Do you find some students sit in class but do not take notes? Do students mistakenly think that taking a picture of the content on the board is sufficient for learning?
Anyone who has completed a college degree knows that taking notes is a critical start to learning. However, teaching your first-year students college-level notetaking and study skills is necessary.
Saundra McGuire (2015), the author of Teach Students How to Learn, provides many examples of students whose grades on the first exam were a C, D, or F. Still, their exam scores shifted to B’s and A’s after a 50-minute presentation on metacognitive learning strategies (a clever name for college-level study skills). Professor McGuire has published several studies demonstrating the impact of teaching metacognitive learning strategies.
Professors may think, “But that’s not my job.” And yet, entering first-year students do not automatically have college-level learning skills. However, the skills are teachable and can be readily acquired. At Montgomery College, a two-year open institution, our role is to help students succeed here and in 300 and 400-level courses at their transfer institution.
One demographic variable stood out when the UMBC biology department took a deep dive into their data: Transfer students had DFW rates two and three times higher than those who started at UMBC in their first year. This fact should not be a surprise. Students who do not read the course materials, take notes, or study at the level required for the exam are likely to struggle in 300 and 400-level courses.
So how do you teach your students college-level notetaking and study skills? And how do you do so without overwhelming yourself with extra grading?
Teach students how to take notes
Freshmen learners must learn college-level notetaking (How to Study Smart, LLC., 2022). Campus Learning Centers offer numerous workshops throughout the semester. You can require your students to attend or ask the learning center to deliver a workshop to your class.
Numerous online videos teach the Cornell Method (Learning Strategies Center Cornell, 2019) or SQ3R (Jonson, 2013) or other methods of note taking (Lundin 2022) such as mind mapping, outlining, and more. Follow the links or do a quick search to find appropriate videos for your students. Or, make an assignment by having students work in groups to curate resources to teach notetaking to each other. Each group can present its findings to the class.
Require students to take notes
To establish the importance of notetaking, allow time in class for students to work in pairs (K. Patricia Cross Academy, n.d.) to check their notes for accuracy and completeness. Students will learn a lot from each other by comparing notetaking styles.
Susan Blumen, Business and Management, Montgomery College, teaches her students the SQ3R study method and then requires her students to take notes on the textbook chapter every week. When teaching in person, she walks around the classroom, asks each student to show their notes, and assigns points. Professor Antonio Del-Castillo Olivares, Biology, Montgomery College, uses a similar strategy because he realized that his students needed college-level notetaking skills to succeed in challenging biology courses.
If you are teaching online, have students submit their notes in a weekly assignment drop box. Provide detailed feedback during the first week or two to help students calibrate to college-level notetaking. From then on, assign points based on a reasonable effort. By monitoring the discussions and quizzes, you already know who took the notes seriously and who did not, but having a document to discuss with a student goes a long way in helping students rise to the challenge.
Can students pass your course if they are not taking notes on the book or in class? Can they learn the material in a way that helps them succeed in upper division courses? If the answer is no, then you have already established your reasons for teaching students to take notes and using their notes to study for your exams.
Teach Students How to Study
Some students may think that rereading their notes is the same as studying, but rereading creates an illusion of learning because the material looks more familiar each time. But at a minimum, many exams require students to explain or apply a concept or theory, which requires practice stating it clearly in their own words.
The Cornell Method is well respected because the notes are designed for studying. In the Cornell Method, a page is divided into two columns, a right-hand column about three-quarters of the page and a left-hand column about one-quarter of the page. Notes go in the right-hand column, while the left-hand column contains questions or cues used for studying. Cover the right-hand column with a sheet of paper and use the questions or cues to practice recalling and reciting the information by explaining it clearly and completely. Lift the cover sheet to check your answers for accuracy and completeness, and continue practicing until your explanations flow smoothly. This is just the beginning of many exams, so teaching your students how to study for your exams is vital.
Make it Count
An in-class quiz can be a quick way to practice recalling the information. The quizzes can be completed individually or in small groups. Quizzes can also be created in an LMS such as Blackboard or Canvas so they can be automatically administered and scored. Using multiple question sets or question pools is one way to randomize the questions so that each quiz assesses all of your objectives, but each student receives a random set of questions for each objective.
Bruce Madariaga, Montgomery College, uses a Jeopardy-style quiz bowl. As an economist, he uses a method that encourages students to assist each other in learning the material. The quiz bowl is conducted by placing the class into study groups. He randomly calls on a student from a group, but no other group member is allowed to assist. This rule provides an incentive for each group to ensure that all group members can answer the questions in the study guide. If a student cannot answer the question correctly, the question goes to a different group. See his Video, The Economics Exam Bowl! (Montgomery College, 2012)
College-level notetaking is a powerful skill that students can acquire with direct instruction and strategic activities that require students to take notes all semester until it becomes a habit. A quote comes to mind, “The hard must be made easy. The easy habitual, and the habitual a matter of perfect timing and focus” (Bassett, 1976). Students are in college to learn. Let’s ensure they have the skills they need to thrive at our school and in 300 and 400-level courses at the transfer institution.
References
Bassett, R. (1976). Zen Karate. Warner Books.
How to take notes in college (2022). How to Study Smart, LLC. https://shovelapp.io/how-to-get-good-grades/note-taking-strategies/
Learning Strategies Center Cornell. (2019, December 10). How to Use Cornell Notes. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/nX-xshA_0m8
Jonson, Jen. (2013, June 11). SQ3R Reading Method. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/0dhcSP_Myjg
Lundin, E. (2022, February 24). How to take better notes: The 6 best notetaking systems. College Info Geek. https://collegeinfogeek.com/how-to-take-notes-in-college/
Patricia Cross Academy. (n.d.) Notetaking Pairs. [Video]. https://kpcrossacademy.org/techniques/note-taking-pairs/
McGuire, S. (2015). Teach students how to learn. Stylus.
Montgomery College, Madariaga, Bruce. (2012, May 21). Economic Game Bowl Competition. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/WjJhhptHvXE
Additional Resources
Classroom Note Taking: A Solution to the Technology Conundrum?
https://www.learningandthebrain.com/blog/classroom-note-taking-a-solution-to-the-technology-conundrum/ (Some students prefer gadgets. Here are some options.)
The Cornell Note-taking System
https://lsc.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Cornell-Note_Taking-System.pdf (This is a one-page summary of the Cornell Method.)
37 Cornell Notes Templates & Examples [Word, Excel, PDF] ᐅ (templatelab.com)
https://templatelab.com/cornell-notes/#google_vignette
Sketcho Frenzy: The Basics of Visual Note-taking
https://youtu.be/gY9KdRfNN9w (For students who prefer graphical notes over outlining.)
Student Success Videos
https://www.montgomerycollege.edu/counseling-and-advising/student-success-courses.html `(Scroll to the Watch our Strategies for Success Videos! section at the bottom of the page for videos by MC Professor Elizabeth Kirby.)
Notetaking: A Research Roundup
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/note-taking/ (What the research says about notetaking. Includes a podcast, a written summary, and some videos.)
Saundra McGuire on Encouraging Faculty To Adopt Active Learning Strategies.
https://youtu.be/yfMl4fR9YXc