Note-Taking Skills for Students

NOTE-TAKING SKILLS FOR STUDENTS

Many of us assume that students come to college with established note-taking skills, or that these are things students would have or should have learned in their first semester. But unfortunately, perhaps because of their experience in virtual classrooms, many students have forgotten how to take notes or erroneously think that, if the materials are already posted online (in pages or in videos) that the material will always be there for reference, so they don’t think they need to take them. Providing a reminder to students about why note-taking is important and how students might benefit from taking notes in your class can help them engage with and retain the information.  This entry will provide you with information about why note-taking matters that you can then share with your students.

On this page, we will cover:  picture of person looking at note pages in an organized manner

  1. Explain to Students the Reasons for Taking Notes
  2. Teaching Note-Taking Strategies
  3. Setting Your Students Up for Success


Explain to Students the Reasons for Taking Notes

The following quotes are adapted from the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) presentation on the importance of note-taking in online classes. These data can be shared with your students to emphasize how critical this skill is to their understanding of the material.

  • “The ability to take in information and make it one’s own by processing it, restructuring it, and then presenting it in a form so that it can be understood by others (or by oneself at a later point) is one of those ‘basic skills’ that is useful throughout life” (Cohen et al., 2013).
  • Studies show 11% of a lecture is typically captured in a first-year college student’s notes. Even the best students only capture 75% of a lecture (Kiewra, 1985).
  • Studies show that during a 20-minute lecture, you retain approximately 70% of what is presented in the first 10 minutes. You only retain 20% of what is presented in the last 10 minutes (Kiewra, 1985).
  • Even those students who say they prefer learning by listening, after hearing a lecture, the average student is able to recall 50% after 1 day, 35% after a week, and 20% after 2 weeks (ACUE).
  • “Researchers have found that if important information is contained in notes, it has a 34% chance of being remembered. Information not found in notes only has a 5% chance of being remembered” (Howe, 1970, as cited in Longman & Atkinson, 1999).

Teaching Note-Taking Strategies

There are a few approaches that students may need refreshers on; if any of these seem especially appropriate for your content, focus on that. Or, encourage students to come up with their own approaches and share them with one another.

Another option is to provide a skeleton outline for your students. Providing a framework for guided notes Links to an external site. can be a helpful way to encourage engagement and participation. These can be rough sketches of the material you intend to cover (or even less detailed – it could be just a blank outline) that the students complete during a lesson, lecture, video, presentation, or reading.

Setting Your Students Up for Success

You know better than anyone what your class looks like, and what kinds of – and how much – note taking students will need to be successful. But some students may need additional support and reminders about how to leverage that skill in your course. Set your students up for success with note taking:

Consider providing cues to your students as to when to take notes. This can happen with a skeletal notes/guided notes outline, or just with reminders from you about what to focus on and what to annotate.

Consider providing copies of slides or study guides for them to annotate.