Understanding and Innovating Note-taking Pedagogy in Secondary School: An Action Research Project

The act of note-taking involves a complex sequence of cognitive and physical manoeuvres, all taking place under extreme time pressure (e.g., Piolat, Olive & Kellogg, 2005). Specifically, listeners need to listen, comprehend, prioritize the information they hear, decide when and how to write the notes, and finally, to write them.

This complicated sequence becomes more challenging in one’s second language (English, in this case). Due to the complexity of the skill, English teachers may be underprepared in terms of systematic teaching of listening and note-taking, and students may receive little instruction beyond a simplistic “take notes”. In other words, in the typical English language classroom, the skill of note-taking is not broken down into sub-skills that are achievable to teach and to learn. Furthermore, many English teaching materials for note-taking, along with teacher manuals, are poorly designed and unhelpful (e.g., Hamp-Lyons, 1983). Yet, note-taking is clearly a beneficial skill to have, both in terms of academic progress and in the work force.

The aim of this pilot project is to (1) provide an initial evaluation of current teaching practices (2) develop innovative pedagogy and materials for teachers to use when teaching note-taking skills and strategies (3) engage local teachers to develop pedagogic competency and promote reflective practice. Particular emphasis will be placed on how to help learners refine their decision making with regards to what gets written in their notes and when and how to write them. This project is particularly relevant to teachers of students who (will) attend lectures, academic discussions, debates, or meetings. In addition, this pilot project will serve as a foundation for larger scale action research that may be supported by future internal and/or external funding.

This project is designed as a pilot project on action research, focusing specifically on the teaching of note-taking in upper-secondary schools. Once completed, findings and insights will form the basis for larger, more in-depth projects to be conducted with more teachers and students, using a larger variety of teaching and learning materials. Potential future projects will also connect note-taking to different types of tasks which students depend on their notes to complete (e.g., short response, multiple choice, summarizing, etc.). Both this pilot study and larger studies will contribute to English teaching and learning practices by developing pedagogic and practical competencies for language skill integration (i.e., listening to, recording, and using information). Furthermore, it will supply the teacher education program at Örebro University not only with content on how to teach listening and note-taking in language classrooms but also with a model for how action research can be conducted individually or in collaboration with teachers at different levels of education.