After realizing that I never ever actually go back and read my notes, combined with the fact that I'm struggling with reading my own handwriting, I write my notes extremely fast, but unlegiblly. I still write notes though, as I've found it helps me concentrate and retain more info, I just throw them away without ever looking at them. So I speed through the chapters.
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Best way to take notes in college/university? I suck at it.
- Thread starter soultron
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I find with note taking from books, if I read something and then rewrite it in my own words I remember it. Like you read a paragraph and try and condense it to a sentence or 2. For me if I read my brain floats away, by rewording it goes into my brain and I have to make some conscious thought about it.
Key words are good too. Go through and find all the important words and define them. The relationships kind of fall into place. Also work comparisons, use similar terms (definition or spelling) and try and differentiate between them.
I also love diagrams, drawing things helps me understand them.
Key words are good too. Go through and find all the important words and define them. The relationships kind of fall into place. Also work comparisons, use similar terms (definition or spelling) and try and differentiate between them.
I also love diagrams, drawing things helps me understand them.
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
Work the lesson on the book before the class happens.
During class, pen and paper: write down what's not in the book.
If you don't have time to work the book before class, select and extract the content to write down, ignore the filler.
During class, pen and paper: write down what's not in the book.
If you don't have time to work the book before class, select and extract the content to write down, ignore the filler.
Dead Prince
Banned
i read the title, subtitles, and copy any bolded information. some of the footnotes, side notes, really should be noticed.
One of my professors would actually type out the notes on his computer as he taught and then would post them up on the web for us to retrieve after class. I liked that. It let me pay attention to what he was saying and allowed us to participate in the lecture rather than worry about making sure we were taking notes.
MikeE21286
Member
soultron said:
If your prof is worth a damn you shouldn't have to take notes from your book-readings. Read the chapters ahead of the classes, and then take solid notes in class. Your during-class notes will be that much easier because you are already prepared for what the prof. is about to present to you.
This is basically how I operated throughout college...
I'd think these days that laptops combined with OneNote (or Word at the least) would be the way to go. Notebooks and pens were the way to go but with how prevalent laptops are now and the fact that you can search your pc for words and be more organized with your laptop, I don't see why you wouldn't. About 10 years ago when I was in college it seemed like only a couple people per class had a laptop. I'm sure the numbers are much higher now.
evilromero
Member
Laptops should be banned from classes. Just the sound of people incessantly typing makes me want to punch them in the face.Hylian7 said:
Like a few posters above have said, taking notes on your readings is really a waste of time. I think the most effective thing to do is to do the reading beforehand, don't take any notes, and then go to lecture and take notes on what the prof talks about. This has worked really well for me throughout my undergrad career...for finals I type up all of my lecture notes (this exercise helps in refreshing me on everything) and print them all out and just review them over and over so that I have something legible to read off of (and I can pretty much abandon the original handwritten notes). The reason why I handwrite my notes throughout the year instead of typing them up the first time in lecture is so that I am forced to type them all up to help me better remember what was said in lecture.
UnluckyKate
Member
evilromero said:
Buy one, use it. Profit from superior technology (and you can browse GAF in class !)
WickedAngel
Banned
evilromero said:
You're in for a rough rest of your life.
I'll never forget the first time I entered a laptop-suited course in my second year. The first time I heard the sudden swell of fingers diligently tipp-tappity-tapping on keys will be something I will forever remember.WickedAngel said:
I continued to take notes with my paper and pen.
Have had a netbook for two years now, so it makes lectures for certain subjects grand.
Tomboy Notes did me well for notetaking software. In accounting I used to have the Tomboy window open for notes while I watched champions league games, but I got a C- in that class so maybe I should have been more diligent.
As for your issue, I'd recommend not taking notes from the readings unless you want to avoid the lectures. Use that lecture time to take notes so you have more free time later
As for your issue, I'd recommend not taking notes from the readings unless you want to avoid the lectures. Use that lecture time to take notes so you have more free time later
Visualante
Member
Go to learning support, say you are dyslexic, take flawed test with a so called educational psychologist, pretend to write slowly and tell them you use knives and forks the wrong way around, receive free support, laptop, have the school/government pay someone to take your notes for you, not attend lectures and just read the notes that your note taker e.mails to you.
Something like that. At least that's what some of my colleagues did. And somehow they passed.
Something like that. At least that's what some of my colleagues did. And somehow they passed.
Visualante
Member
Some of my lecturer's slides have one word on them, and a 2 hour lecture can be summed up somehow in a few anecdotes and scattered words. I'm glad most of my lecturers did but some of them were just uselessX26 said:
Glad we live in this age though, back in the 80s they weren't so fortunate and lecturers always say how good we have it.
Making notes is for suckers.
1. Go to lectures and listen to the guy.
2. Get powerpoint notes off the intranet....any decent uni will have one!
Why write something that
1. Someone has already written already (get it off a girl in your class)
2. You will never read again.
Save time. Don't bother!
1. Go to lectures and listen to the guy.
2. Get powerpoint notes off the intranet....any decent uni will have one!
Why write something that
1. Someone has already written already (get it off a girl in your class)
2. You will never read again.
Save time. Don't bother!
phisheep
NeoGAF's Chief Barrister
Visualante said:Some of my lecturer's slides have one word on them, and a 2 hour lecture can be summed up somehow in a few anecdotes and scattered words. I'm glad most of my lecturers did but some of them were just useless
Glad we live in this age though, back in the 80s they weren't so fortunate and lecturers always say how good we have it.
There seem to be three sorts of lecturers: those who lecture to teach the subject, those who lecture to illuminate the subject assuming you'll do the actual learning from books, and the plain bad ones who either don't know what lecturing is for or are not good at it.
I don't have a problem with either of the first two sorts, though it sometimes takes a while to work out which is which.
With the first sort (the 'teachers') note-taking is a must, powerpoint prints are a godsend but pre-reading isn't necessary - in fact it is probably more efficient to do the reading afterwards. (Though I tend to do the reading and then spend a relaxing time in the lecture just editing/correcting gaps in my notes).
With the second sort (the 'illuminators') pre-reading is essential, powerpoint prints are usually hopelessly crap, obsessive note-taking is unhelpful especially if it distracts from understanding what the lecturer is saying. Just scrawling all over one sheet of paper is all all I ever needed.
In six years of college I've only come across one lecturer (in Company Law) who successfully combined the two approaches. It's hard to do.
As for the 80's (or, in my case a decade earlier), a far greater proportion of lectures were of the 'illuminating' sort rather than the 'teaching' sort, with the expectation that you would get the actual learning done from books or tutorials rather than lectures - so I think a lot of the difference is to do with the style of tuition rather than it being particularly better/easier now. For about two-thirds of my time in college then I had no compulsory lectures at all. Of course, it does vary significantly by subject, but I've done both hard science and humanities and the difference across the years seems about the same.
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