AP Research
Problems
Theories
Methods
Questions
Handwritten notes help you remember better compared to typed notes
Need to do a pretest as the students might already be familiar with the topic that is being tested
Motor skills helps you remember better
How does the quality and quantity of notes influence information learned?
Which method of note-taking is better?
Ex. Cornell notes, Mindmaps, graphic notes...etc
Testing memory
Give a list of words and see how many words students could recognize
Make sure students are given distraction after memorizing info. The test should not happen immediately after the list is shown.
One method was math questions that was completely unrelated to the lecture material.
Purpose of notes
They are used when reviewing information. It is already proven that the more students review, the better that they get.
Reviewing notes is proven to enhance memorization of information, but what would be the amount of time and the term for the period of time that best allows students to retain information?
Give a video/in-person lecture and determine the number of main ideas that students are able to recognize
May also require student's ability to recognize main idea from other information so the main ideas has to be signposted.
To what extent is a question factual compared to conceptual? How do we distinguish between these?
Would memorizing more information mean that students are learning more?
Usually, when one types up notes, they write every single word on the document, which leads to memorization
When one handwrites the notes, they cannot follow the speed so they write it in their own words, which goes through brain processing and allows one to learn about the concept instead of fact
Does the note-taking medium influence information that could be memorized through note-taking?
Lack of familiarity with the note-taking medium could influence memory retention as one is not fully focused in writing notes.
Lecture Material/Topic
Has to be something students could understand, yet have minimal prior knowledge about the topic.
How would the results compare for video/in-person lecture?
In one experiment, one group was tested right after and another group was given time to review. The students who were tested right after taking notes scored better.
What method should be taught it school?
Shown to have no influence, but the more quality of notes, the more information is memorized.
Does having digital device during lecture influence other students? Is it a source of distraction?
In terms of the test scores, students who did not have digital device were not distracted, but those who had digital device were distracted, which hindered their academic performance
Qualitative Analysis
Should survey be done about student's perspective of using iPads to take notes? Do they view it as a source of distraction?
How does note-taking and its effect different between different languages? Does it matter?
Visual-motor information relates to memory retention and free recall as note-taking allows students to memorize visually rather than focusing on the information.
Limitation: Lab setting
Students will behave differently if there is a reward vs. when it doesn't have an influence on their grade. They might not take the experiment seriously
Yes. In fact, the process of processing and reviewing information during note-taking allows students to not only memorize, but obtain a deeper understanding from taking ntoes.
Speed of motor skill is important. When students are able to write down more information, they are likely to remember it better.
Because note-taking is one of the activity that is tested to require the greatest cognitive effort, or concentration skills, it would help students to obtain more understanding and information from the lecture.
The lecture rate also matters. When students are handwriting, the lecture speed as to be relatively slow for the students to easily capture the information.