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mjh215 · 12-31-2008, 05:34 AM

When I subbed classes (at a technical school) I used to hate all the noise from people taking notes on their computer. I decided to experiment at times (partly cause I was just being a prick) at having students tell me what I had just been teaching them, without looking at the notes. The ones who handwrote their notes had greater retention of the topic then those that typed it. This was by no means a decent scientific study, and I've always wondered if someone had conducted an experiment along these lines. I would be curious of the results. Those taking notes on the computer have the benefit of being able to format, edit and search however they want but something about the effort of writing the information down embeds it in memory better. (Edited to add, 'I think' to that last statement.)

-MJ

12-31-2008, 05:34 AM	#10
mjh215 Guru Posts: 988 Karma: 12653 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: None of your business	When I subbed classes (at a technical school) I used to hate all the noise from people taking notes on their computer. I decided to experiment at times (partly cause I was just being a prick) at having students tell me what I had just been teaching them, without looking at the notes. The ones who handwrote their notes had greater retention of the topic then those that typed it. This was by no means a decent scientific study, and I've always wondered if someone had conducted an experiment along these lines. I would be curious of the results. Those taking notes on the computer have the benefit of being able to format, edit and search however they want but something about the effort of writing the information down embeds it in memory better. (Edited to add, 'I think' to that last statement.) -MJ Last edited by mjh215; 12-31-2008 at 05:42 AM.