Handwriting Notes is Better When it Comes to Processing and Remembering Information Over Typing Them on an Electronic Device Such as a Laptop

• a study done with college students concluded that taking handwritten notes helped students perform better on tests over notes taken on a laptop
• a study done on five year old children showed that taking notes by hand instead of tracing or typing helped them process letters better which could lead  to successful reading acquisition.
• laptop multitasking not only negatively affects the person doing it by distracting them from note taking but it also distracts others around them
• most studies concluded that handwriting is the more effective way to take notes in the long run over taking notes on a laptop

With the Introduction of Note Taking on Electronic Devices, There has been a Debate as to Which is the Most Effective Way of Taking Notes With Some Saying That the Handwritten is Still the Best Way to Go When Remembering Information

Note taking has always been used wherever people go. Whether it is in an educational environment or a work environment, taking down notes has been essential in many ways. In an educational environment, note taking is crucial for many students to learn the necessary material for their classes. However, is there a "correct" way to take notes that is effective in remembering the necessary information? Some believe that the "old school" way of taking notes will always be effective. But in this day and age where interactive and virtual learning are being integrated through school systems, students are refining their learning. Studies done by psychologists found that handwriting notes helped students remember the information better while in the dental community taking notes on a laptop proved . However, when it came to asking the students themselves and getting their opinions on what was the most effective way to take notes, the overall consensus was surprising.

A Study Done by Two Psychologists Finds That Taking Notes By Hand Provides Better Memory Retention Over Taking Notes on a Laptop

Psychologists Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer conducted 3 related studies. The first study had participants watch lecture videos and take notes during the videos. Afterwards, they completed "distractor" tasks and were then told to respond to factual recall questions as well as conceptual application questions about the videos they had previously watched. They found that those who took notes by hand answered more of the questions correctly compared to those who took them down on a laptop.

Naureen Elahi, a second year student at the University of Maryland, agrees. She also gives her own reason as to why she prefers to hand write notes even though most of her classes allow the use of laptops.

The second study conducted by Mueller and Oppenheimer imitated the first but this time in an individual lecture style setting instead of a video setting. The results from this study found that neither way of note taking had an advantage over the other. The last study was similar to the first two but this time participants were told to return the following week to take the test. Some were allowed a 10 minute study time before the test while others were not. The results showed that taking hand written notes helped participants perform better on the tests compared to those who took them down on a laptop. Overall, hand writing notes proved to be effective when it came to remembering information in the long run.


Most college students came to this consensus as well. When asked how they take notes while reading a required textbook for a class, the majority of them responded that they hand wrote their notes while only a few said they took notes on their laptops or did a combination of both.





A Second Study Done on Younger Children Finds that Handwriting is Important and More Beneficial When Processing Information Which Could Facilitate Reading Acquisition in Younger Children

Psychologists Karin James and Laura Engelhardt conducted a study similar to Mueller and Oppenheimer's but instead of using college age students, they used five year old children. The children were instructed to print, type, or trace letters and shapes. They were then shown these same exact images while undergoing a MRI scan. A previously documented "reading circuit" was noted during letter perception only after handwriting, not in the children who typed or traced. This study along with Mueller and Oppenheimer's backs the claim that handwriting notes is the better method for students when it comes to retaining information. 


There was mixed responses to back this claim by the college students themselves. When asked how they most commonly take notes in a lecture style class, most responded that they hand write their notes. However, what was interesting was their responses when they were asked how many of their friends take notes on a laptop in their classes: more than half of their friends took notes on an electronic device.

Betel Mulugeta, a second year student at the University of Maryland, also has mixed responses when it comes to note taking in classes. With her own unique way of taking notes inside and outside of the classroom, she explains why not taking notes (most of the time) is the most effective way for her to understand and comprehend the material.

Taking Notes on a Laptop While Browsing the Internet and Doing Other Online Tasks Negatively Affects Test Scores of not only the Person Multitasking but also Those Seated around Them 

Psychologists Faria Sana, Tina Weston, and Nicholas Cepeda conducted a study which involved some undergraduate students multitasking (taking notes and browsing the Internet on a laptop) in a lecture style class. Some participants would be seated around those multitasking but not taking any notes while others would not be seated around those multitasking and also not take any notes. What the researches found was that those who were seated around the participants with laptops performed significantly worse on comprehension tests compared to those who were not seated around those participants note taking while browsing the Internet on a laptop. This is detrimental to students' learning nowadays because more than half of college students' reported that 3 or more of their classes allowed for the use of laptops.

With the Plethora of Technology Nowadays, Students Still Prefer to Take Notes with Pen and Paper

Though laptops and other electronic devices can be seen on college campuses everywhere, it can be surmised from the three studies detailed above and actual interviews of college students themselves that note taking by hand will still be around for some time. Even the younger generation agrees. Sydney, an upcoming freshmen to the University of Maryland explains why she'll still stick with hand writing notes instead of typing them up on a laptop even if some of her classes allow them.

Taking notes by hand is proven to benefit students old and young. For five year old children it is a promising start for reading acquisition while in college students they will see better test scores if they take notes by hand. Though note taking by hand may eventually die out, for now it is still the most effective way to learn.