Aixaminator

It’s always productive to find efficient and effective ways to learn (and remember stuff!). Note-taking and AI summarisation are two common approaches that offer different benefits and limitations. When I’m talking about note-taking, it includes tangential techniques like highlighting and posing questions to the text. “AI Summarisation” represents the class of tool which has appeared in recent months: they let you upload a long document and then pull out the key highlights with no effort on your part. A notable example which takes things further is NotebookLM (which definitely has its uses).

To be fair, there hasn’t really been enough time yet to look into the effects and benefits of AI summarisation being used for study. What I need to think more about is: where does chat come into this? Many AI tools come with an integrated chat. That means that you’re still getting an interactive experience. The trouble is the critical thinking experience is still watered down (when used naively, anyway). You still don’t really have to interact with the source as much through a chat interface. It seems intuitive to me that chat is a powerful assistive method for study. Maybe it’s just about getting the right feedback loop.

Benefits of Notes

Note-taking whilst reading is an active learning strategy that enhances your comprehension and retention. You must engage with the material, which requires you to understand it. This active engagement results in better knowledge and memorisation. [1, 2, 3]

It also lets you concentrate on the aspects of the content you find most pertinent or challenging [4]. This focused attention creates a unique learning experience that caters to your specific needs and interests [5]. You must interpret the information to identify key points and connections, promoting a deeper level of intellectual engagement. The notes you create can then be used for future review and recall [6], reinforcing the learned material and solidifying your understanding. Especially when used in conjunction with something like Anki.

Using summaries, in contrast, encourages passive learning. You may just absorb the information presented without processing it. These condensed variants lack the personalisation that note-taking provides. They offer a generalised overview of the material that possibly does not address your particular needs or interests.

They can also bypass the critical thinking aspect: you’re not required to assess the information. Although summaries are useful in specific situations, such as surveying a topic or reviewing past learning, I don’t think we should only use them instead of engaging with the material.

Limitations of Summarisation

Summaries might create passive learning experiences. This passive consumption can obstruct understanding and limit your ability to remember information in the long term.

They are often generic and lack the personalisation that comes with taking your own notes. They may not cater to your specific learning needs or interests, leaving gaps in your understanding or failing to emphasise key areas that apply to you.

When taking your own notes, you must analyse and evaluate the information, identify essential points, and make connections. Otherwise, I don’t think you’re studying the content well enough to take it on board. Material presented in a pre-digested format can prevent a deeper connection with the subject, too.

When Summarisation Can Be Useful

Summaries can be a valuable tool for gaining a preliminary overview of a topic. Before diving deep into the intricacies of a subject, reading a summary can provide a broad understanding of the key concepts and the overall structure of the material. New subject areas benefit from this approach; you can grasp key terms and concepts before tackling complex details. [7]

They can serve as a helpful tool for reviewing and reinforcing learned concepts. After reading a text or attending a lecture, reviewing a summary can help your understanding and highlight the most important points. This can be beneficial for revision, as it allows you to refresh your memory and identify areas needing further review.

When time is short, summaries offer a speedy and effective means of grasping core ideas. Summaries condense essential details when time limits text engagement. Despite lacking the in-depth understanding provided by reading the full text, this method extracts key information under time constraints. They cannot replace reading to achieve substantial understanding.

Textbooks

I think summaries can be beneficial when working with extensive reference material because they act as a third-party entity that assumes the role of a teacher. The dense style of many textbooks (and sometimes their length) makes independent study difficult. Summary tools provide a more accessible and digestible version of the material, making the key points of the topic easier to find, leading to improved comprehension over time [8]. They can serve as a quick bridge between the textbook’s content and your understanding. In other words, if you want something done NOW, summaries plus chat make for a very convenient tool which can get you started on your task faster.

Conclusion

Active learning strategies, such as taking notes while reading, are more effective for learning than relying on summaries. Use of both approaches, however, yields the advantages of active engagement and personalisation alongside the efficiency and breadth of a summary. This combined approach lets you engage with the material and create personalised notes, and use summaries to check your understanding and fill gaps. The most effective approach will depend on your needs and preferences, as well as the specific context of the learning task.

Sources

[1] Bui, D. C., Myerson, J., & Hale, S. (2013). Note-taking with computers: Exploring alternative strategies for improved recall. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(2), 299–309. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030367

Note: the paper discusses note taking vs. transcription. Both have different benefits, but I believe that exposure to a text (i.e. reading it) has a parallel with transcribing a spoken lecture.

[2] Mueller, P. A., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). The pen is mightier than the keyboard: Advantages of longhand over laptop note taking. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1159–1168. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614524581

Note: this paper states that handwritten notes surpass digital notes for learning but also discusses the benefits of note-taking as a method of active learning. We can’t directly compare because the medium analysed in the paper was lectures, whereas we are primarily concerned with written text.

[3] Fiorella, L., & Mayer, R. E. (2016). Eight ways to promote generative learning. Educational Psychology Review, 28(4), 717-741.

[4] Piolat, A., Olive, T., & Kellogg, R. T. (2005). Cognitive effort during note taking. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19(3), 291-312.

[5] Di Vesta, F. J., & Gray, G. S. (1972). Listening and note taking. Journal of Educational Psychology, 63(1), 8–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0032243

[6] Kiewra, K. A. (1985). Investigating note-taking and review: A depth of processing alternative. Educational Psychologist, 20(1), 23-32.

[7] Reder, L. M., & Anderson, J. R. (1980). A comparison of texts and their summaries: Memorial consequences. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 19(2), 121–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(80)90122-X