The foundation of learning is represented by pupil's activity, not only at home, but also during lessons. The Slovenian area is still heavily dominated by frontal methods of teaching, which can promote pupils' activity by means of making notes. The skill of making notes improves pupil's understanding because it affects attention and activation of cognitive processes and the notes created are helpful in recalling information. It is a complex skill that causes problems for many pupils, especially those with dyslexia. Pupils with dyslexia constitute one of the groups of pupils with deficits in certain areas of learning. They have problems with listening and writing, diverting attention between listening and writing as well as in the maintenance of attention, the transmission of information from long-term memory in the working memory and, consequently, connecting prior knowledge with new knowledge. The main objective of this research is to gain insight into the differences in making notes among pupils with dyslexia and those without it. Also, we wanted to explore why some teachers ask pupils to make notes and some do not. The study involved 53 pupils with dyslexia who are in program with special curriculum and additional professional assistance, and 53 pupils without dyslexia who attend third triad of regular primary school. The study included 58 primary school teachers of Science and/or Biology. Data relating to the pupils was obtained with five tests or activities, and data relating to teachers was obtained by using a questionnaire. A descriptive data analysis and a bivariate final statistical analysis were used as data processing methods.
We found that pupils with dyslexia produce less quality notes as those without dyslexia. Pupils with dyslexia write less of significant and additional information, also they do not use methods that are helpful in making notes and subsequent learning. These are methods of using abbreviations and symbols, marking important and missing information, paraphrasing the content and grouping of information. The results of both groups of pupils were also statistically significantly different in remembering and recalling the audio information, as pupils with dyslexia achieved fewer points in a test. From the results, which relate to a group of primary school teachers of Biology and/or Science, it is clear that they frequently use frontal method of teaching, but most of them do not require making notes from pupils. The main reason, according to them, is the fact that pupils' notes are very deficient. On the other hand, teachers who ask pupils to make notes during their lessons, emphasize that the pupils are more mentally active and, consequently, they remember more.
Based on these results, we have gained an insight into the current situation in relation to the making of notes by primary school pupils with dyslexia and without it, which is the first step of every quality assistance not only to pupils with dyslexia, but for all pupils.
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