๐Ÿ“Taking non-verbatim notes improves conceptual understanding

Mueller & Oppenheimer2014 shows that students taking note by hand produce less verbatim notes (they used summary, paraphrasing, etc.), and thatโ€™s a possible explanation of why they perform better on conceptual tests.

In the longer run (1 week) when allowed to review notes, longhand note-takers performed much better in both conceptual understanding and factual recall.

The factual recall is not explained by verbatim/non-verbatim model, but I suspect that itโ€™s likely because longhand note-takers developed a better conceptual model that allowed them to remember facts better (Mental models make things easier to remember).

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