Oh, bother. Can’t they get the study right?

Should you whip out a notebook or a laptop to take notes?

The answer is not so simple.

You will want to read the whole piece:

“when taking notes by hand, “it is impossible to write down everything, so students have to process the incoming information, summarize it, and link it to knowledge they already have.” That helps the “new information to stick better, resulting in better retention.” source

I have noticed increased memory in my own note-taking by hand, but the real value does seem to be in revisiting my notes and trying to “do something with them.” Having live-blogged events, I noticed that it was easy to switch my brain off and type. It’s harder when you handwrite your notes to summarize (.45), outline and organize (.84), concept mapping (.66) and do your best to put it in your own words. That’s why audio recording is helpful…you can listen to it again and again, taking notes, drawing concept maps, engaging in quadrant note-taking, etc.

The challenge is learning how to do that, and THEN, revisiting your notes 2-3 days later, then again seven days later, etc. to ensure long-term information retention. But my personal experience isn’t proof. We need scientific research for that.

On a Journey from Hypothesis (Evidence Poor) to Theory (Evidence Rich)

This image captures the journey from hypothesis to theory…the science is still coming in, so to speak, but it’s leaning towards the right. But that, again, is for the scientists to decide. And I don’t think we are there yet.

We’ll have to wait and see what more studies say. That study aside, consider:

In kids, studies show that tracing out ABCs, as opposed to typing them, leads to better and longer-lasting recognition and understanding of letters. Writing by hand also improves memory and recall of words, laying down the foundations of literacy and learning. In adults, taking notes by hand during a lecture, instead of typing, can lead to better conceptual understanding of material.

“There’s actually some very important things going on during the embodied experience of writing by hand,” says Ramesh Balasubramaniam, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Merced. “It has important cognitive benefits.” (source)

What are your thoughts?