Essay: The effect of note taking on memory results

The purpose of this study was to investigate how note taking will yield to highest score on memory results than listening and doodling among selected students at De La Salle Lipa.
Designs was used in the study. Forty-five respondents were selected from the selected sections at De La Salle Lipa. The respondents were measured with relevant adaptive standardized scale (instruments) which includes note taking, listening, and doodling using [].
Introduction
Nowadays, students have their own styles to increase their academic performance. Some used note taking, sore are listening and doodling. Academic performance in both internal and external examinations had been used to determine one’s excellence in teachers and teaching (Ajaro 2001) consequent upon the observed determination in the academic performance of De La Salle Lipa students one wonders if note taking will yield highest score than listening and doodling.
Note taking has been a staple activity of academic life, particularly on lecture courses, for decade. Despite its widespread use in the past, few years, engage in the landscape of commercial note taking in promoting learning and their own role in the process (Muraina, Muraina, Amao & Clyde, 2013; Muriana, 2013). The questions presented reflect the concerns of instructors not only just about note taking, but also the decrease in the abilities of note taking.
Some research have found out that note taking in class have its positive impact on the student’s learning. Not surprisingly, the preponderance of studies confirms that students recall more lecture material if they record their notes (Bligh, 2009). Students who take notes score higher on both immediate and delayed tests of recall and synthesis than who do not take notes (Kiewra, Benton, and Lewis, 2007). Moreover, the more students record, the more they remember and get better perform on examinations (Johnstone and SU, 2004). As a summary, note taking improve learning skills of students, particularly when notes are reviewed prior to examinations.
Although it is widely assumed that listening is among the most important learning skills (Wolvin and Cookley, 1988), an examination of the literature indicates that it has been woefully neglected as subject matter in schools.
Many surveys (Kankin, 1930; Wolvin and Cookley, 1991; Clark and Gudaitis, 1991) have been conducted to ascertain if listening is being tough; other research has been conducted to determine if listening can be effectively taught (Ouker, 1964; Petrie, 1964; Hackett, 1955), but the little evidence suggests that the teaching of listening improves student performance. As a result , assertions regarding the value of listening as a learning skill may be based on an inadequate and incomplete understanding of the effects listening has on teaching.
On the other hand, research shows that doodling helps people stay focused, grasp new concepts and retain information. Doodles are spontaneous marks that can take many forms from abstract patterns or designs to images of objects, landscapes, people or letters, but doodling doesn’t include note taking.
Doodling in meetings and lectures helps ease tension for Samantha Wilson, a high-school teacher and graduate student from Southborough, Mass. Some researchers suspect doodling may help the brain remain active by engaging its ‘default networks’ regions that maintain a baseline of activity in the cerebral cortex when outside stimuli are absent.
Ms. Brown, the author, says doodling provides an alternative route to learning for some people. People that were encourage to doodle white in the middle of the class lecture were able to remember 29% more of the information on a surprise quiz later, according to a 2009 study in applied cognitive psychology.
Rationale
This study will be significant to find out the memory recall techniques carried by the experiment that will be held in De La Salle Lipa and to measure its effectiveness and accuracy through the test that will be given to students that are randomly assigned. This study will also be beneficial to the students and teachers in classroom management and studying habits. This study will help them identify which type of learning styles and mode of learning is more effective, whether it is in the form of listening, note taking and doodling.
By understanding the most effective learning style needed by the students and the benefits it could bring in their academic performance, the teachers and students are given an assurance of better performance at school. Moreover, this research will provide recommendations on how to evaluate the learning style of a certain individual in accordance to memory recall.
The direct recipients of the output of this research are the students. Any improvement of memory recall techniques can pave the way of producing better learning and discipline to academic performance. This study will show the effects of doodling, and note-taking and just listening of students’ performance in school. This study will be an important attempt in guiding the students in a way to start a new form of learning. This study will help students that do not know what is the effective study habit suited for them.
Also, this study will be very beneficial to the teachers, especially to the teachers who are still newbie in the teaching profession. Through this research, teachers may purposefully discover how to help their students to improve their academic performance by identifying what effective way of studying is conducive to learning, through doodling, or note-taking and listening.
The outcome of the study may also be beneficial also to the researcher. This study will be helpful in developing new ideas to the future researchers that needs back-up to their research. This study may be one of the basis that a new theory in learning will arise. This can also help parents that tutor their own children to teach them a good study habits.
Statement of the Problem
Hypothesis
1. There will be significant differences between the three learning techniques.
A. There will be a significant difference between note-taking and doodling.
B. There will be a significant difference between note-taking and listening.
C. There will be a significant difference between listening and doodling.
2. The note-taking technique will yield to highest score on memory recall
3. The doodling technique will yield to lowest score on memory recall.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Note- taking
A note on theories with a minimal length
According by Aminifard et al., as cited (Carrel et al., 2002) taking lecture notes is widely accepted as a useful strategy for augmenting student attention and retention of academic discourse. They also believe that note-taking is intuitively appealing to the lecture-listener and is generally viewed as a way to facilitate the process of learning and remembering lecture material. It was also stated by Aminifard as cited by (Kiewra, 1989) note-taking is beneficial for at least two reasons. First, note-taking aids lecture learning by activating attention mechanisms and engaging the learner’s cognitive processes of coding, integrating, synthesizing, and transforming aurally received input into a personally meaningful form. Second, note-taking is seen as beneficial because the notes taken serve as an external repository of information that permits later revision and review to stimulate recall of the information heard. Note-taking also perceived by examinees as a strategy that facilitates remembering the lecture content.
B. Listening
Listening Theory: Development and Illustration of Five Criteria
As we all know that listening comprehension is one of the most important parts in language communication, which is the foundation to develop other language skills. The earliest definition is given by Tucker and defined listening as an analysis of the impressions resulting from concentration where an effort of will is required. Later, another leading scholar Jones treated listening as a selective process by which sounds communicated by some source are received, critically interpreted, and acted upon by a purposeful listener. Among many definitions, Hirschi’s (1979) was viewed as a simple, but a clear one. He defined that listening can be regarded as the process whereby the human ears receive sound stimuli from other people and through a series of steps interprets the sound stimuli in the brain and remembers it.
Possible obstacles in listening:
‘ Wrong pronunciation of word
‘ Misunderstanding of intonation
‘ Unknowing about the phonetic phenomena
C. Doodling
Theories of Engagement and Motivation
The doodle is at once the most common and the most ignored art form and yet for all its primitively, and despite its surely universal occurrence among the literate peoples of the world, there was no English word for the behavior we now call doodling until the middle of the twentieth century. According to the other researchers, doodling aids concentration. However, the Oxford English Dictionary defines doodle as an aimless scrawl made by a person while his mind is otherwise applied cites a source for the first use of the word doodle in the familiar, autohypnotographic sense by Russell M. Arundel, who in his 1937 book Everybody’s Pixilated defines the doodle as a scribble or sketch made while the conscious mind is concerned with matters wholly unrelated to the scribbling. Arundel makes the claim that civilized man’s natural state is one of “pixilation”–a condition of pixie-like enchantment that, though concealed by the lumber and business of modern life, emerges most clearly in the automatic writing he calls doodling.
D. RECALL
A Lockean Theory of Memory Experience
For Locke, memory is a power of the mind “to revive Perceptions, which it has once had, with this additional perception annexed to them, that it has had them before”. Locke’s theory of recall was attacked by Reid who poured scorn on the notion that memory experience is a revival of previous perceptual experience.
According to the levels-of-processing effect theory, alternative theory of memory suggested by Fergus Craik and Robert Lockhart, memory recall of stimuli is also a function of the depth of mental processing, which is in turn determined by connections with pre-existing memory, time spent processing the stimulus, cognitive effort and sensory input mode. Thus, low processing leads to a fragile memory trace that is susceptible to rapid decay, whereas deep process results in a more durable memory trace. This theory suggests, then, that memory strength is continuously variable, as opposed to the earlier Atkinson-Shiffrin, or multi-store, memory model, which just involves a sequence of three discrete stages, from sensory to short-term to long-term memory. While based in psychology, recall is the act of retrieving information from the past. Also, it is simply bringing a thought or idea learned previously, and thus stored in memory into conscious awareness. When remembering something from the past event or lecture, you are actually “recalling” the memory. Retrieval of information is much more likely if individuals are tested in the same physical context in which the event they are trying to recall occurred.
OPEREATIONAL FRAMEWORK The figure shows the possible relationship between note-taking, listening and doodling to memory recall among the respondents. This also illustrates the intervention of the personal profile of the College Students of De La Salle Lipa such as age, gender and course to the relationship of the three variables and how these variables (note-taking, listening and doodling) contributes to the memory recall and to the profile of the respondents.
Review of Related Literature
LISTENING
Over the past 25 years, researchers use and development the language learning strategies. Researchers such as O’Malley and Chamot (1990), Oxford (1990), and Rubin and Thompson (1994), along with many others, have examined the issues related to learner strategies. This study focuses on language learning strategies which pertain to listening comprehension. Researchers like, Rubin (1994) and Chamot (1995) included a section on research related to listening comprehension strategies. This review examines research related to listening strategies in several areas: types of cues used by listeners; the sequence of listening; differences between more and less proficient listeners; listening strategy instruction; strategies versus tactics; and identifying listening problems.
While, several researchers have supported the theory that listening utilizes linguistic processes. According to Morley (1982), listening is characterized as an accessible language skill in which the listeners actively assimilate or understand the messages presented to them by the speakers. However based to Burlley-Allen (1982), listening is more complex than just hearing. Through listening, it engaged and involved background and linguistic knowledge and it involves responding. Other researchers identified several steps in listening process similar to the Clark and Clark’s model by Richard (1983), which is divided into four steps: a. the listener takes in the raw speech and holds an image of it in short-term memory, b. made to organize what was heard and identifying its content and function, c. construct to form a coherent message and d. once the listener identified the reconstructed the meaning, and these are held in long-term memory.
Based on the other researchers like Saricoban (1999), listening is the ability to understand, analyze and identify what others are saying. This involves understanding the pronunciation of the speaker and also understanding the grammar and vocabulary being delivered. On the other hand, according to Anderson and Lynch, listening is somewhat a complicated process because several knowledge and skill work together. Also, to be a successful listener they would work out and understand what the speaker means. In conclusion, listening is the way of learning the language. Listening is an important skill because during listening, the listener can get a specific and some information that he or she wants to know.
DOODLING
When bored to lectures, listeners tend to doodle things what they have heard. Doodling is the way in passing time when bored. Based on the medical journal in the Lancet (2011), scientists in the past thought doodles provided a window into the doodler’s psyche, but the idea is not supported by research. Other researchers believed that doodling may perhaps help the brain remain active. On the other hand, according to a 2009 study in Applied Cognitive Psychology, people who were encouraged to doodle while listening to a list of people’s names being read were able to remember 29% more of the information. This also improves performance by aiding concentration (Do & Schallert, 2004) or maintaining arousal (Wilson & Korn, 2007).
In the study of the ten doodlers, they were equipped by researchers to share their sketches on social media, using digital pens and Bluetooth-equipped phones. According to the study presented in Stockholm conference on human-computer interaction (2011), it showed that a doodle also can express emotions too complex for words. Several of the participants’ doodles expressed complex emotions they wouldn’t have shared via written posts or texts.
But on the other studies, doodling does not work for all tasks. According to a 2012 study published by the University of British Columbia people who were asked to view and remember a collection of images struggled at the task if they were asked to doodle at the same time. The reason behind it is that doodlers’ visual-processing ability was divided between two visual tasks.
A student who doodles while lecturing are considered visual learners, they are considered the majority of learners by a small margin. During a study session, visual learners tend to use a visual matrix style of recording their notes. They are often known as mind-mapping, notes are constructed of shapes, colors, sketches, and pictures. These learners prefer to learn from books, pictures, maps, and diagrams.
During a class, visual learners tend to watch the face of the lecturer while they attempt to imagine the details of the instruction. Auditory learners are best engaged while listening to, and discussing, information. They tend to make up 20% of the classroom. Lecture is their preferred instructional style, and consequently they perform well in the traditional school structure. Auditory learners might also be frequently called out in class for their love of talking, storytelling, and desire to laugh (Tileston, 2005).
There is this thing called mind mapping which is associated with note taking and doodling, it is often a more illustrative way of taking notes in which students draw connections to like ideas through a hierarchical layout. This method is intriguing because it is a simultaneous stimulation to both sides of the brain. The left side of the brain has been said to house logic, lines, and words. The right side of the brain is responsible for colors, pictures, and curves. The engagement of both the left and right side of the brain increases the level of understanding, which in turn raises retention and speed of learning. Mind mapping requires distinguishing main ideas and details by making connections. Mind maps are great for seeing the bigger picture, increasing the capacity for complex data and dramatically increasing the level of concentration. The more concentration the less time needed to study and the more results are demonstrated. Mind mapping has been proven to be 3’10 times faster than writing linear, sequential notes. The important distinction here is that not everyone has a visual learning preference and would therefore not be able to employ this method. (“Use Colours To Improve Memory Retention, Comprehension And Understanding,” 2010).
NOTE-TAKING
Note-taking is more than just writing down things to be remembered. The note-taking ecosystem can be affected by a wide variety of things: emotions, attention levels, listening abilities, materials used, social implications, learning styles, writing skills, etc. All affect the memory, which is the key to learning, ‘There is no memory without learning and no learning without memory’ (Thompson, 2005).
Research on note taking indicates that taking notes in class and reviewing those notes have a positive impact on student learning. Studies confirm that students recall more lecture material if they record it in their notes (Bligh, 2000). Students who take notes score higher on both immediate and delayed tests of recall and synthesis than students who do not take notes (Kiewra et al., 1991).vMoreover, the more students record, the more theyvremember and the better they perform on exams (Johnstone & Su, 1994).
Students increasingly spend more time listening and then taking down notes in a classroom environment”About 50 percent of class time is allocated to listening to explanations, directions, and the like’ (Rafoth, Leal, & DeFabo, 1993, p. 98). The most frequently preferred method of study for learning lectures is note-taking.
Previous researches have demonstrated the probable benefit of note-taking during listening to lectures (Rickards, Fajen & Sullivan, 1997; Carrell et al., 2002; Hayati & Jalilifar, 2009; Killikaya & Kokal-Kardas, 2009). However, some research findings provided conflicting evidence pertaining to the impact of note-taking (Dunkel, 1988; Hale & Courtley, 1994). Rickards et al. (1997) conducted a study among college students on the effect of note-taking. They concluded that those individuals who were allowed to take notes related to the content of the lecture recalled nearly the whole lecture later. However, when they were not allowed to take notes, they did not remember anything or the whole text.
Kiewra (cited in Rickards et al., 1997, p.511) compared the performance of the college students who took notes and those who did not take notes. The results showed that those who reviewed their notes performed higher than those who did not review the notes. However, the results in 8 of 24 studies shown that there was no significant difference between those who reviewed and those who did not.
Carrell et al. (2002) allowed their participants to take notes while listening to the passages in the study, but not while listening to the other half. When allowed to take notes, college students performed better on. Both higher and lower proficiency listeners showed the same benefit from note-taking, but note-taking had a larger impact on performance for the short lectures which consumes 2.5 minutes than for the long lectures with 5 minutes and for passages with less familiar topics. These results express that note-taking can be advantageous to performance in listening comprehension tests, but may be less helpful for longer passages, though in neither case is note-taking likely to be disadvantageous to performance.
Hayati and Jalilifar (2009), conducted a research with three groups: uninstructed note-takers (UNTG), Cornell note-takers (CNTG), and non note-takers (NNTG), found a clear link between note-taking strategy and listening comprehension ability. The results showed that college students who were instructed on Cornell Method performed better than the uninstructed note-takers. On the other hand, the mean difference between non note-takers and Cornell note-takers were not statistically significant. They concluded that the explanation for uninstructed note-takers have low performance while in the Cornell note-takers were thought to have originated in some keys such as writing in sentences rather than in phrases, using full words instead of using the symbols and abbreviations, and interfering with listening while note-taking. Other researchers, Killikaya and Kokal-Kardas (2009) compared the academic performance of the college students who were allowed to take notes and with those who were not allowed to take notes. The results showed that participants who were allowed to take notes outperformed their counterparts who were not allowed to do so while listening to lectures.
While studying, it is important to keep a notebook and take notes because jotting down notes during a lecture may help in the development and enhancement of your listening skills, helps you identify important points on the lecture and helps you focus and organize your thoughts.
The process of note-taking is closely related to achievement. Given the proper training in note-taking, students will perform at a higher level. ‘Effective note taking doesn’t come naturally; it’s a skill that has to be learned’ (Schlessinger, producer, 2005). Studies show students who were exposed to note-taking methods achieve A’s and B’s more frequently than those who are not (Sallie Mitchell, Public Relations, 2002). Higher grades have been linked to students who have proven to be good note takers. (Carter, Hernandez, & Richison, 2009). The absence of importance placed on note-taking can stunt a student’s ability to progress and succeed in future academic environments. Furthermore, more complete notes yield a higher achievement level (Rafoth, Leal, & DeFabo, 1993).
Studies have shown that note taking helps you listen; it does not interfere with listening and comprehension. Students who study their notes using the recitation method remember one and a half times more after six weeks than students who do not review. Students who take no notes or do not study their notes forget approximately 80% of the lectures by the end of two weeks (Ruschhaupt, 2011).