Selective note taking during explanations

Manal Raoui  |  manalraoui.com

Taking notes while listening involves understanding what is being said, selecting information worth recording, and putting it into written form. Piolat, Olive, and Kellogg (2005) describe note taking as an activity combining comprehension, selection, and written production under time pressure. Learners have to manage these processes while new information continues to arrive.

Jansen, Lakens, and IJsselsteijn (2017) describe the process in greater detail. Taking notes during a lecture involves comprehending the material, selecting key points, connecting them with what came before, paraphrasing or summarizing, and producing written notes. These processes recur throughout the lecture. A learner may also complete only part of the cycle: they might identify an important point, realize it is already in their notes, and return to listening without writing it again.

In this article, we use selective note taking as a classroom term emphasizing one aspect of this process. Students learn to identify what is worth keeping and record enough to support their understanding while remaining able to follow the explanation.

Why the strategy matters

During a continuous explanation, information does not all need to be recorded to the same extent. Selective note taking gives attention a guiding question: “What is worth keeping from what I am hearing now?”

Writing then helps students distinguish between information passing through the explanation and information they need to capture. The value of the strategy lies in how it supports processing and continued engagement, rather than in the amount written.

Jansen, Lakens, and IJsselsteijn (2017) explain two potential benefits of taking notes: producing a record that can be reviewed later and processing information through the act of note taking itself. Their review also shows that note taking adds cognitive load. Its benefits are therefore neither automatic nor identical across conditions.

When the strategy can help

Selective note taking is appropriate when students can identify what they need from an explanation and record it in a way that allows them to continue listening.

This balance matters because comprehension, selection, and written production take place close together in time. Piolat and colleagues (2005) show that these processes draw on working memory and executive attention, particularly under time pressure.

Keeping notes brief can limit the time and cognitive resources absorbed by writing, making it possible to return to the explanation.

Keeping notes in the service of listening

Trying to copy everything the teacher says can shift a student's goal from understanding and selecting information to keeping up with the flow of speech. Piolat and colleagues describe note taking as involving selection, abbreviation, and reformulation rather than a verbatim record of the source.

Feudel and Panse's study (2022) of mathematics lectures illustrates the difficulty. Students described how recording what was presented could occupy them at the expense of following the oral explanations needed to understand it.

The amount written is also insufficient as evidence of attention. Wilson and Korn's review (2007) shows that the quantity of notes alone cannot be treated as a direct measure of a student's attention during a lecture.

Notes should support listening and understanding without competing with them.

Why students may need support

The process begins with deciding what is worth writing. Learners need to distinguish a central idea from a detail, judge whether an example is useful to keep, and decide whether a remaining question needs to be recorded. They also need to recognize when a note is sufficient and it is time to return to listening.

Piolat and colleagues note that students use cues supplied by lecturers, such as what is written on the board, changes in tone of voice, or an explicit statement that something is important.

“Take notes” may therefore provide too little guidance. Selection is itself a process students need to learn.

What teachers can do

Begin by supporting selection, rather than asking for a greater quantity of writing. At first, the teacher can make decisions about important information explicit: “This is the main idea,” “This example helps us understand the point,” or “If that is still unclear, record it as a question.”

Guided notes provide one example of support that can reduce the burden of copying. In Feudel and Panse's study (2022), students reported that having less to write gave them more time to listen and think about the explanation.

As students become more able to select information, support can gradually be reduced. When attention begins to drift, “What matters here?” can be more useful than simply “Focus.”

The strategy in practice

Without the strategy, a student may listen as information continues to arrive, then gradually lose focus. Another may try to write everything and become so occupied with the notes that they lose the explanation.

With selective note taking, the process becomes: “I listen, identify something worth keeping, make a brief note, and return to listening.”

This is the thinking behind our visual aid, “As I listen, I note what matters.” It initially directs students toward information they may need to keep, such as an idea, an example, or a question.

The aid makes selection visible without deciding in advance what each learner must consider important. It also reminds students that writing is one part of following an explanation.

The central idea

Taking notes does not mean writing down as much of an explanation as possible. Its value here is in selecting what is worth keeping and recording it in a way that allows listening to continue. The aim is for writing to help learners follow what they hear with greater awareness and selectivity.

References

Feudel, F., & Panse, A. (2022). Can guided notes support students' note-taking in mathematics lectures? International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, 8, 8–35.

Jansen, R. S., Lakens, D., & IJsselsteijn, W. A. (2017). An integrative review of the cognitive costs and benefits of note-taking. Educational Research Review, 22, 223–233.

Piolat, A., Olive, T., & Kellogg, R. T. (2005). Cognitive effort during note taking. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19, 291–312.

Wilson, K., & Korn, J. H. (2007). Attention during lectures: Beyond ten minutes. Teaching of Psychology, 34(2), 85–89.

See it in a classroom situation: Helping students stay focused through note taking