While technology may be beneficial for education, handwritten notes are better than computer typed notes. According to a researcher at Princeton University. A study by Princeton University conducted by Pam Mueller and published in Psychological Science proved that taking handwritten notes improves the understanding of the concepts and also the memory of the information.
How was this conclusion of handwritten notes reached?
The behavior of 65 students was studied to conclude. They were asked to watch a TED talk and to take notes by hand or with a laptop without an internet connection. After this first stage, they were given tasks to distract themselves. Then they were asked specific questions about the videos. The results showed that, although everyone had a good memory of concrete data, those who took notes by hand understood the concepts better and also kept remembering the information a week later.
4 tips to make handwritten notes
Taking notes by hand not only allows you to stay focused for most of the class but also offers several benefits. To get you used to take them out, here are some tips.
- Heard and wrote
It is useless to write all the words spoken by the professors. The key is to reason what you heard and wrote what you think is most important. Think that what you did not understand during the class, you hardly know in the solitude of your home.
- Write short sentences
Right notes stand out for having short sentences and for including all the essential information. Also, it is necessary that you get used to always using the same abbreviations and that you create your list.
- Attempt to list the headlines
Although it is quite complicated to be able to take notes on all the subjects working in class, it is essential that you try to pay attention to the beginning of the course, since at that moment the teacher will explain the content of that class.
- Clean passages
To study the best, you can do to have all the notes organized, in bright and underlined letters. Do not forget to number the pages if you write on pages, change pages when you start a new topic and leave spaces between lines to add annotations.
Also, it was determined that those who chose to take notes with the computer wrote more words and quotations. However, it was shown that writing in this way does not demand the same concentration as handwriting.
It is important to note that the key to everything is to write by hand what does not only mean doing it on paper. Writing with pencils on electronic screens can also be beneficial. I think handwritten notes are better than computer typed notes.
