by organizing their presentations, reducing lecture rate, pausing for notetaking, emphasizing key ideas and encouraging alternate frameworks for notetaking and review. Instructors can also facilitate learning by providing learners with notes for review and with knowledge about testing. In addition, instructors should consider the cognitive processing differences among students because certain learners are likely to find notetaking dysfunctional relative to other means of acquisition. The implications for research focus on determining the optimal notetaking and review activities.

A More Equitable Account of the Note-Taking Functions in Learning from Lecture and from Text.

Previous research investigating the encoding, encoding-plus-storage, and extermal-storage functions of note taking has failed to equate processing opportunities among the groups. The present studies did so by having the encoding group take notes on two occasions without review, the encoding-plus-storage group take notes one time and review notes the next, and the external-storage group twice review a set of borrowed notes. Three forms of note taking were used: conventional, and note taking on skeletal and matrix frameworks. In both Experiment 1, involving lecture learning, and Experiment 2, involving text learning, an advantage was found for the encoding-plus-storage function on tests involving factual-recall and recognition performance but not on tests measuring higher-order performance. With respect to note-taking forms, no advantage existed for any form when information was acquired from lecture. When text material was used there was some advantage for conventional notes and a clear advantage for not taking notes at all, but instead twice reading the material. These findings were explained relative to observed note-taking behaviors, the opportunity for review, and the processing demands proposed by the combination of reading and note taking, particularly when notes must be classified into an existing framework.

Supplementing floundering text with adjunct displays

Three experiments compared the learning potential of text versus outline and matrix displays. In Experiments 1 and 2, college students read or heard a passage about fish and then studied the text, an outline, or a matrix. In Experiment 3, students heard a passage about wildcats, and then studied text, outline, or matrix displays. In all experiments, the text, outline, and matrix formats were informationally equivalent. However, the two-dimensional matrix appeared more computationally efficient than the linear organized text or outline because it (a) positioned related information about fish or wildcats in closer proximity so that local relations within a single category (such as “size”) were learned, and (b) organized information spatially so that global relations across categories (such as size and diet) were learned. The learning potential of text, outline, and matrix displays was also examined in combination with variations in thematic organization, amount of study time, and time of testing. The most important and consistent findings were that (a) outline and matrix displays produced greater relational learning than the text, and (b) matrix displays produced greater relational learning than outlines.

Encoding and External-Storage Effects of Personal Lecture Notes, Skeletal Notes, and Detailed Notes for Field-Independent and Field-Dependent Learners

AbstractThe factual and higher-order achievement of field-independent and field-dependent learners was tested after exposure to lecture material by an immediate test without review of notes or by a delayed test with a review of notes. During the lecture, students engaged in one of the following three learning techniques: personal notetaking, notetaking on a skeletal outline, or listening while examining detailed instructor’s notes. Results indicated that field-independent learners generally achieved higher scores on factual and higher-order tests than did field-dependent learners. Differences in factual performance were reduced from immediate to delayed testing, indicating that field-dependent learners benefit more from the storage function of notetaking than from the initial encoding function. The three learning techniques did not produce differential achievement on the immediate factual test. Reviewing the detailed notes led to higher achievement scores on the delayed factual examination. Results indica...

The Influence of Presentation, Organization, and Example Context on Text Learning.

This research compared high-load and low-load versions of a text by manipulating text presentation, text organization, and example context on measures of fact and concept learning. The low-load text presentation variable enhanced fact and concept learning and post-reading ease of comprehension ratings. The low-load text organization variable led to higher post-reading ease of comprehension ratings. Ease of comprehension was related significantly to fact and concept learning. These findings are supported by cognitive load theory and extend the research to include variables that influence text processing.