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Mind & Brain » Mind Matters 18 :: Email :: Print
A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes
with a Laptop
Students who used longhand remembered more and had a deeper understanding of the
material
June 3, 2014 | By Cindi May
“More is better.” From the number of gigs
in a cellular data plan to the horsepower in
a pickup truck, this mantra is ubiquitous in
American culture. When it comes to college
students, the belief that more is better may
underlie their widely-held view that laptops
in the classroom enhance their academic
performance. Laptops do in fact allow
students to do more, like engage in online
activities and demonstrations, collaborate The old fashioned way works better.
Credit: Szepy via iStock
more easily on papers and projects, access
information from the internet, and take
More on this Topic
more notes. Indeed, because students can
type significantly faster than they can write, The Science of Education:
Back to School
those who use laptops in the classroom tend
to take more notes than those who write out
their notes by hand. Moreover, when
students take notes using laptops they tend
to take notes verbatim, writing down every last word uttered by their professor.
Obviously it is advantageous to draft more complete notes that precisely capture the
course content and allow for a verbatim review of the material at a later date. Only it
isn’t. New research by Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer demonstrates that
students who write out their notes on paper actually learn more. Across three
experiments, Mueller and Oppenheimer had students take notes in a classroom
setting and then tested students on their memory for factual detail, their conceptual
understanding of the material, and their ability to synthesize and generalize the
information. Half of the students were instructed to take notes with a laptop, and the
other half were instructed to write the notes out by hand. As in other studies, students
who used laptops took more notes. In each study, however, those who wrote out their
who used laptops took more notes. In each study, however, those who wrote out their
notes by hand had a stronger conceptual understanding and were more successful in
applying and integrating the material than those who used took notes with their
laptops.
What drives this paradoxical finding? Mueller and Oppenheimer postulate that taking
notes by hand requires different types of cognitive processing than taking notes on a
laptop, and these different processes have consequences for learning. Writing by hand
is slower and more cumbersome than typing, and students cannot possibly write down
every word in a lecture. Instead, they listen, digest, and summarize so that they can
succinctly capture the essence of the information. Thus, taking notes by hand forces
the brain to engage in some heavy “mental lifting,” and these efforts foster
comprehension and retention. By contrast, when typing students can easily produce a
written record of the lecture without processing its meaning, as faster typing speeds
allow students to transcribe a lecture word for word without devoting much thought to
the content.
To evaluate this theory, Mueller and Oppenheimer assessed the content of notes taken
by hand versus laptop. Their studies included hundreds of students from Princeton
and UCLA, and the lecture topics ranged from bats, bread, and algorithms to faith,
respiration, and economics. Content analysis of the notes consistently showed that
students who used laptops had more verbatim transcription of the lecture material
than those who wrote notes by hand. Moreover, high verbatim note content was
associated with lower retention of the lecture material. It appears that students who
use laptops can take notes in a fairly mindless, rote fashion, with little analysis or
synthesis by the brain. This kind of shallow transcription fails to promote a
meaningful understanding or application of the information.
If the source of the advantage for longhand notes derives from the conceptual
processes they evoke, perhaps instructing laptop users to draft summative rather than
verbatim notes will boost performance. Mueller and Oppenheimer explored this idea
by warning laptop note takers against the tendency to transcribe information without
thinking, and explicitly instructed them to think about the information and type notes
in their own words. Despite these instructions, students using laptops showed the
same level of verbatim content and were no better in synthesizing material than
students who received no such warning. It is possible these direct instructions to
improve the quality of laptop notes failed because it is so easy to rely on less
demanding, mindless processes when typing.
It’s important to note that most of the studies that have compared note taking by hand
versus laptop have used immediate memory tests administered very shortly (typically
less than an hour) after the learning session. In real classroom settings, however,
students are often assessed days if not weeks after learning new material. Thus,
although laptop users may not encode as much during the lecture and thus may be
disadvantaged on immediate assessments, it seems reasonable to expect that the
additional information they record will give them an advantage when reviewing
material after a long delay.
Wrong again. Mueller and Oppenheimer included a study in which participants were
asked to take notes by hand or by laptop, and were told they would be tested on the
material in a week. When participants were given an opportunity to study with their
notes before the final assessment, once again those who took longhand notes
outperformed laptop participants. Because longhand notes contain students’ own
outperformed laptop participants. Because longhand notes contain students’ own
words and handwriting, they may serve as more effective memory cues by recreating
the context (e.g., thought processes, emotions, conclusions) as well as content (e.g.,
individual facts) from the original learning session.
These findings hold important implications for students who use their laptops to
access lecture outlines and notes that have been posted by professors before class.
Because students can use these posted materials to access lecture content with a mere
click, there is no need to organize, synthesize or summarize in their own words.
Indeed, students may take very minimal notes or not take notes at all, and may
consequently forego the opportunity to engage in the mental work that supports
learning.
Beyond altering students’ cognitive processes and thereby reducing learning, laptops
pose other threats in the classroom. In the Mueller and Oppenheimer studies, all
laptops were disconnected from the internet, thus eliminating any disruption from
email, instant messaging, surfing, or other online distractions. In most typical college
settings, however, internet access is available, and evidence suggests that when college
students use laptops, they spend 40% of class time using applications unrelated to
coursework, are more likely to fall off task, and are less satisfied with their education.
In one study with law school students, nearly 90% of laptop users engaged in online
activities unrelated to coursework for at least five minutes, and roughly 60% were
distracted for half the class.
Technology offers innovative tools that are shaping educational experiences for
students, often in positive and dynamic ways. The research by Mueller and
Oppenheimer serves as a reminder, however, that even when technology allows us to
do more in less time, it does not always foster learning. Learning involves more than
the receipt and the regurgitation of information. If we want students to synthesize
material, draw inferences, see new connections, evaluate evidence, and apply concepts
in novel situations, we need to encourage the deep, effortful cognitive processes that
underlie these abilities. When it comes to taking notes, students need fewer gigs,
more brain power.
Are you a scientist who specializes in neuroscience, cognitive science, or psychology?
And have you read a recent peer-reviewed paper that you would like to write about?
Please send suggestions to Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook, a Pulitzer prize-
winning journalist and regular contributor to NewYorker.com. Gareth is also the
series editor of Best American Infographics, and can be reached at garethideas AT
gmail dot com or Twitter @garethideas.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Cindi May is a Professor of Psychology at the College of Charleston. She explores
mechanisms for optimizing cognitive function in college students, older adults, and
individuals with intellectual disabilities. She is also the project director for a TPSID
grant from the Department of Education, which promotes the inclusion of students
with intellectual disabilities in postsecondary education.
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Comments
Oldest - Newest
MindAfterMath June 3, 2014, 8:07 AM
In general, I agree with this, but I found that over time taking notes with a laptop is much more
beneficial. In particular, in grad school (mathematics), we went into more detail on a lot of the
subjects that were covered in undergrad, but having those notes in a saved place that I could refer
to later helped me to be able to go back (instead of having to go through a library of journals from
old notes, probably written in pencil).
Also, when my notes are written on laptop I have a much bigger chance of doing things like
sharing them, or doing more advanced things about them like trying to make Q/A flash cards or
other type of programs.
I will say, though, that I think taking notes is extremely more beneficial than a professor passing
out a lecture notes overview as an excuse to move faster in the class.
Report as Abuse | Link to This
mpopcorn June 3, 2014, 9:24 AM
what taking notes on a laptop with a digital or active pen?
Report as Abuse | Link to This
jtdwyer June 3, 2014, 9:39 AM
In short, succinctly restating discussion points provides for better comprehension and retention of
the information presented. This approach is most naturally followed when taking hand-written
notes rather than typed notes.
In my own experience, I have always found it useful to restate complex information presented in
meeting to verify that it has been properly understood. Also, I often took some rough notes during
meetings to facilitate comprehension, although I very rarely referred to them later - and found
them difficult to decipher when I did...
The laptop issue is likely superfluous - if analytical listening techniques are properly used.
I suspect that handwritten notes taken in shorthand would produce similar results to type-written
notes.
Report as Abuse | Link to This
WillRoun June 3, 2014, 9:58 AM
When I did my MBA, i would record the lectures and then found that I didn't have time to re listen
to them. Copying the blackboard points and making summaries worked best!
Report as Abuse | Link to This
amaryrose June 3, 2014, 1:02 PM
I've always preferred longhand to typing notes, specifically for the summarizing/synthesizing
quality (unconsciously, until very recently.) I would find my notes very fast and loose with
information after the face (essentially, they were close to useless to studying after the fact), but the
best way to secure the information at the point of entry.
There is a situation I DO wonder about - when you're in a lecture you're incapable of summarizing;
you're pretty much guaranteed going to have to learn the material again, on your own. 've tried
verbatim copying, but it really isn't possible with longhand unless you ask the lecturer to stop.
Usually, in these situations, I've stopped taking notes since it becomes impossible to summarize
and impossible to copy verbatim. I wonder how typed-notes would fair across the board if "point of
information entry familiarity" (if that makes sense) could be accounted for.
Report as Abuse | Link to This
Snicker-Snack June 3, 2014, 1:16 PM
I used to take notes on a Newton Personal Digital Assistant which involved handwriting with a
stylus on an LCD, the Newton being able to recognize handwriting and convert into digital text as
if I had typed it on a keyboard. I would think that medium would involve the same types of
cognitive processing as paper and pencil.
Report as Abuse | Link to This
plswinford June 3, 2014, 3:29 PM
1. Did differently-capable students take different types of notes?
2. If a student was handed pseudo-notes at the beginning of the lecture, would the student be able
to develop a better mental-map of the material throughout the lecture?
Report as Abuse | Link to This
Wayne Williamson June 3, 2014, 6:12 PM
Darn, I was going to suggest WillRoun idea to record. It still seems to me that if you have a tablet
recording both the sight and sound with you making comments(notes) along side that it would be
useful for review as well as studying for tests and exams.
Report as Abuse | Link to This
mamift1 June 3, 2014, 11:30 PM
This makes sense in a way. Handwriting is an ability that emerged over many generations and over
time has evolved specific neural pathways in the brain. And since the invention of the book, for the
longest time in human history, handwriting was the only way to pass information from generation
to generation. Most likely, whatever neural pathways that are engaged with handwriting also, by
whatever yet unknown mechanism also enhance learning.
Report as Abuse | Link to This
denizozut June 4, 2014, 4:03 AM
Great work and great summary of it. Taking not by hands is learner's attitude, taking note by
laptop or similar device is a postponer's attitude, in general of course. That is what I think. It
worries me not to be able to use the hand notes later, compared to laptop notes, but going over
much shorter hand written notes to write them down on laptop for future reference is the way to
go. Of course, for tedious work or tedious job meetings where writing down some information is
crucial, and also for later reference, laptop and apps become useful. Thanks again for the article
and comments.
Report as Abuse | Link to This
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