February 14, 2023

Notetaking?

So, I’m sitting in the back of the MGA Library Lab 2 listening to one of our excellent librarians talk to my ENGL 1102 students about using the electronic resources to find secondary materials for the class. This is not difficult, but there are a lot of little details that she’s showing us, including hints about searching, boolean strategies, finding full-text articles, etc. I have heard this many times before, but I always learn something new during these presentations, and I’m a veteran researcher.

I noticed something curious: not a single one of my eight students is taking notes.

Several of them have their phones out in front of them, but pens and notebooks are as absent as enthusiasm.

Is it me? Maybe these kids have never been taught to take notes? I never would have made it through college without taking notes.