Developing Guided
Notes

Examine existing lecture outlines (or create them as necessary) to identify the most important course content that students must learn and retain via lecture. Remember: less can be more. Student learning is enhanced by lectures with fewer points supported by additional examples and opportunities for students to respond to questions or scenarios (Russell et al., 1984)

Delete the key facts, concepts, and relationships from the lecture outline, leaving the remaining information to provide structure and context for students' note taking

Insert supporting information and resources into the guided notes including: outlines and concept maps; diagrams and charts; images, illustrations and photos; highlighted statements or concepts that are particularly important (e.g., Big Ideas), and resources such as bibliographies and websites.

Use (a consistent, standard set of) formatting cues such as highlighting, sequences, images, asterisks, lines, and bullets to show students where, when, and how many facts or concepts to write.

Use PowerPoint slides or overhead transparencies to project key content.
Visually projecting the key facts, definitions, concepts, relationships, etc. that students must write in their Guided Notes helps ensure that all students access the most critical content and improves the pace of the lecture

Leave ample space for students to write. 
Providing about three to four times the space needed to type the content will generally leave enough room for students' handwriting

Do not require students to write too much. 
Using Guided Notes should not unduly slow down the pace of the lecture. Two studies found that students' exam scores for lectures taught with Guided Notes that could be completed with single words and short phrases were as high as their test scores over lectures taught with Guided Notes that required more extensive writing to complete (Austin & Sasson, 2001; Courson, 1989)


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