This mixed-methods study examined cognitive correlates and learning outcomes related to the use of copy and paste (CP). Quantitative results indicated that college students whose CP capability was restricted to a small amount of text as they entered information into a matrix-like tool recalled more facts, recognized more concepts, and inferred more relationships among information from text than students for whom copying and pasting into the matrix was unrestricted. Then, 24 interviews revealed depth of processing and decision-making differences that may account for the discrepancies in learning between the restricted and unrestricted groups. This study suggests that both individuals' differing habits and experimentally induced variations in CP note-taking approaches may have significant differential consequences for cognitive processes and for learning.
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This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study explored how the encoding of text ideas is affected when students with learning disabilities (LD) take notes from Web-based text. In the quantitative phase of the study, 15 students took three kinds of notes - typed, copy and paste, and written - with each kind of notes addressing a different topic. After taking notes, students performed poorly on two immediate measures of facts learning. Cued-recall test performances were best for topics noted by writing, whereas multiple-choice test performances were best for topics noted by copying and pasting. Students performed worse on the cued-recall test when it was readministered four days later. In the qualitative phase of the study, followup interviews indicated students preferred copying and pasting their notes (for practical reasons) and found typing notes to be distracting, which made learning problematic. A textual analysis of students' notes confirmed that students took mostly verbatim notes when typing or writing, which has been linked to shallow processing, and perhaps further accounts for the low level of learning that occurred. The mixing of quantitative and qualitative data (in the qualitative data analysis phase of the study), along with learning and motivation theories, provides justification for teachers to instruct middle-school students with LD to use copy and paste to take notes from Web-based sources.
Previous research has indicated that most students copy and paste notes from Internet sources in a mindless way; they typically paste large sections of text into their notes and then later can recall little of what they have stored. However, supplying students with a note-taking framework that restricts the amount of text that may be pasted can prompt them to engage in more selective pasting, and this seems to result in greater learning. But the extant research has not specifically addressed copy and paste note-taking behaviors of high-achieving students. The high-achieving high school and college students in the present study used a note-taking tool on the computer that consisted of an electronic matrix to cue students to note certain types of information. In one condition, the number of words that could be included in each cell was restricted, whereas in the other group, the students’ cells were unrestricted. After the note-taking sessions, all students completed assessments to document the amount of information they learned. High-achieving students in both conditions learned the same amount through the note-taking process. These results were inconsistent with the previous research. Follow-up analyses of students’ notes indicated that although the high-achieving students in the unrestricted note-taking group were not limited in the number of words they copied, many of them selectively chose which information they pasted into the grid. The relationship between text-pasting selectivity and learning remained: High-achieving students were more selective in their note taking, and they also were more successful on the posttests.
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