[Phys-l] note-taking, or not

[John Denker <jsd@av8n.com>]

On 04/30/2012 09:56 AM, Bill Nettles wrote:
> The results can be captured to PDFs and posted online so that
> students aren't so absorbed in note taking that they miss the physics
> (it's hard to get them to believe in that).

Well, some believe and some don't.  Attitudes toward note-
taking can vary quite a bit from situation to situation.

So far as my own personal learning goes, I certainly find 
it next to impossible to take notes and pay attention at 
the same time.

OTOH there are a lot of students who insist that the
/process/ of taking notes in class helps them learn.  I 
am skeptical of this, and I certainly don't understand it
... but I am not quite ready to tell these students they 
are wrong ... not all of them, anyway.  It may be that 
some of them are simply better than I am at taking notes, 
so they can still pay attention while taking notes.

On the third hand, there are some institutions where the
students expect handouts, and would be quite upset if you 
didn't provide them.

Just to be clear, I'm sure everybody agrees that /having/
the notes is good for the students.  The question is whether 
the /process/ of taking notes in class is helpful or not.

In more detail:  I think there are at least three categories:

1) For a few students, the process of taking notes in class
 really does help, and they know it.

2) Many students have been browbeaten into believing that
 they "must" take notes in class ... even though doing so 
 is quite unhelpful to them.

3) Some students have figured out that in except in the 
 most extraordinary circumstances, there are textbooks and 
 handouts etc. that make it unnecessary to for most students
 to take notes in class, except for the occasional comment 
 or correction.


There are plenty of students in category (2).  They have 
been so thoroughly indoctrinated that they think note-taking
is /synonymous/ with learning ... just as they think sig figs
are synonymous with precision.

Here is evidence of what I am saying.  In the context of 
the upcoming open house at Sunnydale HS:

Joyce Summers: Uh-huh. So, what do you think your teachers 
               are gonna tell me about you?
Buffy Summers: Well, I think they'll all agree that I always
               bring a pen to class, ready to absorb the 
               knowledge. 
Joyce Summers: And, uh, this absorption rate? How is it 
               reflected in your homework and test scores?
Buffy Summers: What can you really tell about a person from
               a test score?
Joyce Summers: Whether or not she's ever going out with her 
               friends again.

That suggests that in popular culture, some students are so 
unsophisticated that they take it for granted that note-taking 
is synonymous with learning ... although some grown-ups are 
skeptical.

For students in category (2), we agree that if you tell them
they don't need to take notes, they simply will not believe
you the first time ... or even the tenth time.

Of course I am *not* talking about the process of taking
lab notes in the lab notebook, which is something else
entirely.

======================

Bottom line:  
 a) I provide handouts so people don't need to take notes. I 
  provide the handouts /in advance/ to the extent possible,
  so people can scribble on the handouts if they like.
  Otherwise I write up my own notes of what happened and
  make those available.

 b) OTOH I don't get bent out of shape if some folks want
  to ignore the handouts and/or take their own notes.

================================

More generally:  There are some students, especially the more
grown-up students, who know how to study and know how to learn.
They know what methods work best for them, and we should respect
that, even if their approach is different from my approach.

OTOH there are plenty of students who have definitely not
figured out good strategies for studying and learning, and
could greatly benefit from advice and training on this point.
The topic of note-taking is the tip of a very large iceberg.

There is an unimaginable amount of educational psychology
literature on the topic of note-taking.  As usual, most of
it is not worth reading.