Abstract

Note-taking is a quintessential part of a student's life. Note taking was usually taken for granted by both teachers and learners, despite its extensive use. However, in the past years, changes in the higher education landscape, such as the proliferation of commercial note-taking services, have resulted teachers to question the effectiveness of note-taking in promoting teaching and their own role in the process (Muraina, Amao & Oyelade, 2013). According to Hartley and Marshall (1974) as cited in Cuseo, Fecas, and Thompson (2007), students who take notes experience growth in attention and concentration in class. In addition, writing during discussions and reviewing notes before exams produces better recall which is significant to your performance on exams (Kiewra, 1985). The many benefits of taking down notes include: extending your attention span, boosts your comprehension and retention, and promotes active learning. Some people have different approaches in writing down their notes. According to Morales (2017) the use of technology becomes more prominent in schools. Many students choose to take notes with gadgets. Laptops and tablets are more distracting because it is simpler to distract yourself by surfing the internet. According to a recent study, writing down notes is actually more beneficial. On top of that, when you take notes by hand, it seems that you actually learn more. In the Philippines, few people considered designing their notes to motivate themselves to read. Others use various types of notebooks where they would write their notes. It would all depend solely on the student on how they would write down their own notes. Many students find note-taking as a tiresome act. Gray-Grant (2017) states that writing is exhausting as you spend most of your day sitting rather than moving. She also added that the mental work is just as taxing as the physical work. However, the advantages of note-taking greatly outweighs the disadvantages. This is the focus of the current study. This is to see whether note taking has a positive impact on the academic performance of a student.