<p>I've always been very curious about how college students take notes from their professors. I know there is the traditional way of just copying down the words that coming flying out of their mouths as fast as possible and I was wondering if there are easier and better options out there. Do people use voice recorders, video cameras, laptops to take notes? As I am sure some colleges have different rules about this, does anybody actually use these methods to take notes? Thanks for the input.</p>
<p>A lot of professors have powerpoint where you can copy down, or they write on blackboards. I havent had a class where I have to copy down a professor's spoken words. Few people use laptops. Pencil and paper is fine. I have only taken math/science courses though, so it can be different in other subjects.</p>
<p>Why would you ever need to write down all the words that come flying out of their mouths? I think the whole point of note-taking is for you to have quick access to the "key-concepts". I don't think that taping the whole lecture would be too useful, because you need to wade through the whole thing just for the key points which you could have written down instead.</p>
<p>Pencil and paper are best for science/math classes. Most of what you write in those will be examples and problems. I use a laptop for english/history type classes. There's no way you'll get everything they say, I just get the main points. Many professors will give you a skeleton set of notes to go off of, USE THEM.</p>
<p>It isn't very hard if the professor uses a power point (especially if they post them online). However I had several classes, where it was just straight up talking for 50 minutes. That was really difficult. It was a Greek Myth class so he wrote down the names (because they were difficult to spell), but other than that we had nothing.</p>
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Why would you ever need to write down all the words that come flying out of their mouths? I think the whole point of note-taking is for you to have quick access to the "key-concepts". I don't think that taping the whole lecture would be too useful, because you need to wade through the whole thing just for the key points which you could have written down instead.
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<p>I was just playing around about writing everything down, I just thought there might be some easier ways to take notes other than writing stuff down.</p>
<p>Though I have never seen anyone do it, I have heard of people who used tape recorders to record lectures. Personally, I write everything down initially, then going by the first test, selectively cut back what I take notes on. Though the first test can be a pain to study for (because quite frankly I have alot of info I don't need), I come in extremely well prepared and know exactly what I need to look over for the next test. </p>
<p>If you are that worried though, find someone who you are confident takes good notes and simply compare yours with theirs. Most professors are pretty good about note takers though, as in they don't try to hurry up and know you can only write so fast.</p>
<p>Consider using law margin paper. It allows you to take notes Cornell style, and for the most part keeps them neat and rather organized. </p>
<p>I find it to be very efficient; all you've got to do is use the left margin for basic headers and important information (key concepts), and then use the other larger margin for detailed, copious notes.</p>
<p>Usually the professor does give certain markers for important and pertinent information. They can be a little obvious if you are seeking them . . . check google for a few sites that speak more directly to note taking though.
Good luck!</p>
<p>I take mostly history/poli sci classes, so I don't know how much this information would help with other subjects or lecture formats.</p>
<p>I like writing everything down. I remember things much better if I write it out, and really only have to glance at my notes if I've done a thorough job taking them during a lecture. I don't think that many people feel the same way - I chalk it up to participating in/judging years of high school debate and needing to flow rounds (I also write much more quickly because of this, so missing information isn't really a problem).</p>
<p>Taking notes on a laptop for lectures seems to be easier for some people (if you can stop yourself from checking facebook instead of taking notes). You can also go back and add information later. If your professor gives you an outline of the lecture or a print out of the powerpoints, it definitely makes it easier to distinguish what is/is not important to write down.</p>
<p>A girl in my history class (which was taught by a particularly fast talking professor) used a tape recorder. She took notes anwyay, but would fill in the blanks with the tape recorder once she got back to her dorm. I don't think recording lectures on a tape recorder without taking notes is a good idea. It's really time consuming to listen to a lecture twice and other than getting to replay information, I don't think it would be beneficial.</p>
<p>Notetaking depends on the class you're in and the professor's style. </p>
<p>Some profs like to use powerpoint- this makes it easy to copy things down, and they usually add more info when they speak. Also, some of my profs would post their powerpoint slides online before the lecture. This was the best - you could print them out and then add notes as you listened. </p>
<p>If I have a prof who only likes to talk, I think the best thing is to bring a laptop. I find it hard to write fast enough to get everything down sometimes, and with a computer I get much more detailed notes. After the lecture, I go over them and add headings or summarize them in another file. The risk with this type of notetaking is having a really boring professor - you'll be tempted to use the internet. Usually I can control myself, but if a prof is just too boring for words, I use a notebook and paper and then type the notes up later. It helps you stay awake (sort of). Also, if you do bring a computer to class, please refrain from becoming the student who is always looking up the validity of a prof's statements on the web and bringing up their errors at every possible opportunity. Everyone hates that person by the end of semester, so don't do it!!!</p>
<p>This is what I do, which has worked for me successfully at my Ivy where we have lots of in-class essays. I take a lot of classes in Anthropology, Political Science and History.</p>
<p>I write everything on computer paper. I just hate the lines and whatnot. Usually I write with about an inch indent, but I often write in the margins sidenotes, or references back to past material or random ideas that come to my head (what to write the class paper on, etc). I pretty much write everything down, but try to keep it fairly organized. If a teacher says "I have five points to make on this topic" I'll try to keep them numbered and whatnot.</p>
<p>For me, when I reread the notes I do I can recreate the lecture in my head, which is why writing down everything is good. If I was having a bad day that day though I'm usually screwed.</p>
<p>When it's time for midterms or finals, I make a study guide, which is usually a summary of the readings we had to do (either in-depth if we have to know them in-depth, or a few sentences if we just have to reference them in our essays) and then a summary of the main points of the notes after reading them once over. </p>
<p>I find it's a lot better to make a study guide, and summarize everything, then to just blindly reread your notes from before or reread the readings. From 10 lectures I'll probably have about 45 pages of notes, which I'll condense into about 5 pages of a nice portable study guide. I also try to get in the teachers head and figure out what the teacher would ask and prepare for that.</p>
<p>I don't think I've ever had a prof that didn't either use a powerpoint, or write stuff on the board, or give a handout, or follow from the book. Except maybe english comp. But we didn't have tests in that class, just papers to write, so we didn't need like actual notes. All of my big huge lecture classes used powerpoint for sure.
Unless you have a class that doesn't do this, all you have to do is copy down the powerpoint/what's written on the board/etc, and maybe fill in some things as they go along (like if they said, "okay so this person is really influential..." and it's not on their notes, for sure write it down.</p>
<p>I kinda just flow my notes verbatim of what the professor is saying but a lot people use the cornell note taking system which is apparently better. The link below shows the method</p>
<p>Ummm... notes? What are those?</p>
<p>I don't have much to say than use paper and pencil instead. When i take a notebook i tend to do other stuff, like AIM, facebook, etc</p>
<p>I've never taken notes. I go to lecture and just listen and watch. When I try to take notes, it just distracts me from the lecture so I end up learning less.</p>