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College students' perceptions of notetaking and their relationship to selected learner characteristics and course achievement

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Abstract

Notetaking is a universal activity in college lecture courses, but little research has been done to examine students' perceptions of this study strategy as it relates to their overall study routine. In the current study, students in a large lecture course in introductory macroeconomics were asked to complete the Notetaking Perceptions Survey (NPS), an instrument that assesses students' perceptions of the worth or value of notetaking, their perceived level of notetaking activity, and their degree of confidence about their own notetaking skill. Additionally, students' learning style, as assessed by the Learning Style Inventory (Smith and Kolb, 1986), gender, high school rank, and year of high school graduation were included as predictor variables within a multiple regression analysis to predict scores on the there notetaking perception factors. Notetaking perceptions were predicted by one of the learning style dimensions and by gender. The relationships of final course grades with the three notetaking factors from the NPS and the other learner characteristics were also determined. Grades were predicted by one of the notetaking perception factors and by high school rank.

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Carrier, C.A., Williams, M.D. & Dalgaard, B.R. College students' perceptions of notetaking and their relationship to selected learner characteristics and course achievement. Res High Educ 28, 223–239 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992232

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