Prep Talk

Taking Notes by Hand is Better for Long-Term Comprehension

Posted March 23rd, 2016

What’s the best way to take notes in class?

With all the new gadgets available today to help us keep track of things, you might think that they would be helpful in taking notes in class. Well, put your laptop or tablet away—studies are showing that we retain information and organize it better in our brains when we break out the pen and paper.

This might be of particular importance to students who grew up with digital toys and aren’t used to “writing” by hand. New findings from a series of studies published in Psychological Science indicates that students who take lecture notes on laptops tend to get more distracted, don’t retain the information well, and are less able to actually pay attention to what’s being said. The lead author of the study, scientist Pam Mueller of Princeton University, says she was inspired by her own experiences to investigate note-taking by hand versus laptop, and the findings were significant.

“In three studies, we found that students who took notes on laptops performed worse on conceptual questions than students who took notes longhand,” Mueller states. “We show that whereas taking more notes can be beneficial, laptop note takers’ tendency to transcribe lectures verbatim rather than processing information and reframing it in their own words is detrimental to learning.”

Does that mean we should abandon new technologies and go back to pen and paper exclusively? Not exactly. Students should use the methods that work best for them in note taking. Some might do better with a pad and pen, but there are other ways to avoid the perils of the keyboard that could be explored as well.

New Tech Can Give Old-School Benefits

An article in Association for Psychological Science that discusses the study mentioned that new stylus technologies are available.  These could be a way of electronically taking notes, while still receiving the benefits of auditorially processing the information as it comes in “rather than mindlessly transcribing it” via typing. For a list of options for note-taking apps and devices, check out this article from Techlicious on The Best Way to Take Notes.

At St. Augustine Prep, we’re invested in the success of our students and strive to stay abreast of new technologies and methods to enhance learning. What options have you found that work best for your child in taking notes?