How do YOU prefer to take course/lecture notes?

[speechfan222]

I normally prefer to take notes in a spiral notebook and have one for each course. That way, all of the course notes are together and are separated by each class. Once I completed by undergrad degree, I now have quite a stack of spiral notebooks. 

I usually don't prefer loose-leaf paper in a 3 ring binder because, even with tabs, it's hard to separate notes for each course. And once the pages are turned several times, they begin to tear and fall out. 

I'm starting an online Masters program in August, so there won't be too many lectures (I don't think) to take notes from. I'll mostly be taking my own notes. 

I'm curious, how does everyone prefer to take course notes? I'm trying to determine the best, convenient way, to take notes. Let me know! 

 

And now, another random question for everyone. Walking through stores within the past week, I've seen all of the school supplies presented in preparation for all of the kiddos going back to school in the fall. I always looked forward to shopping for new clothes, a brand new backpack, and new school supplies when I was younger. Now that I'm starting graduate school this fall, seeing all of these supplies makes me want to go school shopping again. I'm starting an online program this fall, so I don't really need to buy new clothes or a new backpack. I may plan on taking notes in individual spiral notebooks for each class, so I'll grab a few of those. I can't think of any other supplies I really need, but I love school shopping! Can anyone recommend any school supply must-haves? Or tell me about your favorite supplies. What should I get?  

Edited July 27, 2017 by speechfan222

[hantoo]

I've never taken online courses or completed an online program, so I'm not totally sure if this will fit well with the format of your online Masters, BUT here are a few ways I like to take notes:

1) For the majority of classes I've ever taken, professors usually use some sort of slide show to display main points, charts and tables, and images during lectures. In many of these classes, my professors would upload the slides to the class website prior to the lecture. I always found it helpful to print out the slides (like ~6 to a page) and then take it to class with me and write additional notes/things to remember during the lecture. This helped me pay better attention to the lecture and take more comprehensive notes. Nowadays I like to just type my additional notes right on my computer to save paper! I've also found it much easier to review for exams later on using these notes.

2) Of course not all professors use lecture slideshows. When I have a professor who just likes to talk, I make sure I do a pretty thorough reading of whatever course material or articles we're discussing in class that day, and I come to class with my notes on that material that I can just add to during the lecture.

3) Similar to the second option, sometimes I like to bring either a paper copy of the readings we're discussing and add notes to them during class, or I pull them up on my computer and make notes there.

In reference to your school supply question, I agree that you probably won't need tons of stuff. But I like spiral ring notebooks for taking handwritten notes. And I pretty much only take notes in pen, so I always return to school with tons of pen packs Most importantly, I would just make sure you have a reliable computer to take your courses and do your work on. Also if you don't have one already, I would recommend getting an external hard drive to back up your work. I have one and it once saved me from losing literally years of work when my last computer crashed.

Hope this is at least a little helpful! Good luck!

[cowgirlsdontcry]

12 hours ago, speechfan222 said:

I normally prefer to take notes in a spiral notebook and have one for each course. That way, all of the course notes are together and are separated by each class. Once I completed by undergrad degree, I now have quite a stack of spiral notebooks. 

I usually don't prefer loose-leaf paper in a 3 ring binder because, even with tabs, it's hard to separate notes for each course. And once the pages are turned several times, they begin to tear and fall out. 

I'm starting an online Masters program in August, so there won't be too many lectures (I don't think) to take notes from. I'll mostly be taking my own notes. 

I'm curious, how does everyone prefer to take course notes? I'm trying to determine the best, convenient way, to take notes. Let me know! 

 

And now, another random question for everyone. Walking through stores within the past week, I've seen all of the school supplies presented in preparation for all of the kiddos going back to school in the fall. I always looked forward to shopping for new clothes, a brand new backpack, and new school supplies when I was younger. Now that I'm starting graduate school this fall, seeing all of these supplies makes me want to go school shopping again. I'm starting an online program this fall, so I don't really need to buy new clothes or a new backpack. I may plan on taking notes in individual spiral notebooks for each class, so I'll grab a few of those. I can't think of any other supplies I really need, but I love school shopping! Can anyone recommend any school supply must-haves? Or tell me about your favorite supplies. What should I get?  

I just finished a combination online/in person MA in English (lit track) and starting a PhD program this fall. Here's what I do for taking notes, although since my field is American literature, I don't take many notes in class. Will tell you what I do for close textual analysis in moment. I found 1/2" 3-ring binders (Walmart), that are flexible, not hard. I use one of those for each of my classes, but in grad school there are usually only 2 or 3 classes. If the sheets tear I use those little round reinforcers. I can add in any handouts from my professors, which can't be easily done in spirals. Since we also read a lot of critical essays, in addition to the primary texts, if the class is an in-person one, I put a copy in my 3-ring binder.

Your laptop becomes your "notebook" in an online class. I use folders for each class on my laptop. I'm really organized and anyone on my laptop could find something according to what we discuss. Professors will usually put links to all of the critical essays we need to read. I have "file folders" within each class folder on my laptop. There is usually so much research, that I keep it in folders according to the text we read. You could organize yours by topic. As for lectures in online classes, literature professors usually either video a short presentation (maybe 20-30 minutes) or may write the same write out a lecture and place it on Moodle or Blackboard. Online classes require a lot more writing in my field, because there is no live class participation. Each student is required to post a "complete thought" (about 500-800 words) about some aspect of a text, then respond to at least three other posts. Sometimes these back and forths may end up generating several thousands words from a poster, each week. If you double or triple it, a literary student can end up writing the equivalent of a 10-20 page paper each week. These "thoughts" can be interesting to save, because others may have ideas we never consider and it's good to have to look back through.

I do not take notes when close reading texts for class. I do put a little tabbie on the page and a "?" next to the passage, so I can bring attention to the matter during class. Many literary scholars do take notes and use tabbies (some even color code tabbies and inks to topics) when close reading, but I like getting a feel for the text first without stopping. If it's a text I plan on writing on, I will read it again and make notations before starting my research. I also get an electronic version in Kindle or Nook, because I will remember enough of the important parts I want to write about to do a string search in the electronic version. By the time I have finished writing a paper, I have read the text a third time.

I found an app for my iPhone that is fabulous for keeping track of texts you keep. Since English is a field of reading/writing, I have over 200 books, and will accumulate that many more during my PhD, as I have been told that I should have a list of at least 100 primary texts for comps, plus another 40-50 on my dissertation topic. The app does all the work for you. You simply go into the app and tell it to add a new book. The camera comes on and you place it over the barcode. Voila! It's added in your app. Occasionally, if I have a used book, I can't get off all of their stickers and have to manually enter a text. Sometimes I can enter an ISBN and it will find. A more likely scenario is that I have to type in the name of the book and sometimes the publisher, before I find the version I have. I catalogued every book I have as I packed it to make the move to my PhD school. It took about 4 hours to scan and pack all of them. There are many apps. I use Book Buddy because I can add a genre that is of my own design.

 

[avflinsch]

For my masters -

Pretty much everything I needed to read was either in a pdf or online. Notes were taken by highlighting and adding 'stickie notes' within the pdf, for online readings, I converted to pdf first, then added the stickies in the pdf.

Class notes were done by writing on rocketbook pads, scanning and uploading as a pdf, where additional stickies could be added.

The only thing I may change going into the PhD is to use one of the everlast rocketbooks - no more paper. Write, scan, upload and erase.

 

As for additional school supplies
- external hard drives, and a box of usb memory sticks, backup everything and backup often.
- an erasable whiteboard - invaluable for planning and reminders

 

[cowgirlsdontcry]

5 hours ago, avflinsch said:

As for additional school supplies
- external hard drives, and a box of usb memory sticks, backup everything and backup often.

 

I agree, although I have a cloud drive that backs up every 15 minutes.

[speechfan222]

Thanks for the responses everyone. They have been very helpful, so far. I appreciate it. 

@avflinsch, I have never heard of Rocketbook pads, so I had to google it. This, by far, seems like the best invention ever. I watched the video on the Rocketbook website and am not too excited about scanning or uploading my notes to a cloud file, but I can find another way to save everything. This concept is pretty awesome. How do you like using these? 

Thanks again everyone.  

Edited July 28, 2017 by speechfan222

[cowgirlsdontcry]

5 hours ago, speechfan222 said:

Thanks for the responses everyone. They have been very helpful, so far. I appreciate it. 

@avflinsch, I have never heard of Rocketbook pads, so I had to google it. This, by far, seems like the best invention ever. I watched the video on the Rocketbook website and am not too excited about scanning or uploading my notes to a cloud file, but I can find another way to save everything. This concept is pretty awesome. How do you like using these? 

Thanks again everyone.  

If you have the right cloud drive, you can set it to automatically back up whatever you choose at certain points. I have mine set for every 15 minutes.

[avflinsch]

8 hours ago, speechfan222 said:

Thanks for the responses everyone. They have been very helpful, so far. I appreciate it. 

@avflinsch, I have never heard of Rocketbook pads, so I had to google it. This, by far, seems like the best invention ever. I watched the video on the Rocketbook website and am not too excited about scanning or uploading my notes to a cloud file, but I can find another way to save everything. This concept is pretty awesome. How do you like using these? 

Thanks again everyone.  

I started out using the app and the free downloadable pdfs and really liked the concept. These work well, and only cost the price of printing the pages. All you need to do is print off as many of the pages as you need, and use any pen/pencil you want on them.

As far as sending to the cloud, there is an option in the app to send the document to yourself via email. One big advantage of saving to the cloud happens when others are using the app also, this way you can easily share notes.

Unlike many of the other digital conversion apps, these don't require a special electronic pen and expensive preprinted pads. I did try the microwave erasable pad, but didn't really like them - it is sort of a pain to stick the pad into the microwave to erase them. The new Everlast ones have a different 'paper' and can be erased with a bit of warm water and a quick scrub with a paper towel. My main complaint is that the require the use of a special pen (Pilot Frixion gel pens) to be erased, and I prefer fountain pens. Fortunately the pens are not all that expensive. I will probably use a combination of the downloaded pdf pages and the Everlast pad.

You have nothing to lose by using the downloadable pages and the app and see if you like it.

 

[avflinsch]

11 hours ago, cowgirlsdontcry said:

I agree, although I have a cloud drive that backs up every 15 minutes.

Me too, and I use that for documents that I am currently working on, and it is particularity useful when I am switching between my desktop and my laptop. I also have several large datasets, which are larger than what is usually available on the free cloud services. The USB sticks are useful when doing presentations, you never know what kind of network service is available in the room where the presentation is happening - and for some reason it is usually not available whenever I need to do a presentation...

 

[cowgirlsdontcry]

3 hours ago, avflinsch said:

Me too, and I use that for documents that I am currently working on, and it is particularity useful when I am switching between my desktop and my laptop. I also have several large datasets, which are larger than what is usually available on the free cloud services. The USB sticks are useful when doing presentations, you never know what kind of network service is available in the room where the presentation is happening - and for some reason it is usually not available whenever I need to do a presentation...

 

I've tried everything for presentations and usually email it to myself on the school email and put it on a flash drive. There is no one size fits all (unfortunately). I will find out this fall how good the tech is at UA, because between teaching and my own classes, I am in three buildings.

[Eigen]

I'll just note that pedagogical literature shows that the act of physically taking notes is beneficial in the learning process. It's why I strongly discourage my students from taking notes on a computer or printed slides. 

The process of taking notes during a lecture, then going back and filling in portions that is incomplete is also a critical part of learning and helping cement connections. 

When I'm taking notes on anything, it's always pen and paper. Then later I can transcribe them to a digital format if need be (scan, re-type, etc.). But the first brush is always by hand.

[TakeruK]

1 hour ago, Eigen said:

I'll just note that pedagogical literature shows that the act of physically taking notes is beneficial in the learning process. It's why I strongly discourage my students from taking notes on a computer or printed slides. 

The process of taking notes during a lecture, then going back and filling in portions that is incomplete is also a critical part of learning and helping cement connections. 

When I'm taking notes on anything, it's always pen and paper. Then later I can transcribe them to a digital format if need be (scan, re-type, etc.). But the first brush is always by hand.

I also learn very well from physically taking notes. In the past, even when professors provide handouts of their slides, I usually choose to have them as a secondary source of information but I still write my own notes, even if they duplicate what's on the slides. Personally, I learn best when I have to absorb the information, decide what's important and write it down. I even took this one step further and when I am reviewing my notes to study for an exam or something, I will write notes on my notes, usually trying to condense my course notes into 1 page per week of lectures. When I learned to do this, I found that my ability to remember past material greatly improved.

That said, I know that pedagogical literature also shows that students, because we are humans that learn in many diverse and different ways, I don't expect students I teach** to learn the same way I did. My strategies aren't going to work for everyone and I try to be conscious of this---my students are not just younger versions of me. So far, I have tried to avoid making rules like "no computers" in my classes. Instead, I might start the class with some information just like what Eigen wrote here to encourage students who might benefit from physically taking notes to do so instead of just relying on computer notes. I try not to make anyone feel like if they are using a computer then they are inferior in some way, since I know some people really learn so much better typing up their notes. To clarify, I'm not saying that @Eigen is doing this at all, I just mean this post to be considered in addition to what Eigen wrote!

(** At this point, my teaching experience does not yet include being an instructor of record who is completely in charge of a class, so I am very much still learning and developing strategies.)

[guest56436]

I don't take notes anymore. I was never a big note taker, but as my classes got more and more discussion/seminar based, I stopped taking them entirely. For me, I don't see the point of sitting there jotting down notes rather than just listening. The only exception is I still take notes for readings (I first read the entire reading the take some notes on the main theoretical argument and empirical evidence), which I just do on the computer in a word file that is organized by week in a class folder.

[Eigen]

3 hours ago, TakeruK said:

That said, I know that pedagogical literature also shows that students, because we are humans that learn in many diverse and different ways, I don't expect students I teach** to learn the same way I did. My strategies aren't going to work for everyone and I try to be conscious of this---my students are not just younger versions of me. So far, I have tried to avoid making rules like "no computers" in my classes. Instead, I might start the class with some information just like what Eigen wrote here to encourage students who might benefit from physically taking notes to do so instead of just relying on computer notes. I try not to make anyone feel like if they are using a computer then they are inferior in some way, since I know some people really learn so much better typing up their notes. To clarify, I'm not saying that @Eigen is doing this at all, I just mean this post to be considered in addition to what Eigen wrote!

(** At this point, my teaching experience does not yet include being an instructor of record who is completely in charge of a class, so I am very much still learning and developing strategies.)

Yeah, I don't have policies against computers. I just encourage students to try taking them by hand, and show the relevant studies. That said, most recent literature on cognitive science of learning also goes agains the idea of multiple "learning styles" a lot more, and learning from handwriting seems to be relatively universal- ie, it benefits everyone.

The other reason why I don't do blanket no computer policies is an accessibility concern. If I ban them and then exempt a student who needs to use one for accessibility reasons, I'm obviously singling that person out to the class.

it was something I got from "The Accessible Sylabus Project" that stuck with me. 

[kingspeech]

For me, it depends on what I need that day. Taking handwritten notes does help me focus in the moment, but I have tremendous difficulty rereading them later and actually using them as study instruments, especially if there's lots of unfamiliar vocabulary. So if there will be lots of memorization required, I need to type notes or have them provided on PPT or handouts. If I need to understand a process (statistics, math, signaling pathways), I'll use the strategy of taking notes to stay present and engaged for the duration of the class period, without the goal of using the notes later.

[spectastic]

i try to do everything electronically now. hard copies are harder to keep track of. especially when the lecturer uses slides, it's helpful to just pull up copies of those slides and write notes in them, instead of wasting effort to copy what they write down.

I use xodo app to edit pdf files, and i think evernote is popular for actual note taking.

most tablets support this kind of stuff. not as precise as paper, but I still like it better than paper.