# Xxx21 **Source:** [Don’t Ditch the Laptop Just Yet: Replication Finds No Immediate Advantage to Writing Notes by Hand](https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/writing-notes). Unknown author. 2021 **See Also:** [[Note-taking]], [[Learning]], [[Psychology]]. - [ ] I could check the actual papers from [2014](https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614524581) and [2021](https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620965541) to answer some of my concerns. This article has an oddly misrepresentative and, IMHO, misleading title, because the reported research leaves so many relevant questions unanswered. The article reports on an attempt in 2021 to replicate an important study from 2014 that indicated taking notes on paper led to better retention of information by students. The replication basically failed. Key points from the 2021 study: - "...only small, statistically nonsignificant differences in quiz performance as a function of note-taking medium" were found. - This is based, however, on the arbitrary nature of *statistical significance*. - What if $p = 0.06$? Would that really be insignificant? - Quizzes were administered *immediately* after students viewed a recorded lecture. - Thus, there is a question of short- versus long-term retention. - As in the 2014 study, "no significant relationship was found between typed versus longhand note taking and factual recall." - So low-level learning - factual recall - isn't affected by the medium used. - "Both studies also found that students’ typed notes contained more words and exhibited a greater degree of verbatim overlap than students’ handwritten notes." - "More words" doesn't "better words". - Verbatim overlap too defeats an important component of learning, i.e., writing in "one's own words". - Both studies found that "Higher word count was associated with a better quiz score, whereas more word-for-word overlap was associated with worse performance." - This suggests that more is better, but verbatim notes are detrimental. - However, "...no relationship between typed versus longhand note taking and conceptual recall" was found. - That is, no effect was found vis-a-vis *deep* learning. - A "meta-analysis supported the conclusion that the effect of typing versus writing notes by hand was not statistically significant." - Again, the problem of significance. Troubling nonetheless. - They "[can]not confirm that taking more notes in your own words leads to better quiz performance. Higher word count or lower verbatim overlap may be third-variable proxies for motivation, conscientiousness, or interest, any of which might prompt students to take more notes in their own words and do better on the test." - These are factors that were not taken into account in either study. - "...students were not permitted to review their notes before taking the quiz." - But since the quiz was administered immediately after making notes, this isn't an immediate concern. - However, this leaves open the question of how students would do *if they had to study from their notes* for a future assessment. - This leaves open the question of whether typing or writing benefits reinforcement and long-term review, and *studying from notes* rather than just using them to firm up information in short-term memory. - There are lots of open questions here and lots of opportunity for more work - and more research too.