In my first year of university, I was a bit clueless. High school had been an incredibly straightforward experience where I had had everything handed to me. In particular, I never needed to take notes because I always knew that whatever was taught in class would either be provided for me in a revision guide or in a handout at the end of the lesson. At first I thought I would give college the same approach- using the lecture slides as notes for revision afterward. Luckily for me a good friend of mine interfered before I got the chance to practice my no-notes system and made a suggestion which I wish I had followed through with until the end of the year.
My friend was a very successful student and offered the idea that I print out my lecture slides before the lecture, take them to the lecture, and make notes on them during the lecture. When I did this, I found that I was given more time to relax and listen to the lecture. While my classmates were taking vigorous notes trying to copy down what was on the slides, I was allowed to chill out and just write what was being said in conjunction with the lecture slides.
Although this method does take up a lot of ink and paper, it’s worth giving it a go. I guarantee that it will allow you a more relaxed lecture, giving you more time to concentrate on what your lecturer is saying. I’m definitely going to apply it for the rest of the year. If you think it could work for you then I highly suggest that you try it too.
Photo by Markus Rödder
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
That was my strategy for most of my undergraduate career. It keeps you from hectically hanging on every word, and just makes the entire experience much simpler. Thanks Lizzie!
now you tell me =[
ooh! I'll go try that, maybe that'll push me enough to actually take notes
You guys are kidding right? How else do you take notes? Sometimes I really believe that some of the prejudices about Americans are right, no offense.
I always find it hilarious that people will say things that could definitely be taken offensively, then follow with “no offense.”
Also, Lizzie isn't an American student.
Yeah I hear that taking notes is sometimes important… =)
so far I have managed to survive without them
then again just started a new school a month ago and I've noticed that this one might require some more work
Wow, nice!
Really it's actually a lot easier than you'd think
In class just pay attention, really listen (enough articles about that), think about what's being said/shown and how you could make sense out of that
it's not about what's being said but what you should be able to do with that info, think about that and try to think of your own examples
I'd like to think that it's is about learning something
schools tend to forget this and focus on letting you do stuff and grade that, or even worse they'll test whether or not you remember stuff they said
Knowledge is overrated in the age of the internet..
As Ibrahim just said, I'm not an american student so that was an ignorant comment to make. Furthermore, in my experience a lot of students don't print out their lecture notes before the lecture or even look over them. Mostly they just scribble things down on loose pieces of paper. If you have a better way of doing things then by all means submit it to ZCL. I'm sure students would love to hear your gems of advice
The problem with note taking is that it distracts you from listening to the professor, particularly for your fellow students as they have to write all he says. I see that you're reducing this burden by printing out the slides but I prefer to not use paper to carry around during lessons. Exercise sessions are the moment when much writing is needed.
Well, I happen to have a HP mini, pretty cool thing, think Ibrahim knows what it's like. I use that with taking notes in lectures. I can type pretty fast, and I will just write everything on the netbook!
I never look at them again, but having typed it over, means you have written it again, which means you have really listened!
Works for me and saves up ink big time, because I don't even need paper and pen!