Abstract

Taking good notes is linked to success in college. However, increased use of computers to take notes necessitates reconsideration of the linkages between note-taking and learning. One difficulty is disentangling the latent student characteristics that may correlate with computer use from the actual effect of computer note-taking on information retention. The authors employ a within-subject, random control experiment to distinguish whether the commonly perceived negative correlation between digital note-taking and performance is due to the note-taking process itself, or is instead due to the characteristics of students who choose to use computers. Their findings suggest that digital note-taking does not have a statistically meaningful impact on student performance; rather, the problem likely lies in the students’ choice to use the computer.

摘要

做好笔记与大学的成功息息相关。但是，越来越多地使用计算机来做笔记，因此必须重新考虑笔记和学习之间的联系。一个困难是将可能与计算机使用相关的潜在学生特征与计算机笔记对信息保留的实际影响区分开来。作者采用了一个主题内的随机控制实验，以区分数字笔记和演奏之间通常被感知的负相关是由于笔记过程本身，还是归因于选择使用计算机的学生的特征。 。他们的发现表明，数字笔记对学生的表现没有统计学意义的影响。相反，问题可能出在学生选择使用计算机上。