How to Improve Student Note Taking - IDEA Paper 73 - Research-based Instructional Strategies

Oct 15, 2026

Students commonly record only about one third of a lesson’s essential information, which limits the learning benefits of note taking. Complete note production and meaningful review are both linked to higher student achievement, while the notes-taking process itself supports attention and assimilation. The authors provide instructors with research-based options, including complete or partial notes, prompts, lesson re-presentation, structured pauses, revision opportunities, laptop-use and “cyber slacking” controls, effective PowerPoint use, and explicit note-taking skill instruction, plus SOAR-based note review support.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Why Note Taking Is Effective

What Is Wrong with Students’ Notes

How Instructors Can Improve Student Note Taking

Note This: How to Improve Student Note Taking IDEA Paper \#73 • September 2018 Kenneth A. Kiewra • University of Nebraska Tiphaine Colliot • Rennes 2 University Junrong Lu • University of Nebraska Abstract Students are incomplete note takers who routinely record just one third of a lesson’s important information in their notes. This is unfortunate, because the number of lesson points recorded in notes is positively correlated with student achievement. Moreover, both the activity of recording notes and the subsequent review of notes are advantageous. The authors offer instructors a menu of research-based advice for bolstering student note taking: provide complete notes, provide partial notes, provide notetaking cues, re-present the lesson, provide pauses and revision opportunities, control laptop usage, control “cyber slacking,” use PowerPoint slides effectively, and teach note-taking skills. They also suggest ways to help students transform their notes during the note-review process and SOAR (select, organize, associate, and regulate) to success. Keywords: Note taking, SOAR, strategy instruction Kenneth Kiewra began his note-taking investigations while a graduate student at Florida State University in 1979. This research interest was prompted by his statistics professor, Harold Fletcher, who outlawed student note taking during class. Fletcher told his students that taking notes diverted their attention from the lecture; it was better to listen and think about the material than to mindlessly record what was being said. Yet Fletcher realized that students needed notes to review later, so he prepared written lesson notes and offered them to students following each class. Most students embraced the idea of kicking back during lectures and getting comprehensive notes afterward, but not Kiewra. He was a voracious note taker who had been named Note Taker of the Year Runner-Up twice in college. So, in Professor Fletcher’s class, Kiewra became a closet note taker. Heretreated to the back of the room and sat behind a former Seminole lineman, concealed by his bulk. There he huddled over a small notepad and wrote feverishly whenever Fletcher looked away. One day, as Kiewra scribbled, he sensed a presence creeping upon him from behind. He looked up to see Fletcher peering down at the notepad.“Mr. Kiewra, are you taking notes in my class?” Dr. Fletcher asked. Caught pen-handed, Kiewra could do nothing but lie: “Ah, no, I’m writing a letter to a friend back home.” Staring down at the now exposed pad, Fletcher retorted,“Well, how nice of you to tell your friend about omnibus testing.” Prompted by this experience, Kiewra conducted six note-taking studies under Fletcher’s supervision while in graduate school and has continued investigating note taking ever since, seeking optimal ways for students to record notes and for instructors to aid student note taking. Recently, Kiewra’s note-taking expertise had its day in court when he was summoned as an expert witness by a major energy company under fire from the US Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading investors. The evidence: investors’ meeting notes with energy-company executives. Kiewra examined the notes and described note-taking research that might invalidate them (2016) . Case closed. Now that you know a bit about the first author’s notetaking background, you have some context for the rest of our article on this practice. First we explain why note taking is potentially effective and important for student achievement. Next we describe problems associated with students’ notes that reduce their effectiveness. Last, we address several ways that instructors can improve student note taking and thus raise achievement. Why Note Taking Is Effective Most students take notes (Bonner & Holliday, 2006; Castello & Monereo, 2005), which is good because note taking serves two functions: process and product. The process of note taking (as Kiewra tried todo in Professor

FAQs

How much of a lesson’s important information do typical students record in their notes?

Students usually record about one third of a lesson’s important information in their notes.

Why is note taking effective for student achievement?

Note taking supports both the process (focusing attention during instruction) and the product (providing material that can be meaningfully processed during review).

What do instructors do to improve students’ note taking?

Instructors can provide complete or partial notes, use note-taking cues, re-present the lesson, include pauses and revision opportunities, manage laptop use and “cyber slacking,” use PowerPoint effectively, teach note-taking skills, and help students transform notes during review using SOAR.

Oct 15, 2026

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