Pfeiffer Library: Effective Note-Taking Strategies: Note-Taking Resources

Note-Taking Resources

There are several programs that can assist you in taking and organizing notes electronically:

Evernote: A downloadable application that helps you take, organize, and archive notes. There is a mobile version of the program available as well for smart devices. The free version lets you sync your account to two devices, tag your notes for fast retrieval, and apply different formatting. However, it has size limits on uploads and note sizes.

Google Docs: A basic word processing program that is part of Google's free applications. You must have a Gmail account (your Tiffin University email) to access this service.

Google Keep: A note-taking service that is part of Google's free applications. You must have a Gmail account (your Tiffin University email) to access this service.

Microsoft Office (OneNote): Operates on Microsoft Windows and macOS only, but allows you to share notes with others for collaboration. It acts as a "digital notebook" to store text, charts, images, and graphs. You will need to have a Microsoft Office plan to use this program, but you can install Microsoft Office through the university. Instructions on this process are included here.

Simplenote: A note-taking application that as accessible from most web browsers. It is available on Android, Linux, Windows, iOS, and macOS devices.

Workflowy: A free platform that allows you to organize your notes vertically.

Library Sources

The following eBooks and journal articles may guide you in identifying the best note-taking strategy for your courses.

Ideas in Practice: Strategic Note Taking in Developmental Mathematics by Carol Eades; William M. Moore
ISBN: 08943907
Publication Date: 2007
This article conveys the importance of note taking in postsecondary developmental mathematics. It presents a strategic note-taking methodology that is designed to help students increase self-regulation and facilitate learning. Although the note-taking system is applied to developmental mathematics, it can be used for any course. The article also describes what note-taking strategies can and cannot do for students and instructors. The authors conclude by inviting readers to analyze the success of this systematic process in their own classes. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Methods & Techniques: Techniques for Increasing Student Learning from Educational Videos: Notes Versus Guiding Questions by Timothy J. Lawson; James H. Bodle; Tracy A. McDonough
ISBN: 0098-6283
Publication Date: 2007
We examined the effectiveness of several techniques for enhancing student learning from educational videos. Introductory psychology students (N = 113) watched a video about intelligence and testing while taking notes, not taking notes, writing answers to guiding questions, or thinking about guiding questions without writing answers. Afterward, students took a quiz containing questions on the video information; half of the quiz questions were related and half were unrelated to the guiding questions. Results showed that students who wrote answers to the guiding questions had the highest quiz performance on items related to the guiding questions. The 4 groups did not differ significantly in their performance on items unrelated to the guiding questions.
Note taking and summarising strategies for senior humanities classes by Kathleen Thomas
ISBN: 1448-1324
Publication Date: September 2013
If you asked my year 12 Global Politics class to repeat one of my regular sayings, they would tell you: "Make sure you are taking notes!" The study design of Global Politics requires students to master a great deal of content in order to adequately apply key concepts and ideas. I often resort to the stock-standard (dull, let's be honest!) PowerPoint in order to get through the nuts and bolts of a case study or global situation. While my students could never be accused of being disengaged, I have occasionally witnessed glassy eyes and an ever-so-lightly-nodding-off-to-sleep head during one of my PowerPoints.
Write On!, Math by Robert K. Gerver; Julianne Gerver
ISBN: 9781641131971
Publication Date: 2018-06-01
Student success in mathematics is dependent on focusing in class, practice, and the ability to verbally express mathematical thoughts. Write On Math is a program that engages secondary school mathematics students in on-going writing projects that will strengthen their focus, their mathematics, and their oral and written communication skills. The program teaches technical writing strategies while demonstrating seven different levels of note taking and dozens of strategies to improve the sentence structure of students' mathematical explanations. Today's curricula and extensive testing policies require students to supply written explanations as part of their answers. Write On Math will systematically teach students how to take better notes in math class. There is no better way to ensure you know something well than to have to teach it to somebody else, and the Write On Math program requires students to do exactly that--that is why it improves their mathematics as well as teaches them valuable communication and writing techniques not taught in Humanities classes. For teachers using the program, Write On Math will improve they way you, as a teacher, present material to your students in class and on your handouts For students using the program, the strategies will apply to college classes and to other disciplines in addition to mathematics.