Hello everyone:

Have you seen them? They are the clear-eyed students sitting about halfway back in the room who never seem to need to take notes. They tell themselves that they will remember everything the instructor says, so note taking is for wimps. I see them all the time, usually in a class that they are on track to fail.

In eleven years of teaching face-to-face classes, I have only run into ONE student who literally did not need to take notes. The fellow watched my every move and seemed to memorize the Power Point slides. He made an A on every test. He came up to me at the beginning of the semester and told me ahead of time that this was his preferred way to take a class, so that I would not be insulted by his failure to write anything down.

Folks, I usually have between 50 and 75 face-to-face students per term. Multiple that times two terms per year (fall and spring) times eleven years and you have a boatload of students. In all those years, only ONE student succeeded with this method. What does that tell you? (Hint: That this method does not work for other folks.)

What ideas have you found helpful to taking notes in your classes? It would be great if we could share tips.

Best,

Dr. Sheri