Name::- Sneha Agravat
Batch:- 2020-22 (MA sem 1)
Paper 4:- Research Methodology
Topic name:- Importance of Note Taking in Research Writing
Roll no.:-16
Enrollment no.:-3069206420200001
E-mail Id :- snehaagravat2000@gmail.com
Submitted to:- S.B.Gardi Department Of English Maharaja krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University
Importance of Note Taking in Research Writing
Introduction:-
Note-taking is a valuable skill to individuals in both academic and non-academic settings. However, note-taking is not necessarily a skill that students have upon arriving at campus or learn through trial-and-error during their education (van der Meer, 2012).Many students have little to no proficiency in note-taking during teaching, especially during fast-paced lectures, and it is unclear if students' note-taking tendencies alter with time. The purpose of this review is to present experimental research-based insights on note-taking and to address common questions raised by students and instructors alike. The following responses are intended to provide students and instructors with practical note-taking tips in order to improve learning, recall, and long-term retention of course content.
What is Note Taking:-
Note-taking is the practice of writing down or otherwise recording key points of information. It's an important part of the research process. Notes taken on class lectures or discussions may serve as study aids, while notes taken during an interview may provide material for an essay, article, or book.
"Taking notes doesn't simply mean scribbling down or marking up the things that strike your fancy," say Walter Pauk and Ross J.Q. Owens in their book, "How to Study in College." "It means using a proven system and then effectively recording information before tying everything together."
Cognitive Benefits of Note-Taking:-
Note-taking involves certain cognitive behavior; writing notes engages your brain in specific and beneficial ways that help you grasp and retain information. Note-taking can result in broader learning than simply mastering course content because it helps you to process information and make connections between ideas, allowing you to apply your new knowledge to novel contexts, according to Michael C. Friedman, in his paper, "Notes on Note-Taking: Review of Research and Insights for Students and Instructors," which is part of the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching.
Shelley O'Hara, in her book, "Improving Your Study Skills: Study Smart, Study Less," agrees, stating:
"Taking notes involves active listening, as well as connecting and relating information to ideas you already know. It also involves seeking answers to questions that arise from the material."
Taking notes requires you to actively engage your brain as you identify what's significant in terms of what the speaker is saying and begin to organise that information into an intelligible structure for subsequent decoding. That procedure, which entails considerably more than merely scribbling down what you hear, demands considerable mental effort.
Note-Taking Methods:-
Note-taking aids in reflection, mentally reviewing what you write. To that end, there are certain methods of note-taking that are among the most popular:
The Cornell method involves dividing a piece of paper into three sections: a space on the left for writing the main topics, a larger space on the right to write your notes, and a space at the bottom to summarize your notes. Review and clarify your notes as soon as possible after class. Summarize what you've written on the bottom of the page, and finally, study your notes.
Creating a mind map is a visual diagram that lets you organize your notes in a two-dimensional structure, says Focus. You create a mind map by writing the subject or headline in the center of the page, then add your notes in the form of branches that radiate outward from the center.
Outlining is similar to creating an outline that you might use for a research paper.
Charting allows you to break up information into such categories as similarities and differences; dates, events, and impact; and pros and cons, according to East Carolina University.
The sentence method is when you record every new thought, fact, or topic on a separate line. "All information is recorded, but it lacks [the] clarification of major and minor topics. Immediate review and editing are required to determine how information should be organized," per East Carolina University.
Note-Taking Tips:-
Among other tips offered by note-taking experts:
Leave a space between entries so that you can fill in any missing information.
Use a laptop and download information to add to your notes either during or after the lecture.
Understand that there is a difference between taking notes on what you read and what you hear (in a lecture).
If you're unsure what that might be, visit a teacher or professor during office hours and ask them to elaborate.
Is it better to use pen and paper or a laptop to take notes?
Education researchers are still investigating the optimal note-taking medium (especially as laptop use in class becomes more common than pen and paper), but some initial insights can be drawn from current works, framed by the positive and negative aspects of laptop use relative to pen and paper note-taking. Laptop use may reduce the cognitive resources required for production, allowing for additional resources to be dedicated to comprehension during lecture relative to pen and paper note-taking, assisting in learning and long-term retention (Bui et al., 2013). However, the additional cognitive resources required for production in pen and paper note-taking may be alleviated in people who write relatively faster or in shorthand, as those people have automatized their writing so that their WM system is not extensively taxed during the act of note-taking (Peverly, 2006). Due to the relative ease of taking notes on a laptop, learners may also be inclined to take more notes than they would with a pen and paper medium.
Despite the benefits, there are also several costs associated with laptop note-taking. Although the relative ease of laptop use may encourage students to produce more notes than they would with pen and paper, there is an equal risk that learners may be susceptible to reproduce what the instructor is saying word-for-word rather than write notes in their own words.
Additionally, there is no consensus regarding whether note-taking on a laptop may impede the learning of students immediately surrounding the individual using a laptop, especially if that individual engages in multi-tasking during lecture (e.g., doing activities unrelated to instruction on their computer such as checking email, chatting with friends, and watching videos). Many students find that peers’ use of laptops during instruction can be distracting, even if the laptop-user is focused on note-taking. Students report that laptop use by peers is the greatest distraction during instruction (Fried, 2008), and specific distractors include what is on the peer’s screen as well as the sound of keystrokes (Borbone, 2009). However, the largest hazard to laptop use in class may be associated with multitasking.
How can we assess the quality of notes?:-
Due to various ways in which language can be changed by note-taking, in addition to the variety of note-taking styles to be discussed, it is relatively difficult to establish quality criteria that are valid for all forms of notes. Generally, notes are considered private and meaningful only to the note-taker, making it that much more difficult to establish a good criteria for high-quality notes (Piolat et al., 2005). For example, single words in notes that appear to be nonsensical to others may cue the creator of the notes to think about a personal experience and how it relates to the topic of the notes. It could even be argued that note quality cannot be assessed by anyone other than the user of the notes, as a specific note format ideal for one person may not be the best quality or way to convey content to someone else (Bui, Myerson, & Hale, 2013).
Supporting this claim, Kiewra and colleagues found that reviewing self-produced notes lead to better recall performance than reviewing another student’s notes (Kiewra et al., 1991).
If a student believes that they have created poor quality notes (regardless of the accuracy of their own assessment), that student may engage in behaviors or strategies that they would not have used otherwise to ensure they understand the associated content (e.g., borrowing another student’s notes and comparing details). Importantly, the quality of notes should not be confused with the quantity of notes. Just because a student takes an excess of notes does not necessarily make those notes more beneficial to the learner (Bui et al., 2013), and in some cases, even detrimental to learning outcomes (Mueller & Oppenheimer, in press).
Suggestions for Note Taking:-
Take generative notes
Review early and often
Test yourself
Carefully consider how you want to take notes
Be careful of misperceptions during learning
Explain your rationale for course policies
Provide students with material before lecture to orient them towards
important ideas or topics
Encourage students to take notes in their own words
Help make connections between current and past content
Carefully consider a laptop policy in your classroom
Conclusion:-
In a variety of areas and courses, note-taking is an acquired skill that increases student learning and retention of information. Importantly, for optimal learning, both comprehension and production processes (which both demand working memory resources) are required at the same time, making successful note-taking challenging to achieve. The methodology of evaluating notes might be subjective or variable from one study to the next, making it difficult to capture what constitutes high-quality notes consistently. Many other characteristics of note-taking, such as note style or format, varied mediums (pen and paper, laptop, handouts), physical environment, and the act of reviewing notes (including how those notes are reviewed), can all affect student learning and understanding of course content..
Work cited:
Brandner, Raphaela. “How to Take Effective Notes Using Mind Maps.” Focus.East Carolina University.
Friedman, Michael C. "Notes on Note-Taking: Review of Research and Insights for Students and Instructors." Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching, 2014.
Gardner, John N. and Betsy O. Barefoot. Step by Step to College and Career Success. 2nd ed., Thomson, 2008.
McWhorter, Kathleen T. Successful College Writing. 4th ed, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010.
Nordquist, Richard. "How to Take Better Notes During Lectures, Discussions, and Interviews." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/note-taking-research-1691352.
O'Hara, Shelley. Improving Your Study Skills: Study Smart, Study Less. Wiley, 2005.
Pauk, Walter and Ross J.Q. Owens. How to Study in College. 11th ed, Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2004.
Theroux, Paul. "A World Duly Noted." The Wall Street Journal, 3 May 2013.
Thank you…
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