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Encourage Students to Take Notes By Hand

Tags

Study Skills & Tools All Ages Strategy

Skills

Auditory Processing Listening Comprehension Organization Working Memory Attention Verbal Reasoning Verbal Memory Visual Memory

Encourage Students to Take Notes By Hand

If your student writes everything down rather than synthesizing while note taking

Teach It!

  1. Objective: Students will take notes by hand to help them more deeply process and retain the information.
  2. Teacher Takeaways: a) Explain the value of taking notes by hand versus on a computer or tablet. Although it might seem easier to type notes in class, there is clear evidence that we understand and remember better when we write. b) Teach students to use abbreviations and phrases rather than complete sentences or quoting the teacher word for word.
  3. Considerations: a) For students who know cursive, it generally will be faster than block lettering. b) Pens enable faster writing than pencils, although pencils might be better in math and science classes.

Why It Works (the Science Of Learning)!

If we type notes as we hear a speaker, we are more inclined to automatically type word-for-word what we hear and therefore we are not deeply processing the material. Because writing notes by hand is a slower process, you are forced to listen and think about the material, pick out the important points and summarize. This effort results in better understanding and retention. Studies also show that students who use laptops or tablets in class to type notes often become distracted with other applications. So unless a motor or speed weakness is getting in a student's way, it is best to encourage handwriting notes to promote meaningful learning. Read the research on the benefits of taking notes by hand.