In-class and after-class lecture note-taking strategies

Abstract

There is a need to better understand note-taking in lectures. Specifically, how in-class and after-class note-taking strategies are used, whether the use of in-class and after-class note-taking strategies varies by gender, year of study and field of major/discipline and to explore the connection between the use of in-class note-taking strategies and after-class note-taking strategies. The study described in this article gathered data from 1072 undergraduate students. The results showed that during class, the most frequently employed strategy was key point selection, followed by comprehension-monitoring, organisation, copying and elaboration. After class, the strategy employed most frequently was elaboration, followed by organisation and help-seeking. It was revealed that females are more likely than males to employ copying, key point selection, organisation and comprehension-monitoring strategies during class as well as elaboration, organisation and help-seeking strategies after class. In addition, students majoring in humanities or social sciences are more likely than those majoring in the natural sciences to use key point selection strategy during class. Finally, students’ in-class note-taking strategies were correlated with their after-class note-taking strategies. Implications for practice are presented.