The case in summary: A study at the University of Western Norway shows that students remember better by just listening rather than taking notes. Professor Göran Söderlund believes that taking notes can distract students and prevent them from capturing the integrity of what is being said. Rather, he advises to listen carefully, and then write down what comes to mind. Students news has spoken to say they are encouraged by teachers to take notes in class, something they themselves see as an important part of learning. Teachers at Stord secondary school believe that note-taking can help pupils to engage with the material in a different way. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Tightly packed pages with notes from lessons at school. The 17-year-olds at Stord secondary school are, like most students, equipped with notebooks and pens. – It depends on how much the teacher talks, but within an hour I write from one to three pages, says Anette Børtveit. – It is normal to note. We have been told that it is wise, says Yosan Misgna Zemicheal. The notes are used for revision and studying before tests. – Is there anyone who doesn’t write down what the teacher says? Only two students in the class raised their hands. – To be completely honest, I don’t look at the notes very much afterwards. Unless the teacher has said something that is not in the book, says Anette Børveit. Photo: Eli Bjelland / news Old habit that hasn’t been tested Göran Söderlund, who is professor of special education at Høgskulen på Vestlandet (HVL), thought the majority was right. That it should be noted, especially by hand. But then he and a master’s student did an experiment that surprised. In short, the study shows that it is much more effective for the memory to just listen, than both to write by hand and on a computer. The memory study Illustration: The University of Western Norway 100 Norwegian secondary students were tested one by one. They were told 12 sentences of the type: “roll the bowl”, “write with the pen” and “drink from the glass”. Afterwards, they had to repeat as many as they could. The students did this exercise while listening and at the same time miming what was said, just listening, writing by hand or writing on a computer. Previous research shows that actively doing what you have to remember makes your memory strong. And it also confirms this study as the best method. Then the students remember an average of almost nine of the words. Just listening is second best, and clearly better than writing. On average, the students were able to retell eight sentences. Writing by hand and writing on a computer are almost the same, and are the worst methods for remembering what is said. The students managed an average of just over six sentences. Source: Söderlund, GBW, Torvanger, S., Hadjikhani, N., & Johnels, J. Å. (2023). Sentence memory recall in adolescents: Effects of motor enactment, keyboarding, and handwriting during encoding. – The idea that we should write down what is said was created at one time or another, and has lived its own life since then, says Söderlund. He is surprised by what they found out, and that it has never been researched before. – If the student struggles to spell, he might sit and wonder how to spell the words. And then he loses everything that is said, quite simply. The only thing he has left when the class is over are some poorly spelled notes, instead of listening and getting the whole thing. – My tip is to listen to what is said, and rather write down what you remember soon after, says Söderlund. Professor Göran Söderlund believes that the school is less effective than it needs to be because the learning methods are too bad. Photo: Bo Forslind The international Pisa survey recently showed that Norwegian pupils have become worse at reading, mathematics and science. The professor believes on a general basis that the methods for learning are partly to blame. – I think the Norwegian school has been allowed to continue with very ineffective learning methods for a long time. This has then resulted in what I call “piss shock”. No one questions the methods. The 17-year-olds jot down up to three A4 pages every hour. Photo: Eli Bjelland / news The teachers expect them to take notes – The research is interesting. There is probably a bit of automaticity in that the pupils have to take notes. I still think there may be good reasons for doing so, says teacher Bjørnar Meling at Stord secondary school. Both he and colleague Ingunn Hansejordet ask the pupils to take notes from time to time. They want the pupils to actively participate in the lessons. – I think they engage with the material in a different way when they take notes. But that does not mean that they should note down almost verbatim what is said or shown in a presentation, emphasizes Hansejordet. Teacher Ingunn Hansejordet expects the pupils to write in the book what they learn in some cases. – But the students are different, and not everything suits everyone. Photo: Eli Bjelland / news Asking students to save on the pen Expectations to take notes follow us through life. Among other things at the university. – My experience is that very many students have a poor note-taking technique, in that they read in the textbook and take notes at the same time. They are also at a lecture and write down what the lecturer says continuously. Both parts give poor returns for most people. That’s according to associate professor and molecular biologist Vivian Kjelland at the University of Agder. She thinks the study at HVL is very interesting. She herself recently published the book “Studer smartare. Study techniques that actually work!”, which forskning.no has previously written about. – I generally advise students to spend less time taking notes. If they take notes, it must be based on memory. It is possible, for example, to make bulleted lists/mind maps/memory cards after each chapter – without looking in the textbook. Associate professor, molecular biologist and tick researcher Vivian Kjelland specializes in study techniques. She says she meets many teachers who want to know more about how they can get the pupils to remember better. Photo: Liv-Unni Tveitane / Cappelen Damm Meiner they remember better from notes The 17-year-olds in the classroom at Stord have been writing in notebooks for several years. – At least since junior high school. I’ve actually always taken notes, because then I remember better, says Mathea Helvik Alfredsen. – Teachers sometimes say that we have to take notes to remember, but not always. I find it useful myself, and I often go back and look at the notes before I have a test, says Ida Helen Bakkedal Helland. – Have you tried just listening? – No, I actually don’t have that. Ida Helen Bakkedal Helland and Silje Lien Aasheim say they use the notes when they have to practice for exams. Photo: Eli Bjelland / news Hi! Do you have input or tips for other matters? Please send me an e-mail.
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– I remember less about noting what is said – news Vestland
