Guided Notes

Guided Notes

What Are Guided Notes?

"Guided notes are instructor-prepared handouts that provide all students with background information and standard cues with specific spaces to write key facts, concepts, and/or relationships during the lecture. {See example on page 5}.
Guided notes (GN) require students to actively respond during the lecture, improve the accuracy and efficiency of students’ notetaking, and increase students’ retention of course content. GN can help organize and enhance lecture content in any discipline or subject area. Instructors can develop GN for a single lecture, for one or more units within a course, or for an entire semester-long course. GN follow the principles of Universal Design for learning—they improve learning for all students."  (Ohio State University website)

As with any method of instruction there are pros and cons.

Pros of Lecturing - Professor has complete control of lesson.  Students will be presented with what he thinks is important. (and only that).  There is flexibility in lecturing.  A professor can go deeper into a subject (or tangent).  The instructor can show his passion about a subject in a lecture and this can be motivating for students.  Lectures can be great as an add on to already presented material in order to explore subject matter further.

Pros of Guided Notes -  Students need to pay close attention during instruction in order to complete notes.  The students that have guided notes can pay more attention to instruction because they are not trying to frantically write everything teacher is saying.  The students are made aware with the notes of what the particular areas the teacher wants them to pay close attention to and what details are important. There are studies that state that students ask more questions and do better on assessments with guided notes used in class.  The use of notes also helps keep the teacher more on task with any presentation of information.  There is room on the pages for notes that students may add facts or points made during instruction.


Guided notes enable the student to focus on the instruction in the room.  The teacher does not need to stop to write or rewrite something on a board or pause with an idea when students fall behind in their writing.  The ability to be making a real life connection to the information adds to a learners grasp of the information.  This allows the student to retain more information and be more knowledgable down the road as they build on that knowledge.

http://ada.osu.edu/resources/fastfacts/Guided-Notes-Fact-Sheet.pdf