Designing a Game to Help Higher Education Students Develop Their Note-Taking Skills

Abstract

Taking effective notes is an important skill in academic and professional settings and one that is cultivated primarily in Higher Education (HE). However, students often find it difficult to effectively record important information in their notes [37], while it has been suggested that they often record less than 50% of the key information of a lecture [15]. Games can be a powerful way to help students learn [30]. Yet, to date, there is scarce empirical research on games specifically designed to help HE students develop note-taking skills where the design has been directly informed by note-taking learning theories. This study applies such theories in the design of the mechanics for an educational game for note-taking, entitled Investigate: Tudors, and evaluates their effectiveness and engaging potential. Results from qualitative evaluations with HE students showed that the game was a successful tool to help them develop note-taking skills. This article discusses the game design approach and the evaluation results, and contributes with effective strategies for designing serious games for note-taking.