A Version of Guided Notetaking for Use in Music History Courses: Fostering Engagement and Achievement through Critical Thinking and Writing

  • Catherine Mayes University of Utah
Keywords: notetaking, writing, critical thinking

Abstract

Many studies show that guided notetaking, in which the instructor provides prompts for information to be included in students’ notes, is associated not only with more complete notes and better academic achievement, but also with greater participation than unassisted notetaking. Yet guided notetaking has traditionally involved having students write relatively little, focusing primarily on recording factual information and examples presented by the instructor. The expanded version of guided notetaking I have developed, which includes prompts for use in class as well as short writing assignments to be completed outside of class, emphasizes writing and critical thinking to a greater degree than does traditional guided notetaking. I contend that the version of guided notetaking I use is successful in improving student engagement and achievement in music history courses by fostering skills that are central to our discipline.

Author Biography

Catherine Mayes, University of Utah
Catherine Mayes is Assistant Professor of Musicology at the University of Utah. Her research on exoticism and national styles in music of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries has been published in Eighteenth-Century Music, Music & Letters (winning the Westrup Prize), The Oxford Handbook of Topic Theory, and Consuming Music: Individuals, Institutions, Communities, 1730–1830, a volume of essays she co-edited with Emily H. Green.
Published
2018-05-10
Issue
Vol 8 No 2 (2018)
Section
Reports and Practices

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