When I travel across the nation to lead workshops and give presentations, I show participants some examples of doodling done by my students on listening exercises, homework assignments, or test papers. I point out that doodling helps students focus and listen better, presumably because it gives them something to do with their hands, which can sometimes be restless.
I recently read an article that supported my intuitive sense of the value of doodling. It said that “Research published in Applied Cognitive Psychology showed those who were able to sketch during a [telephone] call had a 29% better recollection than those who didn’t.” That’s pretty amazing!
Rachel Smith, who used to teach math and art, now “works as a visual facilitation consultant and trainer, educating students on how to illustrate what they’re learning with just a sketch.” She says that as a student herself, she had a hard time concentrating (does that sound like any of your students??), but, if she had something in her hands to occupy just enough of her brain, she could better focus on what she was hearing. I think that’s what is going on with my students who doodle. Doodling can help students focus.
The article goes on to say: “Doodling in school often has a bad connotation, conjuring the idea of a student not paying attention in class and checking out of the learning process. In fact, research shows just the opposite is happening, and that doodling helps people focus on what they’re hearing to an even greater extent.” This is exactly what I have seen among my students!
Here is the link: https://www.educationdive.com/news/doodling-builds-confidence-memory/544474/
