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I agree. I used to fall asleep in classes taking notes. I ditched the notebook and started intensely focusing on the lecturer and trying to listen actively.
by projektfu 6y ago
I agree. I used to fall asleep in classes taking notes. I ditched the notebook and started intensely focusing on the lecturer and trying to listen actively. Attention improved and comprehension skyrocketed. As long as what was covered was also found in printed material like a book, I was much better off.
It's n=1, but I didn't see any studies cited in the article either, just expert opinion and suggestions like the unweildly "Cornell method", which I have tried to use without success and never seen anyone else use.
It probably comes down to a lot of cognitive variation among people. In my experience, reviewing notes that I took during lecture has about zero productivity. They don't mean anything afterward, they just reflect a few bits and pieces that made it through eyes/ears, brain, and hand. I'd be better off with a stenographer's transcript or, you know, a book chapter I had read before hand.
- paulpauper 6y agoIf you IQ is high enough, note taking is often not necessary unless the material is very detailed or complicated. working memory and long-term memory both positively correlated with IQ. In the high school i went to, the smartest kids in my class were able to get good grades on tests without taking notes.
- megameter 6y agoI think the idea of taking notes itself comes from the idea that the information is hard to acquire in any form. And occasionally a teacher does deviate from the text and say something important that will only appear in notes, but this usually isn't the case. What I have started doing recently for my own journaling is to voice record instead of writing. This puts the emphasis on the thought organization instead of the spatio-tactile-visuals of forming symbols. I record a few lines and then pause to think. The recall of it is slow, but it's mostly info I am studying in the moment, and its verbalization makes me focus on getting it correct the first time instead of write and edit, write and edit.
- asdff 6y agoWhen I write notes these days it's only if whatever word was uttered isn't already on the slides or in some text, or of there is something I need to look up later. Too many times I hear some fact, or a date, or a deadline, and go "gee that's simple and clear, I'll remember that!" then I step out of the room and it's gone forever.
- larrywright 6y agoI’m the exact opposite. I often use note taking as a way to stay engaged and attentive to what I’m listening to. My mind wanders too easily otherwise.