<p>I never take notes but people keep telling me I’m going to have to in college. So do a lot of people take notes at Michigan, specifically CoE? If so, do they take them by hand or laptop?</p>
<p>Well, I didn’t go to Michigan UG, nor was I in engineering, but I think I can safely answer the question in the thread title - yes, at least one person at Michigan takes notes.</p>
<p>As for whether it is necessary for you to do so, probably not. I never took any notes and I did fine (while many of my classmates did take notes and also did fine). Some people like taking notes and it can help them to concentrate and absorb the lecture information, but you won’t be recording unique material or anything. Chances are the lecture slides will be posted and there will be textbooks. If you have found that you don’t like taking notes up until now, college won’t necessarily change that. It’s a matter of learning style, and yours may not require that. On the other hand, high school may have just been easy enough that you could succeed even with methods poorly-suited to you.</p>
<p>I can’t read my handwriting (nor can anybody else for that matter), so I typically don’t take notes. But all around me, people were taking notes. As Cherokeejew says, some people learn better by taking notes.</p>
<p>for those who do take notes at Michigan, is it usually by hand or on laptop?</p>
<p>In 1992, when I started college, I’d say almost all students took notes by hand. By the time I graduaded, in 1996, a good 25% of students were taking their notes on laptops. I wouldn’t be surprised more than 50% of students take their notes on laptops today.</p>
<p>I prefer using my laptop because I type quicker than I write by hand, but the one thing that poses a problem is that I get distracted by the internets and instant messenger and things like that.</p>
<p>PLUS: Watching Red Sox games…I did that for one class. That was the best class ever.</p>
<p>Some professors are having their lectures taped and that may change some note-taking behavior. Researchers on campus been studying this, and it’s interesting…it is not the case (as some feared) that students would use the taped lectures as an excuse to blow off attendance. Instead, they’re attending class but engaging with the lecture differently. For example, they’re no longer so concerned about getting everything written down, because they know they can rewatch something they missed or didn’t understand.</p>
<p>That’s just like what MIT is doing. So does Michigan have an open course ware site that you can access the lectures?</p>
<p>That MIT thing is really something, isn’t it?. </p>
<p>But no, to my knowledge Umich doesn’t have anything so comprehensive. They’ve got podcasts of some lectures and video of others, but I’m not sure if access is open to students not registered for the course.</p>
<p>My old school used to tape classes too. I think they were helpful for students in the sciences (engineering/pre-med), but I didn’t really use it because most of my classes were not taped.</p>
<p>I don’t like recorded classes all that much. You end up with hours of lecture that you don’t end up watching on your own, even though the fact that recorded classes do exist means you don’t feel the need to pay as close attention to detail.</p>
<p>Paper and pencil is really the easier way to go. I tend to draw up lots of graphs/charts/diagrams/really-weird-ways-I-have-of-learning even in humanities classes.
Laptops are incredibly distracting, and for someone like me, it’s really obvious when I’m on instant messenger because I wear my emotions on my sleeve. I’m not just talking about random grins, but also, say, bursting out in tears in the middle of a class…</p>
<p>^ lol, I don’t think I’ll have to worry about that, haha</p>
<p>I do agree with instant messenger. My friend (who incidentally was sitting next to me) did his best to try and make me laugh. He succeeded on multiple occasions. That was not a good experience. I agree that paper is probably the best way to go in classes that need drawings or have a lot of math. When you have math, there’s going to be all these variables and what not that you have to go through symbol or you might not find, and it’s kind of a pain. Paper and pen usually suffice if you’re on your game. I would think if you’re in a class like history, with no numbers and probably no graphs, I would suggest the computer, but only if you write slowly as I do. It would do you well to not be connected to the AIM either. The internet, however, can be a valuable resource.</p>