Lecture is among the most widely used methods of instruction in higher education (Dyson, 2008; Raver & Maydosz, 2010). In college classes, teachers often provide handouts to their students for note taking before the lecture. In fact, note taking is foremost among the strategies adopted by college students to help them learn lecture material (Castello & Monereo, 2005; Palmatier & Bennett, 1974). Previous studies have found the quality of lecture notes taken by college students to be significantly correlated with their learning performance (Chen, 2013; Peverly et al., 2007). However, researchers have noted that the general quality of college students’ lecture notes vary widely, and in many cases, were found to be poor and unsatisfactory (Baker & Lombardi, 1985; Chen, 2013; McDonald & Taylor, 1980).

In response, teacher-prepared notes have been pursued as a solution to ameliorate the problem of poor note taking among students. These range from PowerPoint handouts to verbatim lecture notes. Among these, guided notes are found to be among the most effective teacher-prepared notes (Konrad, Joseph, & Eveleigh, 2009). Guided notes are instructor-prepared handouts that contain background information and cues about the lecture content, with spaces for students to record the key facts, concepts, and relationships during the lecture (Heward, 1994, 2001). For example, guided notes have been used to improve learning performance and enhance class participation among students with learning difficulties (Hamilton, Seibert, Gardner, & Talbert-Johnson, 1999; Mastropieri, Scruggs, Spencer, & Fontana, 2003; Patterson, 2005; Sweeny, et al., 1999).

In recent years, researchers have focused on the effect of guided notes on learning among college students. They found that when students were provided with guided notes by the teachers, their verbal responses to the teacher and note quality increased (Austin, Lee, & Carr, 2004; Austin, Lee, Thibeault, Carr, & Bailey, 2002). In addition, students who were provided with guided notes made fewer mistakes when answering complex quiz questions, compared with those who were provided with complete notes from their teachers (Neef, McCord, & Ferreri, 2006). Although these studies have provided support for the use of guided notes to enhance effective learning among college students, several issues remain unresolved. First, studies on note taking have typically focused on comparing the effects of guided notes versus complete notes on college students’ performance (Neef et al., 2006). However, the use of complete notes is rare at the college level, and it is more realistic to compare the effects of guided notes versus outline notes on college students’ performance (Chen, 2013).Second, there is a dearth of studies that discuss the effect of training on students’ ability to use guided notes to take quality notes. Third, many researchers have focused on the immediate effect of guided notes on selected outcome variables, to the exclusion of the delayed effects of the intervention. By examining the delayed effects of their interventions, researchers would be able to determine if there was significant improvement in the quality of student’s notes in the post experiment period.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of guided notes on the quality of students’ lecture note taking, as well as their learning performance. The following research questions were answered in this study: (1) To what extent would students provided with guided notes perform better on the delayed post-test of note quantity and quality relative to students provided with outline notes? (2) To what extent would students provided with guided notes perform better on the post-test and delayed post-test of learning performance relative to students provided with outline notes? (3) In what way do students perceive the effects of guided notes on their learning and note taking?

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