Graphic Organizers and Guided Notes (Processing Speed)¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 10 claims (5 for, 3 mixed, 2 against) · 28 studies (12 causal, 8 quant-synthesis, 7 review, 1 theoretical), q1–q4 · 7 of 28 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

This strategy provides students with pre-structured supports — graphic organizers (visual maps of relationships among ideas) or guided notes (lecture outlines with deliberate blanks, cues, and headings) — during direct instruction. The structure externalizes the organizational demands of note-taking so students can devote working memory to comprehending content rather than deciding what to record and how to format it.

Design Implications¶

Guided notes and organizers reduce the real-time processing burden of lectures by pre-identifying main ideas and relationships, which is especially valuable for students whose processing speed lags behind the pace of spoken instruction Guided notes improve note accuracy and quiz performance relative to self-generated notes. [+M]. Graphic organizers leverage dual coding — pairing verbal content with spatial-visual structure — to support encoding and retrieval Dual coding improves recall. [+M]. Because blanks and prompts direct attention to designated content, they also function as advance organizers that frame what is coming Advance organizers improve learning. [+M].

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Organizer or note templates aligned section-by-section with the actual lecture sequence
• Cues that signal importance (headings, blanks, bolding) rather than decorative graphics Decorative illustrations do not improve learning. [-M]
• Brief instruction in how to use the template, and a follow-up activity that requires students to work with their completed notes (Practice)
• A prepared organizer or guided-notes handout aligned to the lecture's actual structure (sequence, hierarchy, compare/contrast)
• Blanks or prompts at the key points, not scattered trivially — the gaps should mark what matters
• Instructor cues ("this goes in your chart") signaling when to write, so learners with slow processing are not caught mid-sentence
• Writing utensils or digital input tools; allow drawing or typing as alternatives
• A clear analysis of the content's structure (hierarchy, sequence, cause–effect, compare–contrast) so the organizer matches it
• Blanks or prompts in guided notes that target the most important ideas, not trivial details
• Time during instruction for students to complete the organizer or notes (Clear Structure & Presentation)
• An accessible format: text alternatives for visually impaired learners, and vocabulary at an appropriate level (Accessible Vocabulary & Syntax)
• A structure that mirrors the actual logical organization of the lecture content, not a generic template
• Deliberate blanks or incomplete cells that require active completion — fully pre-filled handouts invite passive receipt [-M]
• Alignment between the organizer's categories and later assessment or application tasks
• Brief instruction in how to use the organizer, especially for learners unfamiliar with the format

Constraints¶

• Poorly aligned templates force students to hunt for where the lecture "is" in the organizer, adding load rather than reducing it Cognitive overload degrades learning. [-M]
• Over-scaffolding can reduce generative processing: students who only fill blanks may engage in shallower encoding than students who summarize in their own words [~M]
• Some students prefer and benefit from self-structured notes; mandating a single format can suppress useful personal note-taking strategies [~W]
• Less suitable for open-ended discussion, exploratory content, or lectures whose structure emerges only at the end
• Requires substantial preparation time for the instructor; poorly aligned organizers add load rather than reducing it
• Some learners find the structure too rigid if not tailored; over-specified notes can suppress note-taking skill development [~M]
• If blanks are too frequent, learners fall behind the lecture and lose the thread — the tool then creates processing-speed problems
• Benefits shrink for learners with strong prior knowledge, who may find the scaffolding redundant Expertise reverses the benefit of instructional guidance. [~M]
• Pre-filled, complete organizers viewed passively produce weaker learning than ones students complete themselves Concept and knowledge maps improve learning. [~M]
• Overly detailed guided notes can reduce engagement — students copy mechanically without processing Guided notes improve note accuracy and quiz performance. [~M]
• A single organizer format will not fit all content types; forcing a timeline onto non-sequential content distorts it
• Visual formats may be inaccessible without accommodation (Accommodations)
• Fully completed notes or organizers reduce engagement and produce shallower learning than partial versions requiring completion [-M]
• A poorly matched structure (e.g., a hierarchy imposed on content that is actually comparative) can mislead encoding and impair later recall [-M]
• Overly dense organizers can themselves overload working memory, reproducing the problem they were meant to solve [~M]

Implementation Variability¶

• Partial blanks (key terms deleted) vs. skeletal outlines (only headings provided) — fade the amount of pre-filled content as note-taking skill grows
• Visual formats: concept maps, flowcharts, comparison matrices, timelines, cause–effect frames
• Color-coding and icons for students who benefit from visual categorization
• Post-lecture completion: students fill remaining blanks from a recording or peer notes, adding retrieval practice
• Partial outlines (headings + key terms) vs. heavily scaffolded diagrams (flowcharts, matrices, concept maps)
• Pre-lecture distribution for preview vs. in-lecture completion; preview supports learners who need extra processing time
• Digital versions with typed or drag-and-drop input for learners with writing difficulties
• Fading the scaffold over a term — progressively more open notes as note-taking skill develops
• Partial guided notes: blanks at key points, with cues in the margin signaling when to write
• Advance organizers: a brief structural overview presented before new material (Advance Organizers)
• Student-constructed maps: learners build their own concept map after instruction, converting the organizer into a generative activity (Annotating)
• Scaffolded fading: gradually removing blanks and prompts as note-taking skill develops (Scaffolding)
• Partial guided notes: headings and key terms provided; definitions, examples, and relationships left blank for completion
• Matrix organizers: rows and columns for comparing cases, theories, or events — especially strong for integration across items
• Advance organizer + guided notes: a global preview before the lecture, then a completion scaffold during it
• Student-completed organizers: learners fill in an empty framework as a generative activity, shifting from scaffold to task
• Post-lecture organizers: provided after note-taking for learners who need to practice independent structuring first

Target Learners¶

• Students with processing-speed challenges or slow handwriting who cannot transcribe at lecture pace
• Students with limited prior knowledge who cannot yet judge which information is important Advance organizers improve learning. [+M]
• Students with working-memory constraints, for whom chunked visual structure reduces load Chunking reduces working memory load. [+M]
• Less necessary for students with strong domain knowledge, who already organize content effectively and may find templates redundant [~W]
• Students with learning disabilities or ADHD; graphic organizers show consistent positive effects for students with LD Graphic organizers support novice comprehension. [+M]
• Learners with processing-speed or working-memory challenges, who cannot both listen and take notes simultaneously
• Less necessary for experts, who already organize content effectively and may find imposed structures constraining
• Novices who cannot yet distinguish central from peripheral content in a lecture Emphasis relevance directs attention during learning. [+M]
• Learners with processing-speed or working-memory challenges, who lose lecture content while transcribing
• Students with weak or untaught note-taking skills; benefit diminishes as note-taking fluency grows [~M]

Target Learning Goals¶

• Identifying and recording main ideas and their relationships during live instruction
• Building structured schemas of lecture content (hierarchies, sequences, comparisons)
• Developing independent note-taking skills through gradually faded scaffolds
• Comprehension of key concepts during expository presentation
• Note-taking skill development (the organizer models what good notes look like)
• Comprehension and retention of structured expository content
• Integration: seeing relationships among concepts, not just isolated facts
• Note-taking as a study skill — guided notes model what good notes look like, supporting eventual independent structuring

Instructions¶

1. Analyze the lecture content and select an organizer format that matches its structure (sequence → flowchart; comparison → matrix; hierarchy → concept map).
2. Create guided notes with headings matching the lecture outline, key terms intact, and blanks for high-value details — roughly 20–30% of content left for students to complete.
3. Briefly orient students to the template before instruction begins, connecting it to prior knowledge (Advance Organizers).
4. Deliver the lecture with explicit verbal cues ("this goes in the first blank") so students can locate content without speed-dependent search.
5. Follow with an application activity that requires using the completed notes (Practice), then progressively reduce pre-structuring across the unit.

Related Strategies¶

• Accommodating Processing Speed Challenges — this strategy is one concrete accommodation within that broader set
• Chunking — organizers pre-chunk content into manageable units
• Clear Structure Presentation — guided notes only work when the lecture itself follows a visible structure
• Brief lectures on intellectual history illustrated with films, records, and print excerpts
• Use the Power 10 strategies to help students comprehend, organize, and remember information in any context
• Activating Prior Knowledge — an advance organizer works best when connected to what students already know
• Direct Instruction — guided notes are a natural companion to teacher-led presentation
• Use interdependence chains in which students link interdependent jobs and explain why each job needs the others
• Teacher-provided graphic map as review
• Activating prior knowledge — a front-loaded organizer serves the same preparatory function before content begins
• Annotating texts — the same external-structuring logic applied to reading rather than listening
• Structured lecture pauses — pauses give learners the time the organizer assumes
• Use the coaching framework as a structured discussion guide with a note-taking grid and study group questions

Examples¶

• Cornell-style guided notes in secondary science: a teacher provides a two-column template (cues left, notes right) with blanks for definitions during a direct-instruction lesson, then students write summary questions at the bottom.
• IRIS Center modules (https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu) — model guided notes and graphic organizers as evidence-based accommodations for students with high-incidence disabilities.
• Comparison matrices in history lectures: students record causes, events, and outcomes for multiple conflicts in a pre-built table, supporting later essay planning.
• Guided notes in inclusive classrooms — Teachers provide lecture outlines with key-term blanks and cue words ("remember this!"), a format validated across studies of students with disabilities (Konrad et al. meta-analysis).
• Cornell-notes hybrids — A guided-notes left column with instructor-provided questions, right column with learner-completed blanks, and a summary section completed after lecture.
• Science lecture concept maps — Instructor projects a partially completed concept map; learners fill in linking words and missing nodes during the explanation.
• A U.S. history course provides a blank cause–effect chain before a lecture on the Great Depression; students fill in causes during the lecture and use the completed chain to structure an essay.
• Cornell-style guided notes in large introductory lectures: left column holds instructor-written questions, right column holds partial notes with blanks students complete.
• Khan Academy (khanacademy.org) pairs videos with structured note-taking templates and concept summaries students complete.
• A biology instructor provides an incomplete cell-diagram organizer; students label structures during the lesson, then redraw it from memory as a retrieval activity.
• Cornell-style guided notes in large introductory lectures: cue column and summary section pre-printed, notes area completed live; widely used in developmental-education and UDL implementations.
• History matrix organizer: students complete a comparison grid of World War I combatants (goals, alliances, outcomes) during a lecture, then use it to draft an essay.
• Biology concept-map skeleton: an instructor provides the linked nodes of a photosynthesis map with the connecting propositions blank; students supply the relational terms.
• UDL-aligned course materials (e.g., CAST exemplars) pair guided notes with slides so learners with processing-speed differences can follow structure without full transcription.

Key Sources¶

• Nesbit, J. C., & Adesope, O. O. (2006). Learning with concept and knowledge maps: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 76(3), 413–448. doi:10.3102/00346543076003413
• Konrad, M., Joseph, L. M., & Eveleigh, E. (2009). A meta-analytic review of guided notes. Education and Treatment of Children, 32(3), 421–444. doi:10.1353/etc.0.0066
• Kiewra, K. A. (1989). A review of note-taking: The encoding-storage paradigm and beyond. Educational Psychology Review, 1(2), 147–172. doi:10.1007/bf01326640
• Austin, J. L., Lee, M. G., Thibeault, M. D., Carr, J. E., & Bailey, J. S. (2002). Effects of guided notes on university students' responding and recall of information. Journal of Behavioral Education, 11(4), 243–254. doi:10.1023/a:1021110922552
• Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2016). E-Learning and the Science of Instruction (4th ed.). Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781119239086
• Konrad, M., Joseph, L. M., & Eveleigh, E. (2009). A meta-analytic review of guided notes. Education and Treatment of Children, 32(3), 421-444. doi:10.1353/etc.0.0066
• Dexter, D. D., & Hughes, C. A. (2011). Graphic organizers and students with learning disabilities: A meta-analysis. Learning Disability Quarterly, 34(1), 51–72. doi:10.1177/073194871103400104
• Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511811678
• Fiorella, L., & Mayer, R. E. (2016). Eight ways to promote generative learning. Educational Psychology Review, 28(4), 717–741. doi:10.1007/s10648-015-9348-9
• Austin, J. L., Lee, M. G., Thibeault, M. D., Carr, J. E., & Bailey, J. S. (2002). Effects of guided notes on university students' responding and recall of information. Journal of Behavioral Education, 11(4), 243-254. doi:10.1023/a:1021110922552
• Mayer, R. E. (Ed.). (2014). The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139547369
• Robinson, D. H., & Kiewra, K. A. (1995). Visual argument: Graphic organizers are superior to outlines in improving learning from text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 87(3), 455–467. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.87.3.455
• Kiewra, K. A. (1989). A review of note-taking: The encoding-storage paradigm and beyond. Educational Psychology Review, 1(2), 147-172. doi:10.1007/bf01326640
• Katayama, A. D., & Robinson, D. H. (2000). Getting students "partially involved" in note-taking using graphic organizers. Journal of Experimental Education, 68(2), 119–134. doi:10.1080/00220970009598498