GuidedNotesImprovingtheEffectivenessofYourLectures

WilliamL.HewardOhioStateUniversity

WhatAreGuidedNotes?
Guidednotesareinstructorpreparedhandoutsthatprovideallstudentswithbackgroundinformationandstandardcues withspecificspacestowritekeyfacts,concepts,and/orrelationshipsduringthelecture.Guidednotes(GN)require studentstoactivelyrespondduringthelecture,improvetheaccuracyandefficiencyofstudents'notetaking,andincrease students'retentionofcoursecontent.GNcanhelporganizeandenhancelecturecontentinanydisciplineorsubjectarea. InstructorscandevelopGNforasinglelecture,foroneormoreunitswithinacourse,orforanentiresemesterlong course.GNfollowstheprinciplesofUniversalDesignforlearningtheyimprovelearningforallstudents.

SomeProsandConsoftheLectureMethod
Lecturingisoneofthemostwidelyusedteachingmethodsinhighereducation.Theformatissimpleandstraightforward: theinstructortalks(andillustrates,demonstrates,etc.)andstudentsareheldresponsibleforobtaining,remembering,and usingthemostimportantcontentfromthelectureatalatertimemostoftenonaquizoranexam.

Advantagesoflecturing.
Althoughsomeeducatorsconsiderthelecturemethodoutdatedandineffective,itoffersseveraladvantagesandreasons foritscontinueduse(Barbetta&Scaruppa,1995;Michael,1994). Lecturingisanefficientuseoftheinstructorstime.Agoodlecturecanbepresentedfromonesemestertothe next,reducingsubsequentplanningandpreparationtimetoreviewandupdate. Lecturingisversatile.Itcanbeusedwithlargeorsmallgroups,foranycurriculumarea,andcanlastfromafew minutestoseveralhours. Theinstructorhascompletecontrolofcoursecontent.Whenlecturing,theinstructorhascompletecontrolover thelevelofdetailanddegreeofemphasiswithwhichcoursecontentiscovered. Lecturingenablescoverageofcontentnotavailableinpublishedform.Forexample,findingsfromjustcompleted orongoingresearchprojectsmaybepresentedtostudentsvialecture. Thelecturemethodcanbeusedtosupplementorelaboratecoursecontent.Contentthatisparticularly importantordifficultforstudentstolearndirectlythroughtext,web,orfieldbasedactivitiescanbehighlighted duringthelecture. Thelecturemethodprovidesflexibility.Theinstructorcanprobestudentsunderstandingandmakeonthespot adjustmentstothelectureifwarranted. Lecturescanbepersonalized.Instructorscancustomizelecturestomeetstudentsinterestsandbackgrounds. Lecturescanbemotivatingforstudents.Studentscanseeandheartheirinstructorslevelofenthusiasmforand commitmenttothediscipline.

Disadvantagesoflecturing.
Thelecturemethodalsoposessomesignificantchallengesforstudentsandinstructors. Coursecontentisoftenpresentedvialectureinunorganizedandunevenfashion.Thismakesitdifficultfor studentstodeterminethemostimportantaspectsofthelecture(i.e.,Whatsgoingtobeontheexam?). Studentscanbepassiveobservers.Thetypicallecturedoesnotrequirestudentstoactivelyparticipate.Oneof themostconsistentandimportanteducationalresearchfindingsisthatstudentswhomakefrequent,relevant responsesduringalessonlearnmorethanstudentswhoarepassiveobservers.(Brophy&Good,1986;Fisher& Berliner,1985;Greenwood,Delquadri,&Hall,1984). Manycollegestudentsdonotknowhowtotakeeffectivenotes.Althoughvariousstrategiesandformatsfor effectivenotetakinghavebeenidentified(e.g.,Saski,Swicegood,&Carter,1983),notetakingisseldomtaughtto students. Thelistening,language,and/ormotorskilldeficitsofsomestudentswithdisabilitiesmakeitdifficultforthemto identifyimportantlecturecontentandwriteitdowncorrectlyandquicklyenoughduringalecture.Whilewriting oneconceptinhisnotebook,thestudentwithlearningdisabilitiesmightmissthenexttwopoints(Hughes& Suritsky,1994). Instructorssometimesgetofftrackfromtheprimaryobjectivesofthelecture.Professorsespeciallythosewho reallyknowandlovetheirdisciplinesarefamous(infamous!)forgoingoffontangentsduringlecture.Although anecdotesareinterestingandprovideenrichingcontext,theycanmakeitdifficultforeventhemostskillednote takerstodeterminethemostimportantcontent.

WhyUseGuidedNotes?
Studentsproducecompleteandaccuratelecturenotes.Studentswhotakeaccuratenotesandstudythemlater consistentlyreceivehighertestscoresthanstudentswhoonlylistentothelectureandreadthetext(Baker& Lombardi,1985;Carrier,1983;Kierwa,1987;Norton&Hartley,1986).Inaccurateandincompletelecturenotes

areoflimitedvalueforsubsequentstudy.GNhelpleveltheplayingfieldbetweenstudentswithandwithout goodnotetakingskills. GNincreasestudents'activeengagementwithcoursecontent.TocompletetheirGN,studentsmustactively respondtothelecture'scontentbylistening,looking,thinking,andwriting. Guidednotestakeadvantageofoneofthemostconsistentandimportantfindingsinrecenteducational research:studentswhomakefrequent,lessonrelevantresponseslearnmorethanstudentswhoarepassive observers. Studentscanmoreeasilyidentifythemostimportantinformation.BecauseGNcuethelocationandnumberof keyconcepts,facts,and/orrelationships,studentsarebetterabletodetermineiftheyaregettingthemost importantcontent. "Guidednotesarewonderful,especiallyduringalecture.Theyclueyouinonwhatisimportant."College studentwithlearningdisabilities. Studentsaremorelikelytoasktheinstructorquestions.Austin,Gilbert,Thibeault,Carr,andBailey(inpress) foundthatstudentsinanintroductorypsychologycourseaskedmorequestionsandmademorecomments duringlectureswhenGNwereusedthantheydidduringlectureswhentakingtheirownnotes. StudentsearnhigherquizandexamscoreswithGN.Experimentalstudieshaveconsistentlyfoundthatstudents acrossallachievementlevelsthosewithandwithoutdisabilitiesearnhighertestscoreswhenusingguided notesthantheyearnwhentakingtheirownnotes(Austinetal.,inpress;Heward,1994;Lazarus,1993) GNcanserveasanadvanceorganizerforstudents.Somestudentshaveindicatedthattheybenefitfrom reviewingthelecturetopicspriortoattendingclass. Instructorsmustpreparethelecturecarefully.ConstructingGNrequiresinstructorstoexaminethesequenceand organizationoflecturecontent. Instructorsaremorelikelytostayontaskwiththelecture'scontentandsequence.BecauseGNletstudents knowwhat'ssupposedtocomenext,instructorsarelesslikelytostrayfromtheplannedcontent.Andifand whenaninstructordoeswander,studentsknowthattheinformationis,atmost,supportingcontextor enrichment,andnotcriticalcoursecontentforwhichtheywillbeheldresponsible. GNhelpinstructorsprioritizeandlimitlecturecontent.Manyinstructorspacktoomuchinformationintotheir lectures.Whilethistendencyisunderstandableinstructorswanttheirstudentstolearnasmuchaspossible whenitcomestohowmuchnewlecturecontentstudentscanlearnandretain,lesscanbemore(Nelson,2001; Russell,Hendricson,&Herbert,1984).ConstructingGNrequiresdecisionsaboutwhatismostimportantfor studentstolearn. GNcontentcanbeeasilyconvertedintotest/examquestions. StudentslikeGNandappreciateinstructorswhopreparethem.Studentsappreciateandgivepositiveevaluation ratingstoinstructorswhodevelopandprovideGN. "LastsemesterIdevelopedguidednotesformytwolecturebasedcourses,andthefeedbackIreceivedfrom studentswasverypositive.Severalofmycolleaguestoldmestudentsintheirclassesaskediftheywouldstart usingguidednotes,too."Facultymemberinpsychologydepartment.

TwoFAQsAboutGuidedNotes
Q: Isn'tprovidingstudentsespeciallycollegestudentswithguidednotesmakingittooeasyforthem?Arewejust "spoonfeeding"themtheinformation? Tocompletetheirguidednotesstudentsmustactivelyrespondbylooking,listening,thinking,andwritingabout criticalcontentthroughoutthelecture.Wemakeittooeasyforstudentswhenweteachinwaysthatletthemsit passivelyduringclass. Whynotjustpassoutanoutlineofmylectureoracopyoftheguidednotesalreadycompleted? Distributingcompletedguidednotesreducesthenecessityforstudentstothinkandrespondduringclass,oreven toattendclassatall.

A:

Q: A:

GuidelinesforConstructingandUsingGuidedNotes
Examineexistinglectureoutlines(orcreatethemasnecessary)toidentifythemostimportantcoursecontent thatstudentsmustlearnandretainvialecture.Remember:lesscanmemore.Studentlearningisenhancedby lectureswithfewerpointssupportedbyadditionalexamplesandopportunitiesforstudentstorespondto questionsorscenarios(Russelletal.,1984). Deletethekeyfacts,concepts,andrelationshipsfromthelectureoutline,leavingtheremaininginformationto providestructureandcontextforstudents'notetaking. Insertformattingcuessuchasasterisks,lines,andbulletstoshowstudentswhere,when,andhowmanyfactsor conceptstowrite. UsePowerPointslidesoroverheadtransparenciestoprojectkeycontent.Visuallyprojectingthekeyfacts, definitions,concepts,relationships,etc.thatstudentsmustwriteintheirGNhelpsensurethatallstudentsaccess themostcriticalcontentandimprovesthepaceofthelecture.

Leaveamplespaceforstudentstowrite.Providingaboutthreetofourtimesthespaceneededtotypethe contentwillgenerallyleaveenoughroomforstudents'handwriting. Donotrequirestudentstowritetoomuch.UsingGNshouldnotundulyslowdownthepaceofthelecture.Two studiesfoundthatstudentsexamscoresforlecturestaughtwithGNthatcouldbecompletedwithsinglewords andshortphraseswereashighastheirtestscoresoverlecturestaughtwithGNthatrequiredmoreextensive writingtocomplete(Austin&Sasson,2001;Courson,1989). EnhanceGNwithsupportinginformation,resources,andadditionalresponseopportunities.Considerinserting diagrams,illustrations,photos,highlightedstatementsorconceptsthatareparticularlyimportant(e.g.,BigIdeas) andresourcessuchasbibliographiesandwebsitesintoGN.Setsofquestionsorpracticeproblemsinterspersed withinGNgivestudentsadditionalopportunitiestorespondandreceiveinstructorfeedbackduringthelecture. MakeGNavailabletostudentsviacoursewebsiteand/orphotocopiedcoursepackets.Manyinstructorsare understandablyconcernedthatmakingtheirlecturenotesavailablepriortoclasswillreduceattendancebecause studentswillassumethenotescontainalltheinformationtheyneed.However,distributingGNbeforeclassmay givestudentsanincentivetoattendclassinordertocompletethenotes.

References&Resources
Austin,J.L.,Gilbert,M.,Thibeault,M.,Carr,J.E.,&Bailey,J.S.(inpress).Theeffectsofguidednotesonstudent respondingandrecallofinformationinauniversityclassroom.JournalofBehavioralEducation. Austin,J.L.,&Sasson,J.R.(2001).Acomparisonbetweenlongformandshortformguidednotesinauniversity classroom.Manuscriptsubmittedforpublication. Barbetta,P.M.,&Scaruppa,C.L.(1995).Lookingforawaytoimproveyourbehavioranalysislectures?Tryguidednotes. TheBehaviorAnalyst,18,155160. Courson,F.H.(1989).Differentialeffectsofshortandlongformguidednotesontestscoresandaccuracyofnotetaking bylearningdisabledandatriskseventhgradestudentsduringsocialstudiesinstruction.UnpublishedPh.D.dissertation, TheOhioStateUniversity,Columbus. Carrier,C.A.(1983).Notetakingresearch:Implicationsfortheclassroom.JournalofInstructionalDevelopment,6(3),19 25. Heward,W.L.(1994).Three?lowtechstrategiesforincreasingthefrequencyofactivestudentresponseduringgroup instruction.InR.Gardner,D.M.Sainato,J.O.Cooper,T.E.Heron,W.L.Heward,J.Eshleman,&T.A.Grossi(Eds.),Behavior analysisineducation:Focusonmeasurablysuperiorinstruction(pp.283320).Monterey,CA:Brooks/Cole. Hughes,C.A.,&Suritsky,S.K.(1994).Notetakingskillsofuniversitystudentswithandwithoutlearningdisabilities.Journal ofLearningDisabilities,27,2024. Kierwa,K.A.(1987).Notetakingandreview:Theresearchanditsimplications.InstructionalScience,16,233249. Lazarus,B.D.(1993).Guidednotes:Effectswithsecondaryandpostsecondarystudentswithdisabilities.Educationand TreatmentofChildren,14,272289. Michael,J.(1994).Howtoteachacollegecourse.Unpublishedmanuscript.Kalamazoo,MI:WesternMichiganUniversity. Nelson,C.(May,2001).Whatisthemostdifficultstepwemusttaketobecomegreatteachers?NationalTeachingand LearningForumNewsletter,10(4). Norton,L.S.,&Hartley,J.(1986).Whatfactorscontributetogoodexaminationmarks?Theroleofnotetakingin subsequentexaminationperformance.HigherEducation,15,355371. Russell,I.J.,Hendricson,W.D.,&Herbert,R.J.(1984).Effectsoflectureinformationdensityonmedicalstudent achievement.JournalofMedicalEducation,59,881889.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR
WilliamL.HewardisProfessorofSpecialEducation,SchoolofPhysicalActivityandEducationalServices,TheOhioState University.Hiscurrentresearchinterestsincludelowtechmethodsclassroomteacherscanuseduringgroupinstruction toincreasestudentparticipationandachievement.Hewardhascollaboratedonmorethanadozenclassroomstudies evaluatingguidednotes,andheusesguidednotesinallofhislecturebasedcourses.HereceivedOSUsDistinguished TeachingAwardin1985.