Lexical Analysis of Student’s Learning Activities during the Giving of Instructions for Note-Taking in a Blended Learning Environment

Abstract

Abstract-Note-taking activity affects student's learning performances in blended learning courses, which consist of face-to-face sessions and online learning materials. To promote the effectiveness of note-taking, a lecturer gave students instructions during the course. According to the results of a lexical analysis of the contents of notes taken by students, the lecturer's instructions had a significant effect on some of the indices of features of notes taken. This effectiveness can be observed when the lecturer gives instructions as opposed to not giving them. Also, the relationships between student's characteristics and indices of features of content of notes taken were analyzed.

The possibility of predicting learning performance using features of note taking activities and instructions in a blended learning environment

“…The total number of variables is 13. The causal relationships between these characteristics and overall learning performance was confirmed using these metrics (Nakayama, Mutsuura, & Yamamoto, 2014a, 2016b.…”

“…During the first year, the survey was conducted without any instructions having been given, nor suggestions to improve note taking skills made, and this condition is defined as the "without instruction" condition. Regarding our series of surveys (Nakayama, Mutsuura, & Yamamoto, 2011, 2014a, 2016b, note taking activity may be a key learning process, and can provide a possible means of improving learning performance. Therefore, instructions concerning note taking techniques and examples of good notes were shown twice during the course, at the beginning and mid-point of the course.…”

“…The contents of all notes taken by participants in each of the sessions were evaluated by the lecturer (Nakayama, Mutsuura, & Yamamoto, 2014a, 2016b. The measurements were divided into two categories, "Good" and "Fair".…”

“…During processing, the nouns and the sequence of appearance of each individual noun in the texts and in each session were recorded. To measure the note taking activity of participants, some indices were defined as follows (Nakayama, Mutsuura, & Yamamoto, 2014b, 2016b). …”

“…The relationships between these factors and learning performance have also been widely analyzed and discussed (Cronbach & Snow, 1977;Nye, Crooks, Powley, & Tripp, 1984;Weener, 1974). These survey and analytical techniques were introduced to the study of the online learning environment, and the learning effectiveness of note taking, and some of the causal relationships between learning activities and note taking behavior were analyzed (Nakayama, Mutsuura, & Yamamoto, 2014a, 2015a, 2016b. Previous studies concerning note taking activity, which examined these overall activities, can be used as a summative assessment as student's achievements.…”