Lecture #11: Taking Notes Effectively - which words should you write down?
Summary
TLDRThis video script emphasizes the importance of effective note-taking techniques for better learning and retention. It outlines four key strategies: avoid writing down every word, refrain from capturing isolated phrases, add detail to notes within 24 hours to solidify understanding, and take notes by hand rather than typing to enhance processing and recall. Scientific studies are cited to support the argument that hand-written notes lead to better performance and retention, while multitasking with devices during lectures can be detrimental to academic success.
Takeaways
- 📝 Never write down every word spoken during a lecture; instead, focus on understanding and summarizing the main points in your own words.
- 🔍 Avoid capturing isolated phrases, as they can lead to a disjointed understanding of the lecture content and poor retention.
- ⏰ Add 'flesh' to your notes within 24 hours of the lecture by spending a few minutes to review and expand upon the key points and concepts discussed.
- 🖊️ Take notes by hand using a pen or pencil, as research has shown this method to be more effective for learning and retention compared to typing on a device.
- 🧠 Engage with the content actively by thinking through the meaning of what you hear and formulating your own summaries to enhance understanding and memory.
- 🤔 If you don't understand something during the lecture, don't just write it down; instead, ask for clarification to ensure you grasp the concept before noting it.
- 📚 The purpose of note-taking is to increase efficiency in learning, allowing you to absorb and retain more information during the same amount of time spent in class.
- 📈 The benefits of proper note-taking include better immediate understanding during the lecture and having a useful written record for future review.
- 🚫 Multitasking on devices during lectures, such as browsing the internet, has been shown to negatively impact learning and grades.
- 🔑 Handwritten note-taking forces you to process information more deeply by summarizing and reflecting on the material, which aids in long-term retention.
- 📉 Studies have indicated that students who take notes on laptops, even without internet access, tend to perform worse on conceptual questions due to shallower processing.
- 🙅♂️ Exceptions to handwritten note-taking include individuals with disabilities or specific neurodiverse needs that have been verified by medical professionals.
Q & A
What are the four techniques mentioned for taking notes properly?
-The four techniques are: 1) Never write down every word, 2) Don't grab whole phrases and write those down exactly, 3) Add flesh onto your notes within 24 hours, 4) Take notes by hand using a pen or a pencil, not by typing.
Why is it not recommended to write down every word during a lecture?
-Writing down every word is not effective because it's hard to retain meaningless symbols without understanding them. It's better to understand the meaning behind the words and summarize them in your own words.
What is the purpose of adding 'flesh' to notes within 24 hours?
-Adding 'flesh' to notes within 24 hours helps to complete the notes with additional understanding that wasn't captured during the lecture. This is because memories are freshest within this timeframe, and it aids in long-term retention.
What are the benefits of taking notes by hand instead of typing on a device?
-Taking notes by hand forces you to summarize and process the information, leading to better understanding and retention. Typing can lead to shallower processing and is often associated with multitasking, which can reduce learning effectiveness.
What are the two main benefits of taking notes properly according to the script?
-The two main benefits are: 1) During the lecture, you absorb more information into your brain, remembering much more of what you heard, 2) You have a written record of your notes that you can refer back to later, which is useful for review.
Why is it advised not to grab whole phrases from the lecture to write down?
-Grabbing whole phrases can lead to a disconnected jumble of notes that you don't understand. It's better to listen, understand, and then write a summary in your own words to ensure retention.
What should you do if you don't understand something during the lecture while taking notes?
-If you don't understand something, you should not write it down. Instead, raise your hand and ask for clarification. Once you understand, then write down what you've learned.
What does the term 'flesh' metaphorically represent in the context of note-taking?
-In the context of note-taking, 'flesh' metaphorically represents the additional details and understanding that you add to your initial notes to create a more comprehensive record of the lecture.
How does taking notes by hand differ from typing them on a device in terms of learning outcomes?
-Taking notes by hand involves more active processing of the material, leading to better understanding and retention. Typing notes can result in shallower processing and a tendency to transcribe lectures verbatim without deeply engaging with the content.
What are some of the reasons why students might perform worse when they use laptops or devices for note-taking?
-Students may perform worse because they are more likely to multitask, getting distracted by non-academic internet use. Even when used solely for note-taking, devices can lead to shallower processing and a tendency to transcribe lectures rather than engaging with the material.
Are there any exceptions to the recommendation against typing notes on devices?
-Yes, there are exceptions. Students with disabilities that make writing difficult or those who are neurodiverse and have been examined by medical professionals to need typing for note-taking are examples where typing might be necessary.
Outlines
📝 Effective Note-Taking Techniques
This paragraph introduces four key techniques for effective note-taking: 1) Avoid writing down every word verbatim, 2) Don't just grab phrases without context, 3) Add details to your notes within 24 hours to reinforce memory, and 4) Prefer writing notes by hand over typing. The speaker emphasizes that proper note-taking leads to better information absorption during lectures and provides a valuable reference for later review. The importance of engaging with the content and summarizing it in one's own words is highlighted as crucial for retention.
🙅♂️ Avoiding Common Note-Taking Pitfalls
The second paragraph discusses the ineffectiveness of common note-taking habits, such as writing down disconnected phrases or not fully understanding the material being noted. It stresses the importance of listening, understanding, and then summarizing the lecture's points in one's own words. The speaker also advises against writing down content that is not understood, instead recommending asking for clarification. The concept of 'fleshing out' notes within 24 hours to capture additional understanding is introduced, noting that this step is often overlooked but significantly enhances retention and note quality.
⌨️ The Distraction of Digital Note-Taking
This paragraph explores the downsides of digital note-taking, citing studies that show a negative impact on academic performance due to multitasking and shallow processing of information. The speaker argues that typing notes can lead to verbatim transcription rather than deep understanding, and that the temptation to use the internet for non-academic purposes during lectures can be a major distraction. The paragraph also addresses the misconception that using a device only for note-taking could be beneficial, with research indicating that even this practice can impair learning due to shallow engagement with the material.
✍️ The Advantages of Handwritten Notes
The final paragraph reinforces the benefits of taking handwritten notes, supported by various studies that show improved memory retention and learning outcomes. The speaker explains that writing by hand forces a student to process and summarize information more deeply, leading to better understanding and recall. Exceptions are acknowledged for students with disabilities or specific neurodiverse needs that may necessitate the use of technology for note-taking. The paragraph concludes with a strong recommendation for the majority of students to adopt handwritten note-taking for optimal learning.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Note-taking
💡Absorption
💡Retention
💡Efficiency
💡Multitasking
💡Transcription
💡Summarizing
💡Memory
💡Processing
💡Neurodiverse
💡Disability
Highlights
To take notes properly, avoid writing down every word and do not capture whole phrases exactly.
Add flesh to your notes within 24 hours to enhance understanding and retention.
Take notes by hand using pen or pencil, not by typing, for better learning outcomes.
Proper note-taking leads to better absorption of information during lectures and useful notes for future reference.
Engage with the content and write a summary in your own words to ensure understanding and retention.
If you don't understand something during a lecture, ask for clarification instead of just writing it down.
Reviewing and adding to your notes within 24 hours helps solidify memories and understanding.
Students who take notes by typing may be more prone to multitasking and distraction.
Using a laptop or similar device for note-taking can lead to shallower processing of information.
Research shows that students who handwrite notes perform better on conceptual questions.
Handwriting notes forces you to summarize and process the information more deeply.
Avoid using electronic devices for note-taking unless there is a genuine need due to disability or neurodiversity.
Science has proven that handwriting notes is more effective for information retention than typing.
Students who do not use technology during lectures outperform those who do.
Typing notes can lead to verbatim transcription rather than meaningful processing of information.
Students generally prefer digital texts, but recall is better with print when engaged with the material.
Some students may need to use electronic devices for note-taking due to specific disabilities or conditions.
The preference for typing notes should not override the scientific evidence supporting handwriting.
Transcripts
people think that when you take notes
you're supposed to write down the stuff
that you hear
no
to take notes properly you need to do
four things
one
never write down every word two don't
even
grab whole phrases and write those down
exactly three
add flesh onto your notes within 24
hours i'll explain what that means later
in the video and four take notes by hand
using a pen or a pencil not by typing
over the course of this lecture video
that you're watching right now i'm gonna
go through all four of these techniques
for taking notes properly and if you
take notes properly then two things will
happen there will be two benefits here
they are
the first benefit is that during that
one hour of lecture or however long it
is during that that period of time you
will absorb more information into your
brain so
you'll just leave remembering much much
more of what you just heard the second
benefit is that you'll have the notes
you'll still have them you'll have a
written record
your notes which you can look back on
later at the end of the semester or
years later you'll have those notes both
of these benefits are matters of
efficiency you're getting more
out of that same one hour of lecture
you're absorbing and retaining more
information
and you're getting this physical product
these notes that you can use later
they'll be very useful later
you're just getting them but in order to
get these benefits you have to take
notes properly and the main thing about
taking notes properly is that you can't
just write down
word for word what you hear or just grab
phrases here or there you have to think
through the meaning of what you're
hearing you have to engage with the
content
of what you're hearing and then write
down a summary of that content in your
own words you have to do it that way or
else you won't get this stuff i'm going
to explain how to do that here we go
fundamentally taking notes is a tool of
efficiency you're going to be in class
for that period of time anyway right
you're there in the room
anyway how can you use that same amount
of time that same one hour of lecture or
one hour and 15 minutes or whatever it
is how can you use that same amount of
time to get the most learning into your
brain i'm not saying work longer hours
i'm saying take the same number of hours
and squeeze out of them the most
retention the most understanding the
most resources to make your courses easy
that's what i'm going to explain how to
do today specifically how to take notes
in class so that you get the most out of
every class period back to the four
techniques for taking notes number one
don't write down every word
it's just a fact
about human memory that it's very hard
to to retain remember sort of
meaningless symbols
what we remember
is the meaning behind those symbols and
so if you just write down the words
words are just symbols if you just write
down the words without understanding
them well then you'll have a transcript
of the words i mean most people can't
write at that speed but even if you
could you'll have a transcript of the
words or a bunch of those words but
you won't have understood any of it and
you certainly will not retain it instead
what you have to do is think through the
meaning of those words and summarize
what you're hearing in your own words
with your own understanding of the
material the result of this of course
is you know technique for properly
taking notes number two which is not
only should you not write down every
word you shouldn't just grab a few words
or phrases here or there and write those
down
it's like this say that the following
i'm going to write it here is a is a
transcript of what the lecturer said at
the front of the lecture
these aren't words obviously these are
just squiggles that i've written on a
piece of glass the point is okay say
that these were all of the words that
you'd heard what a lot of students will
do is they'll hear a bit and they'll
just they'll write down these few words
but then they can't write as fast as the
person can speak and so they miss a few
words they barely hear these because
they barely hear these words because
they're busy listening to those but they
grab a few more words they're able to
capture those they miss a few more they
grab these they miss a few more they
grab those they're just writing down
like disconnected phrases
what you get from this technique is is
even worse often than not taking notes
at all because you've just got a
disconnected jumble of phrases which you
don't understand and because you were
busy writing exact phrases you were like
barely listening to the parts in between
and you don't retain anything this this
technique which is so common i would say
that this is the most common way that
people try to take notes this is a
disaster instead what you should do
is listen carefully
and understand what the person is saying
and then once you understand what
they're saying
write down a little bit of your that
understanding in your own words if they
talk for a minute
listen for that whole minute understand
that whole idea that took them a minute
to say and then
write down your own summary of that
one minute of of talking that one minute
of talking which will include 100 words
or 200 words write down that minute of
talking in in your own words in in five
words
and then get back to listening again and
do this for the whole lecture but what
if you don't understand it
what should you write down if you're
listening to the lecture and you don't
really understand the meaning or the
significance of what they're trying to
say what do you write down then you
don't write down anything you raise your
hand and you ask them to explain it
again you ask a question you have them
answer the question then you understand
it and you write down the thing that you
understand it simply won't work not in
this efficient powerful note-taking way
it simply won't work to just write down
some stuff that someone says that you
don't get but if you get it make sure
you understand it and then write that
down
that'll stick in your brain okay but but
you won't get enough words down right
that's okay that's not a problem that
brings us to
technique for properly taking notes
number three
add flesh within 24 hours uh okay what
do i mean by flesh uh this is a metaphor
right i mean flesh you know like flesh
like like like skin or whatever the idea
is that
those notes that you get down during the
lecture those are the bones that's the
skeleton but the creature hasn't been
created yet
your notes aren't done at the end of
lecture it doesn't take long
but just sit down for 10 minutes after
lecture within 24 hours it doesn't have
to be immediately after but
late that night before you go to bed
just 10 minutes go through those notes
and add in the other stuff the other
parts of understanding that you didn't
have time to get in
during class while you were writing
frantically because you're doing this
within 24 hours there'll be all these
memories that will be that will be
pulled up in your mind when you go
through these notes those memories will
be gone after 24 hours so you need to
get them while they're still there so
that when you then go look back at your
notes two months later
what you're looking back at is a more
filled out you know description of your
own understanding i'll just pause here
to admit
that many students won't do this part
number three because
number three is more time
like it's 10 or 15 minutes more and some
people
just
won't do it they they won't do it
they don't want to spend that 10 or 15
minutes or whatever okay fine but if you
do if you're one of the few who listens
to me and does this
it will increase the powers that you
have of retaining information in your
mind and having quality notes to look
back on later it will increase your
powers dramatically this will make all
of your courses way easier
i know most of you aren't going to do
this and it makes me so sad
um
it just makes me sad but anyway those of
you that do here this is this is gold
i'm giving you a golden piece of advice
all right moving on uh number four
write your notes
by hand with a pen or a pencil
don't type them on some kind of device
there's a very small number of
exceptions to this people who need to
take their notes electronically by
typing or whatever we'll talk about that
in a little bit the main thing i want to
emphasize here is that this is not my
opinion this is not what's worked for me
no no this is what science
has proven to be more effective when
taking notes a study from 2016 found
that quote
average final exam scores among students
assigned to classrooms that allowed
computers were 18
of a standard deviation lower and exam
scores of students in classrooms that
prohibited computers why is this well
there are several reasons and we will go
through several of them but the first
and most obvious reason is that if
students have their laptop in front of
them or their phone or whatever well
then they will click away and look at
all the other stuff on the internet they
will go and seek out all the much more
fun much more interesting stuff a paper
from 2008 published in the academic
journal computers and education
quote students who use laptops in class
spent considerable time multitasking
the level of laptop use was negatively
related to several measures of student
learning including self-reported
understanding of course material and
overall course performance that means
they got worse grades a 2016 paper
published in psychological science
our results showed that non-academic
internet use was common among students
who brought laptops to class and was
inversely related to class performance
that means they got worse grades oh you
think you're not going to click away you
have the entire internet at your
fingertips every website much more
interesting things than the lecture
that's in front of you and you think
you're not going to be tempted to click
away who do you think you are
are you kidding me i'm a college
professor i go to faculty meetings with
all the other faculty if
i have my laptop at a faculty meeting
i click away to look at other stuff and
i look around at all the other
professors and guess what they do if
they've got a laptop in front of them or
a tablet or something
they click away they're checking their
emails no one is immune to this no one
is powerful enough to not
go do other things a study from 2013
found that participants who multitasked
on a laptop during a lecture scored
lower on a test compared to those who
did not multitask and participants who
were in direct view of a multitasking
peer scored lower on a test compared to
those who were not what this shows is
that not only can you not bring a laptop
or a tablet or whatever to class
if you're in a class
where the professor permits students to
take notes electronically you have to
sit at the front because you're paying
tuition and what are you gonna do you're
gonna you're gonna sit at the back and
be
distracted by the stuff that's on
everyone else's screen of course you're
gonna look at it are you kidding me and
you're gonna get worse grades get less
out of your tuition dollars why because
they want to
play a video game or shop for boots or
whatever no sit in the front don't use a
computer
and don't get distracted by those other
schmoes who were using their computers a
paper from 2018
divided attention reduced long-term
retention of the classroom lecture which
impaired subsequent unit exam and final
exam performance this paper from 2012
participants who did not use any
technologies in the lectures
outperformed students who used some form
of technology okay but what if i'm only
using the internet to look up stuff
that's related to the class like if i
hear something and i don't know what it
is so i quickly google it to understand
it in class that's the only way i'm
going to use the internet during class
oh yeah that's the only way mm-hmm yeah
who are you kidding but even if you
could do that even if that's the case
there's this 2016 paper published in
psychological science class related
internet use was not associated with a
benefit to classroom performance okay
okay what if you use a device that
simply can't connect to the internet and
there's nothing else on it the only
thing it will do is allow you to take
notes by typing those notes what about
that is that better it is not here's a
study from 2014 even when laptops are
used solely to take notes they may still
be impairing learning
because their use results in shallower
processing in three studies we found
that students who took notes on laptops
performed worse on conceptual questions
than students who took notes long hand
we show that whereas taking more notes
can be beneficial laptop note takers is
tendency to transcribe lectures verbatim
rather than processing information and
reframing it in their own words is
detrimental to learning that's the point
the problem with taking notes by typing
those notes out even if you're totally
immune to the powers of temptation to be
looking other things up on the internet
okay even if you're totally immune to
that the problem with typing out your
notes is that you can type too fast you
can type so quickly that you can almost
type word for word everything that's
going on but if you do that
your processing will be shallower you
won't
think through the information instead
what you need to do is take notes by
hand because that will force you to
summarize what you're hearing and that
will force you to process the
information to think about the meanings
of the words that you're hearing
and that's how you absorb the material
that's how you do it
that's how this works a paper from 2003
students in the open laptop condition
suffered decrements on traditional
measures of memory for lecture content a
second experiment replicated the results
of the first the word decrements means
reductions
lowering of a certain number what number
their scores on what that paper called
traditional measurements of memory that
just means quizzes they gave them
quizzes to see if they understood and
remembered things and
they didn't from 2009 once they
experience not using a laptop in the law
school classroom environment they often
change their method of taking notes and
report improved learning and classroom
experiences and finally a 2017 paper
students have a clear preference for
digital texts but students recalled key
points linked to the main idea and other
relevant information better when engaged
with print okay have i gone through
enough of the science
this is clear at this point we know this
as a species we have proven it if you
want to retain information
you need to take notes by hand not by
typing those notes on any device now
there are some exceptions to this
obviously there are students who have
some disability that makes it
physically impossible for them to write
you know if you have a
a problem with your hand of course then
you need to get that registered with
your university's office of disability
services so that you can type if you
need to type
to take notes you need to type and
there's also a very small number of
students who are neurodiverse in one way
or another and really and truly need to
take notes by typing them yes yes yes if
that's you of course you need to take
notes in the way that's going to work
for you but i want to emphasize the
following the mere fact that you
want to take notes by typing or the mere
fact that you think it will be easier
for you or you think it will be better
for you to take notes by typing no
that doesn't mean that it's better for
you to take notes by typing you need to
have a real
genuine disability you need to be
genuinely neurodiverse in a way that has
been that has been examined by medical
professionals
if you're going to give yourself
permission rationally to type your notes
rather than take them by hand
okay that's what i've got that's how to
take notes
you
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