Guided Notes - The Good and the Bad
I am curious how good and bad an idea guided notes are. I can see how they would keep many students on track. But I can also see how I am conforming their material processing strategies, and severely limiting it.
Steve,
I think you will like the results you get with guided notes since they keep the students more focused on the key concepts.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I'm eager to implement them. My classes tend to be very hands on, so students typically don't take notes even during the time I'm lecturing. Providing them with guided notes could be a good way to get them back into the note taking habit.
Richard,
The group discussion model for reviewing material is a good way to show students how they can learn from others as well as share what they know. Sounds like you are getting good results with this model and your students are acquiring the needed content.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I provide students with study questions that are used at the end of each section. They generally complete them in groups, and I get mixed results. Most of the information in my class is technical but requires students to learn broad concepts leading to a particular design outcome. The students seem to have a better understanding of the study questions after we discuss them in class as a group, where major points are reinforced once again.
Jennifer,
I like them as well. They really help students to zero in on the key concepts and then develop accurate notes in relation to what have been covered.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Guided notes are great for me to use when it comes to demonstrations of procedures. The step by step is so important and guided notes really help.
David,
This is a good way to keep the students focused on both the slides and their notes while the lecture is going on.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
We often print the power point several slides to a page and leave blanks for the students to fill in key terms or phrases.
Helen,
Thank you for your analysis of the pros and cons of guided notes. My experience with guided notes is similar to yours. Students are programmed to get everything down in their notes to the point that as you mention they miss the actual use and/or application of the content. It sounds like you are using guided notes in a very beneficial way with your students even with the limitations that are mentioned. With the volume of material and the structure that you are teaching within you are able to help your students get the information into their notes for use later. As instructors we need to continually see ways we can increase the learning of our students and in doing so we get to be creative. This I think is one of the fun parts of being a teacher.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
This has been my experience as well. When I put up a PP slide, students are so intent on getting all of the information down into their notes (and they use guided notes!) that they miss the discussion of the first points which are usually fundamental. I tried only putting up one line at a time and it helped, but sometimes it still happens.
I do have students who don't read the book because they don't know how to filter what information in the book is important. Our guided notes are formatted to the book, using the same headings as the book. One thing that is nice about the way they are set up (we do not format our own notes) is that they can read the book before class and use them to take notes from the book and then add to it during class. Of course, the majority of students don't read ahead!
One other thing I have noticed with guided notes is someimes students get so dependent on them they have no flexibility and are very concrete. They will ask me where I am on the outline-very often when I am relating a supporting story or example. Later on, about half-way through the program we take the notes away trying to hone their ability to take their own notes. They are usually upset with this, but I have found that some students do better when they take notes in their own style. We have a graphic organization called concept mapping which some students do really well using. Guided notes tends to favor the student who takes traditional outline form notes.
Caleb,
Good point and something we need to remember as we do our instructional planning.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree it can depend on the class being taught. For example with a hands on mechanical class....guided notes can some times take away from the students ability to use some "common sense" troubleshooting and self teaching, which is our long term goal. To have them be able to "figure it out" on their own without having step by step instructions all the time.
I agree. I put notes on the board from the book. I ask students to highlight from the book so they can get the notes they need but still be able to participate in class discussion. Much is learned through shared thoughts and experiences.
Melinda,
I think you will like the results you get from developing and using guided notes. Guided notes let the students get the key concepts while enabling them to listening and be more engaged in the lecture process.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have seen students, esp. older ones who are returning to school for a different career due to the economy and they struggle with "how much should I be writing?" and they miss key points because they are too busy writing. I hadn't heard of doing guided notes before but I like the principles and am going to develop some to help my students. I seem to be having more and more that are returning to school to re-enter the work force in a different capacity. Mindy smith
Regina,
You are using the guided notes in a most supportive way. They are intended to only "guide" not replace the lecture. So your use of a general outline and then have the students work from there is right on.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I look at guided notes as a way of discussing important information to the students. I try not to make them look like actual lecture notes because the jumble of wording may throw the students off when it comes to learning the new concepts. These guided notes help my students with grasping the important concepts rather than a paragraph of what is being learned.
Kamice,
I agree. I provide guided notes to help the students to see what are the key topics and concepts that are going to be covered in class. As we cover these topics the students can add their own notes to them and this helps them to retain more of the content that is being shared.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I think guided notes are a better than just providing them with power point slide copies. At least with the guided notes they have to fill in information and follow along. I do think it does limit them a little. Some students take the notes literally and don’t read the chapters which causes them to lose out on some important information.
