The effects of guided notes on undergraduate students’ recording of lecture content

Notetaking is important for recording and remembering class content in most university courses. Despite the importance of this behavior, however, students are often poor notetakers. This study compared undergraduates' notes after traditional lecture, lecture with slides, and lecture with slides plus guided notes. Data on the percentages of critical points and examples, as well as number of extra points, which were recorded in student notes were collected for each set of student notes produced in each condition. Results indicated using slides with or without guided notes was superior to traditional lecture with regard to critical points and examples. However, improvements in note quality across all dependent measures were observed when guided notes were used.