STUDENT’S LAZINESS IN TAKING DOWN NOTES

An Action Research presented to

the College of Education

Binalbagan Catholic College

Binalagbagan, Negros Occidental

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the Degree

Bachelor of Secondary Education

Major in Science

Maybelle Lyn T. Linas

Cindy L. Roca

November 2023
 INTRODUCTION

In the dictionary as cited by Randy Sarun (2018), “Laziness is defined as the

quality of being unwilling to work or use energy. However, in particular the influence

of the peer group, the students themselves are contributing to the case. As far as the

choices of life are concerned, this reflects students' values and priorities. For example,

studying hard and focusing one’s attention is the way to go.

One of the most frustrating aspects of teaching is dealing with a "lazy" student. A

lazy student can be defined as a student who has the intellectual ability to excel but

never realizes their potential because they choose not to do the work necessary to

maximize their capability. Most teachers would rather have a group of struggling

students who work hard, than a group of strong students who are lazy (Meador, D.

2019).

Taking down notes in class is an important part of academic success in high

school. Actively taking notes during class can help the students focus and better

understand main concepts. In many classes, teachers may be asked to watch an

instructional video before a class discussion. Good note-taking will improve student’s

active listening, comprehension of material, and retention. Taking notes on both

synchronous and asynchronous material will help students better remember the lessons

(Effective Note-Taking in Class; Learning Center, 2022).

 In addition, it is argued that notetaking promotes the ability of students to

translate classroom information and reproduce it in a personal way, in a way that is

meaningful to them (Roediger, Gallo & Garcia, 2002). Admittedly, it has been found that

students who are taking more notes in class lectures will have a higher degree of

retention and may generally be among the best on examinations and quizzes compared

to their counterparts. (William & Eggert, 2002; Castello & Monereo, 2005; Burns, 2006).

Commenting on the critical role of the very note-taking method, Stacy and Cain (2015)

opine that note-taking should not become an art lost to the ages of recorded class

lectures and pre-filled handouts. They argued further that without the valuable skills of

listening and taking notes, students might become incompetent practitioner, incapable

of listening, reading, organizing, integrating and utilizing information.

OSERVATION

Creating good notes means that students will have a record for later review.

Reviewing a set of condensed and well-organized notes is more efficient than re-

reading longer texts and articles (Shier, M. 2020). The researchers got time to observe

different classrooms, students, and teachers in the past weeks. However, one particular

classroom got the attention of the researchers to do action research.

As the researchers observed, the teacher asked the students to take down notes

while the video was playing. Unfortunately, the students are too lazy to take down

notes, ad instead talked with their seatmates or friends. As a result, when the teacher

had a quiz, most of the students received low scores or did not meet the passing score

out of a 20-item quiz.

The data showed that only 4 out of 43 students got a passing score. Moreover, all

of 4 students who passed the quiz are all girls. When the students reviewed that day,

the researchers observed that 3 out of 4 students who got passing scores had notes

taken down in that video presentation, presented by the teacher.

Below is the data we had gathered, through the permission of the teacher in-

charged from the 20-items quiz.

Data of the said scores of the students:
REFLECT

Despite the vast amount of information available in books and video

presentation, taking notes is an important learning strategy. By considering note-taking

strategies carefully, students will be able to create a set of notes that will help them

retain the most important concepts from lectures and tests, and that will assist students

in exam preparation

Since most of the students were too lazy to take down notes while there was a

video presentation going in front. The changes that the researchers sought to achieve in

order to solve the problem in achieving the solution could include, replacing the

student-made notes into a printed copy of the teacher's summarized notes on the

subjects covered in Biology, should be provided.

Moreover, the teacher can help students become more responsible for their

behavior in the classroom by turning off the devices such as projector during lectures

and give students actual tools or materials to work with, particularly when they are

doing biology lessons such as cell and photosynthesis activities, since according to O.

Ranido, (2023) the most significant strategy for avoiding laziness at the time of studies is

to eliminate any and every kind of distraction in any way possible.

ACT

It is necessary for the teachers to understand that student’s laziness will not

change overnight. It is going to take time for the student to develop the habit of writing

and listening to all the lessons. Therefore, the researchers made a step by step act using

a map to help teachers minimize student’s laziness in the classroom.

Student’s laziness in
taking down notes

Low scores attained

by the students

Action Plan

Use of printed
hand-outs Hands-on
(summarized) learning materials

Example:

Books Actual
Flashcards View of plant
devices
in
microscope
 In the field of science biology where the volume of information to be

studied and reproduced is enormous, note taking and note making becomes an

integral part of an effective learning process. Not only does it simplify the learning

process, it also eases last minute revision and improves presentation skills in quizzes

ad examinations. Restructuring a content into a table, flowchart, or an illustrative

figure depicts one’s understanding and hard work (S. Nachiappan., 2022).

A number of teachers thought that students taking notes with phone and

tablet cameras was a useful strategy, but they were far outnumbered by dissenters.

Some commenters viewed it as evidence of bad teaching, kids’ laziness, and/or the

dumbing down of the next generation. Most people who objected pointed out that

writing things down helps students to memorize and creates new neural pathways:

they view note taking as an integral part of the lesson, not busywork (Watsons, 2017).

Since the Grade 9-Wisdom tackles about photosynthesis, the researchers want

to integrate an actual devices to provide more understanding and real-life scenarios

to the students.

Therefore, the researchers lear