Date of Award
8-1985
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Curriculum and Instruction: M.S.
Department
Teacher Development
College
School of Education
First Advisor
Roger Rouch
Second Advisor
Russell Schmidt
Third Advisor
Floyd Ayers
Keywords and Subject Headings
Notes, Notetaking, Student Achievemen, t Study Habits, Outlining
Abstract
This study examined the effect of a teacher-prepared incomplete outline as a note taking procedure for two English lessons presented to a ninth grade population in a junior high school setting. Three dependent measures were employed in this investigation: the number of relevant facts recorded in student notes; the multiple choice exam (short-term retention); and the essay exam (long-term retention).
In this investigation 38 students were asked to take notes from a lecture, with one group of students using a teacher-prepared incomplete outline, and the other group instructed to take notes in their usual style. Notes were collected and evaluated on their efficiency. Five days later students reviewed their notes silently and individually before taking a multiple choice exam on the material. Four weeks later an essay exam was administered as a final exam. This same procedure, involving the preceding four steps, was followed a second time using a different, yet related topic, with the exception of the time interval between the presentation of the second lesson and the second essay test. This time interval was not controllable since the end of the school year allowed for only three weeks between the multiple choice exam on Lesson two and the essay exam.
A significant difference at the .05 level was found in note taking. More information was recorded by those students using the experimental note taking procedure than by those students using a traditional note taking procedure. No differences were found on the multiple choice exam given five days after the lesson. Some differences were found on the essay exam which was delayed until the end of the school year. However, the nature of the results suggests that this cannot be attributed solely to the note taking procedure itself. Further research is recommended to clarify the effect of note taking on retention.
Recommended Citation
Bristow, Barbara, "A Comparison of Note Taking Techniques and Achievement" (1985). Culminating Projects in Teacher Development. 73.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/ed_etds/73
