Note perfect: an investigation of how students view taking notes in lectures

Abstract Taking notes in lectures is a key component of academic literacy and has been much investigated both from the point of view of the discourse structure of lectures and the ways in which native and non-native speakers of English take notes. However, most research has not considered the role of students' conceptualisations of the process. This paper examines whether research into students' conceptualisations can contribute to our understanding of taking notes in lectures. The paper describes an illustrative investigation into student conceptualisations based on a series of structured interviews with 18 students, six first year traditional undergraduates, six access students, and six first year international students. The interviews examined how students think about the purposes of taking notes in lectures, the content of the notes, what should happen to the notes after the lecture and the students' previous experience of taking notes. The paper concludes that our understanding of this aspect of academic literacy would be enriched if it took account of students' conceptualisation of the process, that this would lead to a more heterogeneous view of taking notes in lectures and that there may be a case for more integration of EAP into mainstream courses.