As I ease myself back into the swing of going to class and finishing homework and assignments, I am reminded of the struggle and success of my Weather & Atmosphere class last semester. For my science requirement, I had to complete any science class with a lab. It would have been an easy class, but I made it harder for myself by using my computer in class. In a 500 person lecture hall, it’s easy to get distracted, no matter how interesting the professor is. My professor expected us all to do well, and gave us all the information that we would need to succeed on the exams. However, many of us did not do well on the exams. I think this had to do in part with the way few people took hand-written notes in class. Almost every student in that class had a computer open, and if you sat in the back, you could see all of the things they were doing on their computers—most of that, as you might guess, did not relate to the class lecture. We came to class every day, sat down and pretended to listen as we typed away notes on our laptops, switching between Facebook and notes.
I got C’s on all the tests, and didn’t understand most of the material. I could never seem to retain any information that was said during lecture. I did go to all the study sessions that were an option before exams, and I did ask friends in the class, but I just never “got” certain concepts. That is, until I started taking hand-written notes (towards the end, way too late in the semester). I had forgotten my computer one day so I just started to write the main points down. That was when I actually found myself being attentive, not getting distracted, and understanding what my teacher was describing. I felt accomplished; I thought maybe today was just a day for easier material. After that one day of actual learning, I took notes for the rest of the semester. I studied hard; I crammed a semester worth of material into a few weeks before the final. I got one of the highest scores on the final exam in my class, and, miraculously, raised my final grade in that class from a C+ to an A. It’s still one of the best accomplishments I’ve achieved in college thus far, but honestly, I would never want to repeat it.
You would think that since you can type faster than you can write, laptop notes would actually be more efficient. Not so. Since you can type faster, I would argue that you often type pointless notes. I have seen some of my peers type out exactly what the professor says, word for word. That is inefficient note taking. And I can't remember the last time I actually went through my Word documents looking over class notes, even when I promised myself I would.
New research by Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer proves that students who write out their notes on paper actually learn more than those who type on your laptop. There's also the fact of being distracted by those around you in class. I've seen people watching Netflix and playing games on their laptops. Besides being a ridiculous waste of money and their time, it not only hinders their education, but their peers sitting next to and behind them. In the engineering department at my school, CU Boulder, it was found that students who used laptops in class got similar grades to those were absent (Study has not yet been published online).
I will continue to take hand-written notes for the rest of my college career. Yes, it’s more work. No, you can’t surf Facebook during class. But you will get better grades and a better understanding of the material. I applaud students who do this and teachers who enforce this. I had no idea such a little change would affect my learning in such a large way!
