The effects of notetaking skills training among academically underprepared urban college freshmen
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of notetaking training on 157 academically underprepared urban college freshmen. The purpose of the study was to compare the effects of four notetaking strategies and review conditions on test performance. Four groups were trained to use the Cornell Notetaking Method and the generative learning technique of self-questioning. Students in the first encoding treatment group took their own notes and were taught to self-question during the notetaking process, but did not review their notes prior to testing. In the second encoding treatment group, students took their own notes, were taught to self-question during the notetaking process, and reviewed their notes prior to testing. Students in the third group received the instructor's notes. These students were instructed not to take notes and were taught to self-question as a review strategy prior to testing. The fourth treatment condition combined the encoding and external storage paradigms. Students received an outline of the lecture, were instructed to elaborate on the outline with their own notes, and were taught to self-question during the notetaking and review stages. This study included a fifth and sixth group that served as respective control groups for the encoding and external storage paradigms. The control groups did not receive any notetaking training. The effects of the notetaking training were evaluated by a posttraining measure that included 10 multiple-choice items and an essay. The results indicated significant differences between the groups that were trained and the control groups. Students who were trained under the encoding paradigm had higher recall of material on the multiple-choice questions. Results of this study support training academically underprepared students to take notes under the encoding paradigm.
Subject Area
Educational psychology|Higher education
Recommended Citation
Sinatra, Patricia Mary, "The effects of notetaking skills training among academically underprepared urban college freshmen" (1995). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI9543464.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI9543464
