Re: taking notes

["John S. Denker" <jsd@MONMOUTH.COM>]

Bernard Cleyet wrote:
> I've heard of another reason for taking notes:  even if one doesn't read them
> later, the info. will more likely be remembered, because of the act of writing
> (in addition to hearing) -- is this true?

:-) Anyone who says this is true is wrong.
:-) Anyone who says this is not true is wrong.

Seriously:  It depends on the student.

Some students swear that the act of writing makes the
material more memorable.  I have no reason to doubt it.

For others, including me, the act of writing is a
burden and a distraction.  I learn by thinking
about stuff as it is being said, trying to make
connections with other things I know.  I also learn
by asking questions, and it takes some effort to
formulate a good question.  The effort spent taking
notes detracts from this.

I once took meticulous notes in a course, just to see
... but I couldn't detect any advantage.  Not for me.

Bottom line:  Those who want to take notes should take
notes.  Those that don't shouldn't be forced to.  Not
all students are alike.

=======

Aside:  I have long suspected that writing notes in
class has a more subtle advantage:  You (the teacher)
can _see_ the notes being taken, and this gives valuable
feedback as to the pace of the lecture.  Sometimes
it is necessary to pause so the students can "get
caught up with their notes".  If the class were 100%
populated by people who don't take notes, the need
to pause would still be there, so the students can
get caught up with their thinking ... but it would
be much harder for you to see.

There are other ways of solving the pacing problem,
such as reading body language and/or asking lots of
questions ("is everybody caught up with this?") but
all solutions require effort.  Teaching is hard work.

=======

Let's move now from the advantage of the note-taking _act_
to the advantage of later having good notes to look at.
That's a different subject entirely.

If there is no textbook, for instance the first time
some great wizard gives a course in a new subject, then
having good notes is very valuable.  On several occasions
where I've been in such a situation, we recruited some
of our fellow students to take notes and distribute them.

This was very highly organized:  There were three students,
selected for their clear handwriting.  They operated
as a tag-team.  Each was responsible for one
out of every three chalkboards of material.  Later they
would collate the three streams, get clarification from
the professor on questionable points, and then make copies
for everybody.

Nowadays, such enterprises are rarely necessary.  Usually the
prof is using a laptop instead of a chalkboard, and makes
the notes available in .html or .pdf format.  In addition,
I like to pass out such notes in paper form at the
beginning of class, so that anybody who wants to make
further annotations can do so.  Having the preprinted
notes gives them a running start, so they can concentrate
on the most salient bits without losing the routine bits.
Those who wish to ignore the handouts and take their own
notes are welcome to do so.