A comparison of three note-taking strategies on immediate recall and retention
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to compare three note-taking strategies (student's notes, instructor's notes, and structured notes) on student recall and retention. Five sections of a course on marriage and the family were randomly assigned to one of the three note-taking strategies and tested three times (immediately after the lecture, a surprise quiz one week later, and a scheduled exam two weeks later). Structured notes produced significantly better results than the other two methods on a quiz given immediately after the lecture, but on the second as well as the third quiz, there was no significant difference among the three methods. However, when the structured notes were compared only to the lecturer's notes, the significant difference between the two strategies was sustained throughout the entire experiment. This experiment demonstrated that one can significantly improve immediate recall when structured notes are utilized. Beyond immediate recall, the results are less conclusive.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Russell, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Educational software
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