No doubt, we want to pass many of these ideas on to our students. As they learn geometry and spelling and the atomic mass of carbon, they can also learn when to use retrieval practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One specific example: we have many reasons to think that note-taking supports long-term learning. What\u2019s the best advice we can give our students on this subject<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Happily, we have an increasing pool of research that explores this topic. All this research gives us initial pointers. It also raises intriguing — underexplored — questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me explain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most comprehensive note-taking study I\u2019ve found<\/a> explored several major questions simultaneously. In this study, Dr. Abraham Flanigan and his team wanted to know:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you can imagine, answering four research questions in one study requires lots of methodological juggling, and LOTS of data crunching. Here\u2019s the brief version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students in this study watched a 21-minute video on plate tectonics: strike-slip faults, subduction zones, and so forth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At three points during the lecture, the tape paused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These groups were subdivided further. Half of the students in each group wrote their notes by hand<\/em>. The other half took notes on laptops<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The participants returned two days later, studied their notes for fifteen minutes, and then took a quiz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you can see, team Flanigan has many moving parts to keep track of. Rather than note all the findings and interactions, I\u2019ll focus on those questions above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First<\/strong>: yes, students who were instructed how to revise their notes<\/em> remembered more two days later than those who merely copied their notes<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second<\/strong>: students who wrote by hand<\/em> remembered more than those who took notes on laptops<\/em>. (Important details to follow.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Third<\/strong>: surprisingly (to me), copying diagrams did not improve learning. (BTW: I\u2019ve looked into other research on this topic, and so far other studies roughly align with this suggestion.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n To explore the fourth<\/strong> question about recording complete vs. partial ideas, Team Flanigan studied the notes in extraordinary detail. They categorized them carefully, determining if they expressed<\/p>\n\n\n\n All this categorizing led to a specific finding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once other factors were taken into statistical account, only complete ideas<\/em> predicted higher scores; partial ideas and simple labels<\/em> did not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More specifically: the more complete ideas students wrote, the higher their score on the quiz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we translate these findings into advice, we should probably proceed cautiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s try a careful suggestion or two:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTeachers<\/strong>: this study shows that students take better notes when we give them class time to revise their notes, and instructions how to do so. Consider building short breaks into your lesson plans for this kind of cognitive work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Another suggestion:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStudents<\/strong>: your notes will help you more if you write down both concepts and supporting details<\/em>. Concepts by themselves aren\u2019t enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Another:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStudents<\/strong>: simply copying diagrams during class doesn\u2019t seem to help learning. Consider focusing more energy on writing concepts and details.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In other words: yes, we can help students \u201clearn how to learn.\u201d This kind of advice will help them take better notes\u2026and thereby learn more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we focus on one final piece of advice, let\u2019s focus on an easy-to-overlook detail in the Flanigan study. The plate tectonics video included 198 pieces of information. On average, students recorded 60 of them; that is, roughly 30%. Better said, they didn\u2019t write down seventy percent <\/strong>of the ideas in the video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words: these students took substantially incomplete notes<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This finding highlights a puzzle, and suggests a possible solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both common sense and research tell us that typing<\/em> allows students to write more words faster than handwriting<\/em>. Why, then, didn\u2019t typing lead to more complete notes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flanigan\u2019s data show that handwriters revised differently. <\/strong>Specifically, during the 3-minute revision breaks,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if laptop note takers could write more words, they not writing the most useful ones down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s restate those claims with a modest refinement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the underexplored solution I\u2019d like to propose: teachers can provide that training<\/em>. We can teach students to revise with a focus on creating complete ideas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs you revise your notes right now, be sure to arrive at complete ideas<\/em>. You can add examples to the concepts you have simply named. Or you can write down new concepts that hadn\u2019t made it into your notes \u2013 but be sure to include examples and specifics. Writing complete ideas with labels and examples will help you learn more.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Hypothetically, keyboarders who have learned how to learn will end up with more complete ideas in their notes. And \u2013 again, hypothetically \u2013 those additional complete ideas should result in more learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other words:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The current research findings (handwriting > keyboarding) might flip (keyboarding > handwriting) if we teach our students well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In offering this last suggestion, I\u2019m contradicting popular belief. Almost all of my colleagues argue that handwritten notes are better; many cite a meta-analysis that Flanigan recently published<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this reason, you might be surprised to learn that Dr. Flanigan agrees that my hypothesis merits investigation. When he and I discussed his study a few weeks ago, we ended up agreeing that:<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Research, Part I: All the Steps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The Research, Part II: The Findings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Teaching Students How to Learn, Cautiously<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Learning How to Learn, Part II<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Surprising Agreement<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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