Student Variables in Relation to Note‐taking during a Lecture

Abstract A sample of 69 introductory psychology students handed in their notes after an ordinary lecture on child development. The content, layout and legibility of the notes were analysed in detail and related to the number of years each student had been at university, whether the notes were rough or final, and the sex of the students. Some measures were also related to the students’ course marks at the end of the teaching year. The results showed that women took significantly more notes than men, that the number of years at university was a significant variable for men, but not for women, and students who took rough notes (intending to rewrite them) had significantly shorter notes than the others. The final course marks did not differ according to sex or length of time at university, but students who took rough notes during the lecture scored 5.4 per cent lower than the rest (p< 0.001).