T3 Research Project

Student Notetaking and Study Support

Context



This research was undertaken as part of the T3 Research Project Assignment in PROD151 over July & August 2024.

As part of the assignment, there were two given topics to choose from as a deliverable:

  • Student Note-Taking and Study Support
  • Science Communication and Hazard Awareness

This research will be going through the Design & User Experience Research focused on the topic of ‘Student Notetaking and Study Support’.


As part of the assignment, several key problems were provided:

  • Problems with Notetaking
  • Motivation to Study
  • Attendance of Lectures in Person vs Online
  • Not Using the Library Effectively
  • Struggling with Writing and Writing Structure
  • Feelings of Confusion, Uncertainty, and Anxiety

These key problems were used as the basis for establishing the research.

Problem Statement



Tertiary Students are struggling to effectively study & take notes. Tertiary students need to be able to take notes and be able to study effectively as this directly impacts the outcome of the work they produce and their grades on Assignments/Projects at their tertiary institute/university. This is because tertiary students lack vital skills in various disciplines relating to studying and note-taking. The outcome of this will be to Upskills students with the skills they need to effectively study and take notes to succeed in tertiary education. This will be done by developing an application that provides students a place to effectively manage their notetaking and study, that also gives them the vital skills they need to effectively study and take notes.

Desired Outcome



The desired outcome for this research is to form the basis of a comprehensive application that Tertiary Students can use for several different aspects of their notetaking and tertiary workloads.

  1. Create and store notes of any form.
  2. Help develop and grow time management and workload management skills in an interactive and engaging way.
  3. Help improve and develop their writing and writing structure skills in an interactive and engaging way.
  4. Provide tailored information about services that their tertiary institute/university provides, as well as availability of the services in real time.

Initial Research



The initial research was focused on establishing the impacts of these problems as well as gaining insights into the demographics of the target audience.

As the survey was limited, public data was relied on for learning about the demographics of the target audience.

Who are Tertiary Students?

    Tertiary Students are anyone studying in any form at a university or tertiary provider in New Zealand.


How old are Tertiary Students?

    Most tertiary students are between the ages of 20 to 39, however there are students both older and younger than this age range.


How many Tertiary Students are there?

    There are approx. 385,055 Tertiary Students in New Zealand as of 2023.


What Demographics do They Belong to?

    The majority of Tertiary Students are European, followed by Māori, Pacifica, and Asian in that order.


Who is impacted by problems with note taking?

    Students would be the primary impact of this, as their grades and quality of work would suffer. It would also cause mental anguish due to stress and other emotions arising from falling behind. Lecturers would also be a secondary impact with a reduction in quality work being turned in.


Who is impacted by a lack of motivation to study?

    Students would be the primary impact of this, as their grades and quality of work would suffer. It would also cause mental anguish due to stress and other emotions arising from falling behind. Lecturers would also be a secondary impact with a reduction in quality work being turned in.


Who is impacted by various forms of lecture attendance?

    This impacts both the student and lecturer equally. For the student it’ll vary depending on the lecture and the class as to if this is a positive or a negative for them. And as for the lecturer, in person, lecturers will be smaller and potentially worse as you’re lecturing to an empty room, or better as you’re able to have more meaningful discussions and engagement with smaller lecturers.


Who is impacted by ineffective Library use?

    This would impact students, lecturers with the quality of work that is being turned in. It would also impact the library staff, as their budgets would be based on metrics like how many students use the facilities.


Who is impacted by students struggling with writing and structure?

    This would impact students and lecturers, particularly the students with their quality of work being turned in and subsequently their grades.


Who is impacted by Confusion, Uncertainty, and Anxiety?

    This will impact everyone at the university at some point for various reasons, in the context of notetaking, it’ll however have a higher impact on the students.

Primary Research



After learning more about the target audience, the research was started with taking each of the key problems and finding out the key issues that students face with them.



Student Feedback Survey



The objective of this survey was to gather information from current and former students on their experiences with the key problems. To start the research, a survey was conducted amongst current and former university students using Qualtrics.

The survey covered a wide range of questions relating to each of the key problems highlighted above.

Once enough responses were collected, the information was synthesized into ‘Sticky Notes’ that were placed against each of the key problems. From there it was summarised into the key issues for each of the key problems.

Problems with Notetaking
  • Lack of Skills for Effective Notetaking
  • Distractions Inside and Outside of the Lecture
  • Lack of Understanding / Ability to Summarise Effectively
  • Information Overload
  • Learning Disabilities / English as a Second Language

Motivation to Study
  • Digital Distractions
  • Lack of Time & Workload Management Skills
  • Lack of Understanding / Struggling with Course Work
  • Uninterested / Not Engaged in the Topic
  • Poor Mental Health / Burnout
  • Learning Disabilities

In-Person vs Online Lecture Attendance
    Online:
    • Lack of Engagement with Lecturer
    • Lack of In Class Discussion
    • Not Everything is Properly Recorded
      • Recordings Get Cut If Running Overtime
      • Poor Audio
    • Distractions Online and In-Person

    In-Person
    • Lecturers go to Fast Sometimes
    • There are More Distractions in Person then Online
    • If you Fall Behind with Notetaking, it’s Hard to Catch Up
    • Is Less Convenient to Access

Not Using the Library Effectively
  • Lack of Awareness for Services Provided by the Library
  • Lack of Access to Resources/Past Papers/Parking at the Library
  • Lack of Availability for Study Space, No Desks/Tables Available at Peak Times

Struggling with Writing and Structure
  • Self-Doubt/Uncertainty About Their Writing Skills
  • Unclear/Vague Instructions/Briefs for Assignments/Projects
  • English Skills/Abilities Making Writing Harder for Some Students
  • English as a Second Language
  • Organisation of Notes and Handwriting, making it Harder for Notes to be Compiled

Confusion, Uncertainty, and Anxiety
  • Large/Unmanageable Workloads
  • Poor University Systems/Services (AKO | Learn, Libcat, Kaitoko)
  • Unclear/Vague Instructions/Briefs for Assignments/Projects
  • Information Overload



DMAIC & 5 Whys



To further understand the issue and develop solutions, the DMAIC process was paired with the 5 Whys process to identify potential solutions.

To start, each of the key problems was reworded into more of an action:

  • Make Note Taking Easier for Students
  • Improve Students Motivation to Study
  • Provide Students the Tools They Need for In-Person & Online Lectures
  • Increase Effective Use of the Library
  • Improve Literacy Skills (Writing & Writing Structure)
  • Reduce Confusion, Uncertainty, and Anxiety Amongst Students

From this a root cause was established for each of the key problems using the 5 Whys method


Make Note Taking Easier for Students

    Students Attention Spans are Getting Shorter


Improve Students Motivation to Study

    Students Lack the Skills and Knowledge to Manage/Prioritise their Workload Effectively


Provide Students the Tools They Need for In-Person & Online Lectures

    Students Lack the Skills and Knowledge to Effectively and Meaningfully Manage their Time.


Increase Effective Use of the Library

    Student’s Lack Understanding of The Libraries Functions and Services Offered


Improve Literacy Skills (Writing & Writing Structure)

    Today's Students are too Heavily Dependent on Technology


Reduce Confusion, Uncertainty, and Anxiety Amongst Students

    Student’s Lack the Skills Require to Effectively Manage Their Workload or Time


This is of the DMAIC process that was conducted to better understand possible solutions.



Market Analysis



The next step of research was to look at what was already out there that students use. Due to an oversight in the survey an accurate understanding of what notetaking app current and former students use was not gathered. Instead, tools like Google were used to determine the most popular notetaking apps that met three criteria.

  1. Milanote
  2. Notion
  3. Google Keep
  4. OneNote

Each of these applications were looked at individually through the lens of a university student taking lecture notes. From this, it was determined that they all have their strengths and weaknesses, however there is no silver bullet.

These applications are great at taking notes and being a place for information to be stored (some more than others), however they don’t address the underlying needs of students and what they are struggling with on a day-to-day basis.

This is of the Market Analysis that was conducted to better understand what else is on the market.



Mind Mapping



To help with general ideation, a Mind Map focused on ‘Student Note Taking & Study Support’ was created to further identify possible root causes and considerations for the rest of the design process.

This helped to further identify some potential further pain points for students, like common things they struggle with, ways they take notes, and distractions they face.

A mind-map conducted to identify further pain points for students.



Journey Map



A high-level journey map was created to go through the four key steps of a tertiary students experience with studying and notetaking, this was done to get a deeper understanding of the steps and problems students faced in the overall process of university study.

A high-level journey map that's following the key steps of students experience with studying.

Research Analysis



The research was conducted in two parts, the Primary and Secondary research.

The Primary Research focused on identifying solutions to the key problems established in the brief, and the Secondary Research focused on understanding the target audience and the impacts of these problems.

From this research, the primary reasons behind students’ problems with notetaking and studying were:

  • A Lack of Skills and Knowledge to Manage/Prioritise their Workload Effectively
  • A Lack of Skills and Knowledge to Effectively and Meaningfully Manage their Time.
  • A Lack of Understanding of The Libraries Functions and Services Offered
  • An Overdependence on Technology
  • A Lack of Skills Required to Effectively Manage Workload or Time effectively.

From the five identified root causes it was narrowed down to three key points to focus the research on.

  • A Lack of Skills and Knowledge to Manage/Prioritise their Workload Effectively
  • A Lack of Skills and Knowledge to Effectively and Meaningfully Manage their Time.
  • A Lack of Understanding of The Libraries Functions and Services Offered

These three were identified as key points to focus on as they are the ones that can most realistically be tackled within the context of an application that is being created for students. They also align with the outcomes for possible solutions that were established in the DMAIC and other research processes utilised in this research.

Learnings



From this research there were some key learnings to take away from the research process in relation to the student’s study and note-taking process.

  1. There are systematic failures in the education system when it comes to effectively preparing students for tertiary/university education.
  2. While creating a new application is appealing, it isn’t always the best approach.
  3. This is a large and complex topic that requires more research to fully understand and produce the best possible outcomes for.
  4. The notetaking market is oversaturated and to be successful the product will need to stand out and have a unique selling point.

Unanswered Questions



This research has left some unanswered questions that need to be answered before further development can be made on a solution.

  1. What will set this application apart from all the other notetaking and study apps already on the market?
  2. Is yet another application something students are wanting?
  3. How do we tackle the bigger problems that can’t be solved by an application?
  4. Is there already something that has solved this problem on the market?

Next Steps



From the research conducted, it was highlighted that there are now some gaps in the research and methodology that need be addressed before it can continue in the development cycle.

  • Conduct more research directly with current and former students to better understand what they are looking for in an application or were missing from current solutions on the market.
  • Further and more in-depth analysis of what applications for notetaking and studying are already on the market, and what features they have.
  • Further research on how to solve the identified problems with missing skills around time and workload management.
  • Expand the research to include high school students that will be going into tertiary education.

Conclusion



The creation of an application to streamline the notetaking and studying process could be a powerful asset for students, for it to succeed it would need to effectively help solve some of the root causes that plague students when it comes to taking notes and studying effectively.

However, as highlighted in the research, not all the root causes can be solved by an application and some of it requires societal and educational changes to occur for proper change to take place.

This research highlights that there is a potential market for an application that combines both notetaking and study assistance into one application that is customisable for the student, but before this can be said for certain more research needs to be conducted to truly understand the problem and how it can be fixed.

If the scope of this project was narrowed down to tackling one or two of the key problems, then that would become a much more manageable and realistic product to be created and brought to market.

Overall, this research has highlighted that there is a need for better support to students transitioning from high school to university/tertiary education, however in its current state, what that support looks like is unknown and requires further research before it can be properly visualised.

FigJam



This imbed is of the FigJam where all the research for this project was conducted.

References



The below links are a list of places that information used in this research was gathered from.