What are Guided Notes?Guided Notes are teacher-prepared hand-outs that outline or map lectures,
but leave "blank" space for key concepts, facts, definitions, etc.
As the lecture progresses, the learner then fills in the spaces with content.
Guided notes help learners follow a lecture, identify its important points,
distinguish between main and secondary points, examples and digressions, and
develop a foundation of content to study and to apply.
Here are several strategies in developing and using
Guided Notes in your lectures and classrooms
Development:
- Examine existing lecture outlines
(or create them as necessary) to identify the most important course
content that students must learn and retain via lecture. Remember: less
can be more. Student learning is enhanced by lectures with fewer points
supported by additional examples and opportunities for students to respond to
questions or scenarios (Russell et al., 1984)
- Delete the key facts, concepts,
and relationships
from the lecture outline, leaving the remaining information to provide
structure and context for students' note taking
- Enhance the lecture with
supporting information and resources.
Insert and present outlines and concept maps; diagrams and charts; images,
illustrations and photos; highlighted statements or concepts that are
particularly important (e.g., Big Ideas), and resources such as bibliographies
and websites into Guided Notes
- Insert (a consistent, standard set
of) formatting cues
such as highlighting, sequences, images, asterisks, lines, and bullets to
show students where, when, and how many facts or concepts to write
- Use PowerPoint slides or overhead
transparencies
to project key content. Visually projecting the key facts,
definitions, concepts, relationships, etc. that students must write in their
Guided Notes helps ensure that all students access the most critical content
and improves the pace of the lecture
- Leave ample space for students to
write.
Providing about three to four times the space needed to type the content
will generally leave enough room for students' handwriting
- Do not require students to write
too much.
Using Guided Notes should not unduly slow down the pace of the lecture.
Two studies found that students' exam scores for lectures taught with Guided
Notes that could be completed with single words and short phrases were as high
as their test scores over lectures taught with Guided Notes that required more
extensive writing to complete (Austin & Sasson, 2001; Courson, 1989)
Procedures/applications:
- Introducing guided notes:
When first using guided notes, develop simpler versions at first, and
gradually introduce more complex versions
At the outset, review each student's guided notes to develop good habits
- Make the blank Guided Notes
available to students
via course website and/or photocopied course packets before the lecture.
Distributing Guided Notes before class may give students an incentive to
attend class in order to complete the notes, as well as prepare for the
material
- Model/checklist:
Develop a model or checklist to follow
(How much do I write? Have I completed all the blanks? Where can I
find missing items?)
- Questions/discussion
Give students the opportunity to discuss both the content and the guided
notes, either during or after the lecture
- Practice problems/examples:
In addition to completing guided notes, give students additional opportunities
to apply content, as well as respond and receive instructor feedback during
the lecture
- Peer helpers:
Pair stronger students with those who have diverse learning styles or
abilities, or may have learning disabilities, to review completed work
- References:
Include these for future reference, comparison and application, and study
- Class review:
Review the guided notes for comparison and/or feedback.
Use a good example from the class for discussion, both on technique and
content
- Examples/applications:
Develop an exercise where students apply completed content to examples or
applications
- in class immediately following the lecture or as homework
- as individuals or small groups
- Models:
Develop and distribute your own completed copy for your students to compare
their work
- Peer review/small group:
Develop a system of peer review for your students, pairing/assembling
- stronger with weaker students
- diverse learning styles
- randomly
- self-selection
- Tests/exams:
Develop test items from completed guided notes information
- Student-developed guided notes
Can these be used for an evaluation? as a class project?
Based upon: Fast Facts for Faculty: Guided Notes
Includes: Definitions; Pros and Cons of the Lecture Method;
Rationale; Documentation and Research;
Guidelines for Constructing and Using Guided Notes;
Explanation of Symbols; References & Resources
See also: 'Guided
notes' increase test scores for learning-disabled students
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