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Re: [Phys-l] note-taking, or not

I used to write all my notes on the board. Much work for me, and it
changed slightly for each class. Kids would copy all my notes. Much work
for them. More importantly, I would finish writing, talk more, do a demo,
and the "slow" kids would still be writing. Not the best way to learn
physics.

About a decade ago I decided to type of my complete notes and give them
out at the start of each topic. This works well for the vast majority of
my kids, but a few still prefer to write things down. I always put the
essentials on the board. In recent years I have developed peer instruction
questions for my lectures. It's more engaging and they are focused on me
and the physics concepts, not note-taking. Peer instruction forces them to
talk and makes them responsible for their own learning. It has transformed
how I teach and how students learn.

This all takes a very long time to do but is worth it in the end. There is
no replacement for an engaging physics teacher.


phys-l@phys-l.org writes:
There's a funny moment in Eric Mazur's talk about physics lecturing
(Confessions of a Converted Lecturer). He says that his students
complained in his year-end evaluations that he didn't provide copies of
his lecture notes. So he did. Then the next group complained in his
evaluations: "This guy just teaches from his notes."

I don't often teach from powerpoints. But when I do, I always make them
available digitally (email or on my site). But what I occasionally do
and wish I had time to do more often is give my students detailed note
outlines but with strategically chosen gaps where I would like them to
write down the developing ideas for themselves -- deriving an equation,
working through some particular mathematical result. I guess I still
believe that there is a connection between writing and remembering. Don't
have any evidence for that particular belief.

Also, the ability to create organized notes is a talent. I don't know
for sure that that particular talent correlates with the ability to
understand physics. Let's just say that I have taught many students who
could NOT produce clear notes but who learned quite well anyway. As for
the ones who can, well one outstanding student once gave me a copy of the
two years worth of notes she had taken in my honors and AP physics
classes. I was amazed that anyone could produce that quality of notes
based on what I had presented. It was alchemy...

-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@www.phys-l.org
[mailto:phys-l-bounces@www.phys-l.org] On
Behalf Of John Denker
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2012 4:05 PM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: [Phys-l] note-taking, or not

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.
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Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@www.phys-l.org
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_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@www.phys-l.org
http://www.phys-l.org/mailman/listinfo/phys-l