The Effects Of Using Cornell Notes While Reading Advanced Placement History Textbooks PDF Download

Research Questions: To what extent does using Cornell Notes while students are reading their required weekly chapter increase their AP format test scores? (1) How does the use of Cornell Notes help them recall specific details that will help them distinguish between similar answers on multiple choice questions? (2) How does the use of this strategy affect their ability to support their essay statements with facts? (3) How does the use of Cornell Notes impact my students' attitudes towards the effectiveness of their study time and their test taking capabilities? Research Activities: Context: This intervention took place with all 16 of the students in an Advanced Placement (AP) United States History classroom; one student was a 10th grade student who had met the 10th grade history requirements by taking summer classes at a community college, and the rest of the students in the class were in 11th grade. This intervention was conducted in a medium sized high school (circa 2000 students) in a small city in central California. I was not the teacher of record in this classroom, but I collaborated closely with the class's teacher, who has had 30 years of experience, including several years teaching AP U.S. History. The demographics of the class approximate those of the school, with 8 Caucasian students, 7 Hispanic students, and 1 African American student. Only one student had taken the CELDT test and was Re-designated as English Proficient (RFEP) in 2003. He had no apparent difficulty with either comprehension or expression in English, and I do not believe his language background affected his performance during the intervention. Methods and Data: Before my intervention, I administered a survey to the students that ascertained their study habits at the time. The primary assessment that I used to examine students performance was the AP format tests that the students normally took about once a week. After collecting initial data on the multiple choice and essay sections of one of these tests, I then taught them how to use Cornell Notes, a structured note-taking method which involves dividing a page into two columns and reviewing notes a few times. This consisted of an initial lesson with direct instruction on the method, in class guided practice, and time in class for independent practice. The students were instructed to finish taking Cornell Notes on their own when they completed that week's reading, and they kept them to use as a study guide until turning them in at the start of that week's test. Students were given shorter follow up lessons to reinforce parts of the note-taking method that seemed to be lacking after students turned in their first full set of completed notes. Multiple choice and essay portion test scores were collected during and after the 3 weeks that students were required to take and use Cornell Notes. Students were then given a survey after the intervention to determine if they felt that using Cornell Notes had helped them and to discover how closely they had followed the note-taking method when working on their notes independently. Results: While individual student performance varied, the aggregate performance of the class did not change significantly during the course of the intervention. The class average of multiple choice section test scores went down slightly (just over 1 percent), and the class average of essay section test scores went up slightly (under 2 percent). There are so many other factors that may have affected the students' performance that such small changes cannot be attributed to the intervention itself. However, most students expressed on the post-intervention survey that they felt that using Cornell Notes helped them. These opinions did not correlate with student achievement on an individual basis, but several students said they intended to keep using them despite the fact that they would no longer be required for class credit. Grade Level: 11. Data Collection Methods: Teacher-made assessment, Observation - Field Notes, Survey - Attitude, Survey - Self-assessment. Curriculum Areas: Social Studies - United States History. Instructional Approaches: Reading - strategies, Study skills.