Note values refer to the length of notes. Each note value is twice as long as another note value. So:
a whole note is twice that of a half note ,
a half note is twice that of a quarter note ,
a quarter note is twice that of an eighth note , and so on.
Note values do not dictate the pitch of a note. The number of beats that a note value gets is dependent on the meter, but not the tempo.
This term is not one that is required for this course.