Norwegian scientists have found that it is better to listen than to take notes.

We remember more when we don't write, new research suggests.

Teachers ask students to take notes in class. However, recent studies have shown that students would remember more if they simply listened.

Research from Vestland University (HVL) shows that students and schoolchildren remember better by simply listening rather than taking notes, says Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

Professor Göran Söderlund believes that taking notes can distract students and prevent them from understanding what is being said. He advises listening carefully and then writing down what remains in your head. Students told NRK that teachers advise and encourage them to take notes in lectures and seminars and consider taking notes as an important part of learning.

The same principle is shared by teachers at Stord High School, who believe that taking notes can help students learn the material differently. 17-year-old students of this school, like most other Norwegian students, come to classes at universities and schools with notebooks and pens.

“Of course, a lot depends on the teacher and his story or lecture, but within an hour I write from one to three pages,” emphasizes Anette Borthwaite.

Notes are used by students to review and study before tests.

During the study, it was found that only two people in a randomly selected class did not write down what the teacher said. However, students admit that after a lesson or lecture they hardly look at their notes.

“To be honest, after a lesson I don’t really look at my notes. Unless the teacher said something that is not in the book,” explains Anette Borveit.

The old teaching method, according to Göran Söderlund, professor of special education at Västland University (HVL), is not justified. It is really outdated, especially if the notes are written by hand. Studies have shown that simply listening is much more effective for memory than simultaneously writing by hand or on a computer.

One hundred Norwegian schoolchildren were tested one after another. They were told 12 sentences such as “roll a ball”, “write with a pen” and “drink from a glass”. After that, they had to repeat as much as they could remember. Students performed this exercise in different variations: 1) listening and at the same time imitating what was said; 2) just listening; 3) writing by hand or 4) writing on a computer.

Previous research has shown that actively physically doing something you need to remember strengthens your memory. And this has been confirmed by the current study. In the first case, when the experiment participants listened and performed actions at the same time, they remembered on average almost nine words out of ten. When they simply listened, the results were better than when they took notes/wrote. On average, students were able to retell eight out of ten sentences. Writing by hand and taking notes on a computer gave almost the same results, and these are the worst methods for remembering what was said. Students managed to produce an average of just over six sentences.

“The idea that we should write down what was said arose in the old days, a long time ago, and it has lived its own life ever since,” says Söderlund. – I am surprised by the results of our research, as well as by the fact that such experiments have never been carried out before. Another factor that plays a role here is that sometimes a person, when taking notes, thinks about how to write a word correctly and simply misses the thread of what the teacher said.”

The recent international PISA study found that Norwegian students are performing worse in reading, maths and science. The professor generally believes that teaching methods are partly to blame. “I think that Norwegian schools have been allowed to continue using very ineffective teaching methods for a long time. This led to what I call “shock.” Nobody is questioning the old ways, and that's the problem.”

However, not all teachers agree with him. So, Bjørnar Meling from Stord High School and his colleague Ingunn Hansejoerde from time to time ask students to take notes. They want students to actively participate in lessons and believe that children then process the material differently when they take notes. “But this does not mean that they have to write down almost verbatim what is said or shown in the presentation,” Hansejoorde emphasizes.

Teachers also say that many students are bad at taking notes: they read a textbook and at the same time take notes on what is happening in the lecture.

Both scientists and teachers agree that It is better to first listen carefully to the lecturer or teacher, and then write down what you have learned.