4 ms·

>Those students who are trying to transcribe lectures and not actually learning anything? My guess is it's because they're burning cycles mentally saying "'the'

>Those students who are trying to transcribe lectures and not actually learning anything? My guess is it's because they're burning cycles mentally saying "'the', I need to find 't' and an 'h', aaaaaand 'e'. 'quick', where the hell is 'q'?" I wouldn't be so sure. I can write and type just fine, but I always learned better in class by listening to the teacher instead of trying to produce a pile of notes. All of the kids I remember that wasted their time writing down everything the teacher said without really listening to them, did just the same with computers or old-fashioned pen and paper.

baddox 12y ago
> All of the kids I remember that wasted their time writing down everything the teacher said without really listening to them, did just the same with computers or old-fashioned pen and paper. I was the same way throughout school, but I think the causal relationship might be reversed. The students who take notes almost robotically might just do so because they have poor verbal memory.
ht_th 12y ago
I always listened best by having my hand do something. So I often wrote (unreadable) notes, doodled around, and made drawings. Never used these notes for anything, but when I was studying afterwards, I could use them as an aid to remember the lectures better: at this doodle of a flying Christmas tree with antlers, the professor explained such or so. Very odd.
joesmo 12y ago
One can listen and take notes at the same time. I found that taking notes helped a lot, even though I hardly ever to never reviewed them later. But it helped to strengthen what I was listening to. The simple takeaway is that different people learn differently. Don't assume what works for you will work for others and vice versa.
- ANTSANTS 12y ago
  I wasn't really trying to judge anyone's preferred method of learning (though I see how I came off that way), just arguing that the "guy who takes tons of notes but learns very little" phenomenon has nothing to do with typing skills. I had a few people in mind from my school days who would practically transcribe each lecture, producing pages of minutes and never putting their pen down for a moment, yet understand less by the end than the stoner in the back who slept through half of it.

baddox 12y ago

> All of the kids I remember that wasted their time writing down everything the teacher said without really listening to them, did just the same with computers or old-fashioned pen and paper. I was the same way throughout school, but I think the causal relationship might be reversed. The students who take notes almost robotically might just do so because they have poor verbal memory.

ht_th 12y ago

I always listened best by having my hand do something. So I often wrote (unreadable) notes, doodled around, and made drawings. Never used these notes for anything, but when I was studying afterwards, I could use them as an aid to remember the lectures better: at this doodle of a flying Christmas tree with antlers, the professor explained such or so. Very odd.

joesmo 12y ago

One can listen and take notes at the same time. I found that taking notes helped a lot, even though I hardly ever to never reviewed them later. But it helped to strengthen what I was listening to. The simple takeaway is that different people learn differently. Don't assume what works for you will work for others and vice versa.

ANTSANTS 12y ago
I wasn't really trying to judge anyone's preferred method of learning (though I see how I came off that way), just arguing that the "guy who takes tons of notes but learns very little" phenomenon has nothing to do with typing skills. I had a few people in mind from my school days who would practically transcribe each lecture, producing pages of minutes and never putting their pen down for a moment, yet understand less by the end than the stoner in the back who slept through half of it.