Many faculty use presentation slides to structure their lectures, but how they share materials with students can impact their note-taking. Some instructors make their full slides available to students, which may lead them to skip taking their own notes. Others require students to take notes independently, which can be overwhelming, especially for content-heavy courses or for students unfamiliar with effective note-taking strategies.  

Active note-taking helps students retain and understand material. Simply listening to a lecture or reading slides is a passive process, which leads to lower recall. So, how can we help students develop stronger note-taking skills and retain information? 

One solution is guided notes, a structured approach to note-taking that scaffolds student learning. Guided notes can take many forms, including partially completed PowerPoint slides, fill-in-the blank outlines, and notes with reflective prompts and learning strategies (Biggers & Lou, 2020). By providing structure and prompts, guided notes encourage students to engage with the material while strengthening their note-taking skills.

How to Implement Guided Notes

• Analyze Lecture Content: Identify the key concepts, definitions, figures, and tables that are essential for understanding the topic. Consider where students tend to struggle and use guided notes to highlight those areas.
• Design the Notes: Start with a structured format that provides clear guidance. In my course I do this by creating a partially completed outline of the lecture. As the semester progresses, gradually reduce the structure, allowing students to take more responsibility for their own note-taking. Include guiding questions or prompts to encourage critical thinking, along with fundamental study tips (e.g. “Write down all definitions from the textbook”, “Create a mnemonic device or visual aid to help you remember this concept”). See Figure 1 for a detail and explanation of potential guided notes designs.
• Show Examples of Guided Notes: At the start of the semester, post completed guided notes as an example. In my course, I create these notes as if I were a student by adding questions I might have while listening to the lecture, including textbook definitions from the reading, and highlighting concepts I find unclear. I also include personal examples and reflections. See Figure 2 for an example of what notes might look like in a guided note template.
• Encourage Student Use: Post the guided notes before each class and reference them during lecture. For example, when showing a figure say, “This figure is also included in your guided notes. What trends do you notice about this figure? Write down your thoughts in your guided notes.” At the end of class, you could ask students to identify the most important concept they learned and write a brief summary in their notes.
• Prompt Comparison: If time allows in lecture, consider including activities where students compare their notes and discuss questions they have on the material.

Conclusion

I have used guided notes for two semesters and have observed more students engaging with the lecture material and using the notes during lecture. However, I have noticed that some students still struggle with effectively using the guided notes. To address this, I plan to encourage their use outside of lecture, particularly as a study tool. For example, instead of holding a review season that only consists of answering multiple-choice questions, I could pose questions and ask students to find answers using their guided notes. If a student cannot find the answer within their guided notes, I can encourage them to use the textbook or collaborate with classmates to fill in the gaps. This approach would help students consolidate information into a single document. 

For faculty considering guided notes, I recommend starting with a structured approach and gradually reducing the level of support. Less structured notes encourage students to develop note taking skills and provide instructors with the flexibility to make slight changes to lectures without having to completely redo the guided notes. 

While I haven’t collected formal data on the outcomes yet, I’m hopeful that these small adjustments to how I facilitate note taking in my classes are helping students build stronger note-taking skills and improve student learning. 

Reference

Biggers, Bryan and Luo, Tian. Guiding students to success: A systematic review of research on guided notes as an instructional strategy from 2009-2019, Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 17(3), 2020. 

Resources on Guided Notes

• What Makes Note-taking Work? Learning Tip for Students (CETL)
• Engaging Students with Guided Notes
• Guided Notes: Improving the Effectiveness of Your Lectures
• Creating Guided Notes

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About the Author

Emily Van Wasshenova is an assistant professor in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences within the School of Health Sciences at OU. She has an academic background in Exercise Science and Health Education and her research focuses on health behavior, particularly physical activity and nutrition.  Outside of work, you can find Emily exploring trails with her dog, Miles or working on mastering Phantom of the Opera on the piano. 

Others may share and adapt under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC.

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