Writing is Essential for Your Brain to Remember

Why an Online Program Tells Students to Write Notes Old-School Style

by Amy E. Barr (blog 012, reprint of Peri's Points)

You’ll often hear Lukeion instructors remind students to take notes by hand, old-school-analog-pen-and-paper style. Many of you might think it is a bit strange that a program that thrives on the latest technology gives a care about how students take notes. Trust us, it makes a huge difference.

The first complaint we hear from students when we encourage them to stop typing and start writing is that they write much more slowly than the instructor is speaking.  Yes, indeed, exactly: that’s the whole point! Typing notes simply can’t engage the brain like writing notes by hand.

The biggest complaint is the biggest benefit. Your brain must focus intently on the information and organize a thought that is short enough to go on paper before the next topic begins. Suddenly a passive experience of listening—and maybe even multitasking if a student’s focus wanders—becomes a deeply focused exercise in attentiveness and mental engagement in the subject at hand. 

Clever students will recopy notes right after class while the memory is fresh. Those who employ this simple discipline, seldom struggle with mastery. They’ve already engaged the information intently twice before the week is a third done. A later review will find that information neatly tucked into long-term memory.

“When you write down your ideas you automatically focus your full attention on them. Few if any of us can write one thought and think another at the same time. Thus a pencil and paper make excellent concentration tools.” --Michael Leboeuf

Want to get ready for a quiz or exam? Rewrite it a third time and/or teach the material to somebody else. People will believe you are a genius!

Thoughts disentangle themselves passing over lips and through pencil tips.  –anonymous

We aren’t the only ones who have come to realize how much cognitive difference writing things makes. 

Look at NPR: “Attention, Students: Put Your Laptops Away”  

The Atlantic: To Remember a Lecture Better, Take Notes by Hand

APD: Take Notes by Hand for Better Long-Term Comprehension

Scientific American: A Learning Secret: Don’t Take Notes with a Laptop

and finally, Why Thinking on Paper is a Fast Way to Focus

Ideas are elusive, slippery things. Best to keep a pad of paper and a pencil at your bedside, so you can stab them during the night before they get away. --Earl Nightingale