The Lecture Note-Taking Skills of Adolescents With and Without Learning Disabilities

Abstract

The note- and test-taking skills of typically functioning undergraduates are significantly and positively related to handwriting speed, listening comprehension, background knowledge and sustained attention. This study attempted to replicate these findings with two groups of high school students—those with and without the diagnosis of a learning disability (LD). Students without LD scored significantly higher than those with LD on handwriting speed, listening comprehension, background knowledge, sustained attention, quality of notes, and test performance. Results of regression analyses indicated that note-taking (f2 = 1.94) and test-taking (f2 = 2.69) were associated with listening comprehension and background knowledge predominately. If these results are replicated, they suggest that the variables related to note-taking in typically functioning undergraduates are similar to high school students with and without LD. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.