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There are math input methods that are on par with handwriting, e.g. texmacs or mathcad
by corty 6y ago
There are math input methods that are on par with handwriting, e.g. texmacs or mathcad
- TimPC 6y agoI highly doubt writing texmacs or other complex coding for diagrams leads to the same memory retention as plotting by hand.
- corty 6y agoBack in the days of transition from writing with bird feathers to writing with steel tips that one didn't have to sharpen, such claims were made as well.
- Invictus0 6y agoAnd perhaps they were right as well. Seems to me the general idea is to use a mildly inefficient tool to bottleneck your notetaking speed with the goal of increasing the total amount of time spent with the material; a plausible enough idea I think.
- Dylan16807 6y agoIsn't the context here in-class notes? The time spent is a constant, and the goal is to maintain the right kinds/ratios of focus.
- lallysingh 6y agoWhat? No. Also notes when studying.
- Dylan16807 6y agoBoth studies were about taking notes during a lecture. The way you take notes during self-directed studying is important, and should be tested, but wasn't. Was there a different study somewhere that wasn't focused on lectures?
- mpoteat 6y agoI agree that while it might be fun / efficient / impressive to learn the various methods of quickly specifying mathematical diagrams using symbolic entry, it distracts from the underlying message of the lecture. Experiential salience is important for learning. It would be like copy and pasting code without typing it out yourself re a tutorial.
- lallysingh 6y agoNot as fast or easy as directly writing. And you then don't have to deal with an unusual format.
- magicalhippo 6y agoFor me, a key point is if the teacher is using a blackboard with prepared notes or not. Using a blackboard affords more time to actually taking notes. I could follow the derivations as they happened, and would frequently catch mistakes like a missing sign. In addition, at least for me the act of writing them down engages different areas of my brain. I think more about what I'm writing when taking notes by hand, while typing LaTeX or similar on the fly causes me to think more about how. For me, writing notes by hand from a teacher using a blackboard with prepared notes lead to orders of magnitude better recollection and understanding. If all the teacher had was PowerPoint slides, I typically barely recalled anything.
- zabzonk 6y ago> If all the teacher had was PowerPoint slides, I typically barely recalled anything. Probably because you were in a coma.
- magicalhippo 6y agoTypically it was because PowerPoint slides makes it easy to cram a lot of information in a small space. It also makes it easy to make something which is not note-writing friendly. Of course I did recall some things, but after a few semesters I found PowerPoint-oriented classes to be barely worth attending. This was in stark contrast to the blackboard-oriented classes, which I found immensely valuable.