The difficulties of note-taking practice for students

In any history or geography lesson students must keep a written record of what they have learned. These traces are important elements in the student's learning process. The written record is therefore central to the teaching-learning process. Its preparation is a key moment for both teachers and students. Pupils should not be copyists but autonomous actors in their own learning. To help them achieve this pedagogical supervisors recommend note-taking as a means of teaching and learning and its systematization from the second grade onwards to familiarize students with the technique. Note-taking as a means of recording the written record has proven pedagogical advantages. It promotes academic success. However note-taking requires the mobilization of a range of skills. Students in the second year of secondary school are not sufficiently equipped to use this technique successfully. Hence the difficulties they encounter.