2024 Volume 72 Issue 3 Pages 157-168
The present study investigated the influence of using a whiteboard during lectures on the lecturer's speech and university students' note-taking. The participants (24 students: 6 men, 18 women) were randomly divided into four groups and assigned to one of four mock lectures. In the two experimental groups, the lecturer (the second author) used a whiteboard in the first half of the class and oral explanations only in the second half. In the two control groups, the lecturer used a whiteboard throughout the class. The order of the experimental and control procedures was counterbalanced. The results showed that when the whiteboard was used, the lecturer's rate of speech was lower and pointing during the lecture increased. Time-series analysis showed that 21 of the participants took notes within 60 seconds after material had been presented on the whiteboard. The rate of writing words that had been written on the whiteboard was significantly higher in the control group in the second half of the class. The total number of strokes written and diagrams copied from the whiteboard into their notes varied across participants. The results suggested that whiteboard usage may decrease a lecturer's speech rate, increase a lecturer's physical movements, and maintain the writing of English technical terms and examples as explanations. The participants' responses on a questionnaire indicated that the motivation for taking notes varied among the students. This variable should be examined in future research.
