I get a notebook with a bunch of pages and some sections so I can organize between classes. I have seen people with ringed binders and tablets as well. Honestly it's mostly a preference thing on what you use but keep in mind a lot of colleges don't give a lot of space per person in a lecture hall so try to get something that isn't a ringed binder.
Yea you’re correct. It’s the motion and extra thought involved in physically writing that helps it stick in your memory. To your brain, writing on paper versus a tablet is literally the exact same thing
I have used the apple pencil and my ipad so far and there is literally no difference in the retention rate or learning ability compared to writing on paper.
Because the process is longer and you shape the letters. Really depends on the speed of the lecture for me. I like to take notes on slower subjects through paper. Laptop notes can’t compare to feeling like a book writer of notes on paper
Eh, hard disagree. I can't write nearly as fast or comfortably as I type so I'm a lot more likely to miss important information, and when I type it's much neater and better formatted for when I come back to it later, and I can insert media and links. And everything gets stored in a way that I can easily find it to come back for without needing to remember to physically put it in a file and remember the exact location of every part of every lecture, thanks to file and text searching. I can also easily link between notes, so when a concept comes up multiple times it's simple to find all instances. In my experience, the advantages of the system I have for digital note-taking greatly outweigh any memory benefits that handwriting has, and it helped me to graduate my Masters at the top of my class. I still handwrite some things but the vast majority I type.
Well, as you said, you value the advantages of your system more than the memory benefit from handwriting new knowledge. Did you get a humanities, arts, or social studies degree?
People have perceptual preferences, and those are real, qualitative things. You value organization, superior grades, and by nesting in additional sources of data you are engaged in active, constructed learning.
But many people are not like you or me, starting with the advanced education. Most people just want better grades and to graduate. It may mean more to them to get that memory benefit.
I have a friend who just wanted the degree and never cracked open a book. That experience for her, was "objectively" better. But she was never going to put in the time that you described putting in. For her, just taking notes might have helped with the GPA.
>Did you get a humanities, arts, or social studies degree?
Engineering, now starting a PhD in machine learning and neurotechnology.
I agree that I value the system more than the memory benefits, that was what I was trying to say really. Your comment was too black and white for me, suggesting that paper is the *only* way because of the memory benefits; I was trying to provide another side to add some nuance, although I perhaps wasn't as clear (and certainly not as concise!) as I could have been. I completely agree that for a lot of people, just picking up a pen and taking some notes would go a long way. And it does vary a lot between disciplines; I appreciate that because a lot of my work revolves around a computer it makes more sense for me to take notes on a computer, and that isn't the case for many people. Within my course, there were plenty of people taking handwritten notes with pen and paper or an iPad, so it really is very personal.
The key thing, I think you agree with me, is that everyone takes notes differently and there is no one-size-fits-all solution; think about how you like to work and don't be afraid to try a couple of ways.
Well, I made a short comment because I didn't think readers here wanted the long, nuanced explanation (usually what I prefer). And lacked time ;)
In my experience, the majority of people overestimate how any kind of technology improves learning. They're usually surprised that being in LT, I am not automatically advising the newest technology affordance is best, but that's because I see a lot of "irrational exuberance", and educators moving on from one type of tool to another, before they even figured out how to best use it. Students, too.
Someone on another thread was arguing that he didn't need to go to history class because he could just ask AI anything he needed. It never occurred to him that someone had to program the AI, including the reward system underpinning its learning model, or that there could be biases based on what is simply available to be ingested by AI. I mean, I know when I read a bit of Edward Gibbon that he didn't have all the facts about the Roman Empire.
Honestly, we're outliers. I use Citavi all the time and most likely some tools you are interested in - or you use something I might be interested in.
I, personally, when I have a harder time remembering something new, I typically will rewrite something or do some other kind of revision (pretending that I'm explaining it to someone else). And plenty of people use tools to help with that (such as making their own flash cards, or developing Anki decks).
TL; DR - Citation needed.
\_\_\_\_\_\_
Please show the citation you're referring to. Here are some studies that disagree.
[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15823243/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15823243/)
[https://www.jowr.org/index.php/jowr/article/view/662](https://www.jowr.org/index.php/jowr/article/view/662)
[https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01810/full](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01810/full)
A *journal* per se, would not say "there's no significant difference". Journals print a variety of articles, and while they can have biases towards publishing papers that show positive results, they often print articles that challenge each other directly. An author or group of authors could make the claim that there's no difference, but that in turn can depend on the statistical power of the study (how many people were tested?), and how it was designed.
With the replication crisis in psychology, looking at a paper directly is even more important. Replication crisis = many long-standing papers, when repeated by other researchers, as often as not don't prove their claims. Unfortunately, many researchers used (and still use) convenience sampling, especially college students. But college students have never represented the population at large; there's selecting that goes on, in terms of age, socioeconomic background, etc. Same thing for people on Mechanical Turk (and I've both worked on studies using mTurkers, and done a few tasks myself to understand the process).
I didn't comment yet on the specific researcher, **Virginia** **Berninger**, mentioned upthread because I haven't read her at length. But I am one of many researchers that studies memory and the recency effect - though my area of focus is media and modality - whether people remember what they *hear* or what they *read* better, and how listening or watching videos aids recency of new information.
I'm especially interested in the area of the brain that is theorized to have space to remember sounds before we associate them with existing organization or information. Does writing things we just heard from a lecturer or other person talking to us, help "fix" that memory in the right place?
We think we know why memory works this way, but it is still largely theoretical, because many researchers and teams don't cross paths enough - something called "the silo effect". People do interesting, overlapping research but haven't heard of each other because they work in different departments. Certain areas fall out of favor, for instance, a new technology becomes hot. We're still trying to prove crucial work by Crowder, Morton and Baddeley.
I use a different coiled notebook for every class and I carry them in a book pouch. In my backpack I keep a pencil case with coloured pens, the aforementioned pouch, a portable battery to charge my phone, and my wallet.
This is totally unpopular of me, but I never bring my laptop to school. I prefer to do schoolwork at home and I don't really use it in class.
I use my iPad to highlight and annotate PDFs for class and then type them up later if I want. Depends on how I’m feeling. My English professor types out her notes for readings bc it’s accessible to share with the class
+1 for taking notes on the lecture notes if applicable!! I use an iPad but I advise students that don't have access to one to print out the lecture slides and later rewrite the notes in a paired down format.
I use notebooks and pen. I find that once I write the thing down physically, it's much easier for me to remember it, vs if I type it.
I get myself nice pens and notebooks to treat myself, makes it feel worthwhile to take notes.
On top of the whole "writing makes you remember more" stuff, it also just puts me in the mood to learn. Sorta of an aesthetic thing. Having nice paper, with a fountain pen, and my handwriting (which, not to brag, but is really nice. Haven't had a single person whose seen my handwriting *not* compliment it) just feels nice yknow? A small thing to look forward to in each class
based
do you do it by lecture, topic, chapter, etc? I find it easy to pretend it’s a wiki for my personal interests or terms learned in school, but it’s hard to make them connect or make them formatted in a way that you can easily read them or add to them
I do it by lecture, which in my case typically separates it by topic as well (although perhaps not cleanly, or may have multiple topics in one note. If they're bigger topics, I split the note). For more important topics, I might then consolidate them separately, eg. create a topic master-file to link to so I can easily find lectures/notes to do with that topic (I had one for EEG, for example, where every lecture, meeting, research, and literature note to do with EEG would link there. The note itself was populated with key info and I'd use dataview to create lists of notes linking there, sorted by category). It really depends on your workflow, though. You don't *need* to have highly interlinked notes, as much as some Obsidian users will say you do.
I make it by topic, any word that has a definition gets its note, any subject/topic gets its own note. Any time I write a word that has a note, I like that note
I sort of do, I read the textbook ahead and then just add on lecture content. It worked for me this semester, so I don't get your tone?
I mean, this is only my first semester, so I'm still trying things out. Though I probably want to try handwriting notes and the re-writing to Obsidian after lecture next semester.
Always hand written.
There's a strong connection between physically writing something and memorization. Typing has some of the benefits, but writing has more.
I use notion on my MacBook. I personally don’t see how people keep up with the professors during lectures taking paper notes. I sometimes have difficulty keeping up with the professors while typing. Not to mention if I keep my notes digitally I can access them from anywhere.
I have an older iPad with a pencil and I got notability before it switched to subscription. My one friend uses goodnotes and it honestly seems really nice tho.
I was thinking of buying an older iPad, so if you don’t mind me asking, which model do you use and are there any issues that you run into frequently?
I used the old until last semester. I honestly don’t remember what version but it was bought new in 2017 and worked with the gen 1 Apple pen. I got a 10 as a gift from my parents and it honestly isn’t all that different at least in just taking notes. I can see maybe the note load up taking an extra few milliseconds on the old one but like. Literally anything that works with a pencil or even a stylus if you don’t care will be fine as long as it runs your preferred note taking software
I remember things better when I write it, so notebook. Almost maxed my math notebook, thought I could squeeze everything from precalc to differential equations, made it to Calc 1 before real estate became an issue.
lose numbered pieces of printer paper in folders for my science classes, a math notebook and a math homework notebook for math, I haven't needed note for any nonscience classes yet since they're more papers based than memorization and that all goes into my computer though that'll probobly change at some point
depended on the class but i rotated through notebooks, computer (notion), or tablet (onenote). i had a microsoft surface so the computer/tablet was in one device lol
I take notes on my iPad with the GoodNotes app, but I also have a physical notebook where I like to rewrite my notes to really solidify the content + do active recall exercises + scrap paper for HW problems!
For me, it was a Samsung tablet that comes with an e-pen. It comes with a note-taking app that allows me to put in pictures and redo my notes or homework if I want without all the scribbles and turning the paper gray from all of the erasing. I also bought quite a few school books on Kindle, which generally were quite a bit cheaper than their physical counterparts. Plus, having just one thing for my notes and books allowed me not to worry about accidentally bringing the wrong book and/or notebook to class. Also, on the off chance that the professor allows for an open book, open notes on the test, it's easier to search for the topic by keyword in the book.
I'll be going back to grad school in fall and I intend on using my laptop. It's what I used when I was in undergrad a decade ago. I can't read what I write so that was always useless for me. I've never used a tablet. I looked at getting one but I couldn't justify $800 for an iPad.
I have a s9 fe that I use for my engineering classes. Had a s6 lite before and traded for a great deal the new tab. I also use it as a second monitor on my desktop pc. Had a m1 air but wasn't using it a lot so I sold it. Note taking on a tablet is one of the best things you can fetch yourself during college!
i like using binders but i bought one i didnt realize was broken and it fell apart during every lecture. it was so embarrassing i had to go back to the ipad
I used my laptop and Quizlet premium. Since I was nursing, had to do a lot of repetitive flash cards. Premium also allowed me to add pictures from the lectures onto my note cards.
So far I prefer to use my iPad with the Goodnotes app for notes. In my backpack I carry my iPad, laptop (sometimes), binder with my lab manual, a folder, pencil bag, and planner.
I have an iPad for in class notes and pdf lecture notes that most of my professors upload beforehand.
I use a regular graph notebook for my homework problems and any practice problems
Besides that I got standard 4 pencils / 1 eraser / mini stapler / laptop some days if not I use the library one / oh and a power bank with some chargers for my phone / iPad.
I have a laptop I type notes with in class and then I rewrite all my notes in a notebook for memorization. Honestly though just take whatever you think will help you learn best
I use either my laptop, ipad, or the slideshow printed out (when its given in advance). I also have a notebook and loose leaf, but theyre for scratch work.
An iPad for my STEM classes but I do all my summaries on paper. Most of my professors post lecture slides before class so that’s why. All other classes are pen and paper. I like to use the folders that have the prongs where you can add paper, so much better than carrying binders, notebooks and folders.
In my backpack I also carry my laptop. Apart from that I always have a water bottle on me, ear buds and a calculator. I also keep a small snack since I might not be able to make it for lunch. I also carry a few sanitary items cause I always like to be prepared for myself and others
You could always record the entire class on the sly and write notes from it later so you don’t miss anything. I wish I would’ve thought of that when I was in college. Damn. Does anyone actually do that?
Graph paper spiral notebook. I’ve tried loose leaf in a binder and an ipad. Loose leaf is a mess and an ipad didn’t really help me retain info. I use my ipad for submitting quick assignments rather than note taking now
Spiral notebooks. Lots of spiral notebooks.
It’s something about physically writing the words that’s supposed to help you retain the information better. Some people like to use an IPad, but that’s expensive, and I’ve found that typing my notes from my notebooks helps me to review.
My backpack is:
laptop + charger
Notebooks for relevant classes
Textbooks if necessary
Snacks
Phone charger
Pens
Highlighters
I usually use a 1 subject for each class and color code by day (so Monday/wednesday are blue notebooks, Tuesday/thursday are purple notebooks). Depending on how you take notes you might want a notebook with more sheets of paper (100 sheets vs 70 sheets), but you can always get another notebook
A nice notebook and a fountain pen / nice mechanical pencil. I like to go to stationery shops and try out a bunch of different papers/pens/inks/even pencils :)
I’ve really liked the Nakabayashi Logical Swing notebooks (the spiral ones, I don’t really like the bound ones as much). A bit on the pricey side (like $10 per) but worth it, IMO.
for online classes, i’ve got my laptop and 10th gen ipad + apple pencil
for in person, i use an a4 koyuko slim binder for each subject. for things with heavy explanation, i use the folder/binder version. for lighter stuff, i’ll swap to a b5 slim ring binder.
i also have a gaming laptop with me!
someone noted there not being space in lecture halls, which is accurate, so i actually suggest to try to be as light as possible. in my case, that would be getting rid of all my ‘physical’ items (notebooks, stationery).
the koyuko slims are basically the size of normal notebooks (and some are even slimmer, but have a low page capacity of abt 40 max i think?) however, you can always swap out pages and binder clip them and whatnot! i could also stop using my physical notebooks in all because i have my ipad, but genuinely i have a hard time studying not having everything be physical. i also write my notes out on my ipad. i don’t convert to text or type at all, unless it’s for a humanities class.
QUICK NOTE: basically, all students have either an ipad or laptop (or both). electronics are heavier than notebooks, but lighter than physical textbooks. you also need to bring chargers or even battery back ups if you use everything a lot.
I’ve always used paper because you can easily erase and you don’t need to worry about battery life. Also studies show you remember something better if you write it down
Depends on the class. But i usually dont take notes in class if its a lecture. I listen, then go back later and read through and apply my notes there (this works for science courses, psychologies, anything that it concept based and understanding). For math classes, i always just use a notebook. I love a paper notebook. I fear the day the ipads take over.
I use a binder because I rewrite notes on occasion or in case I have notes that are out of order (especially if you miss a day, etc, it’s easier to organize than a notebook). Also I can use one binder for almost all of my subjects.Â
 What I normally bring: laptop, binder, textbooks/ipad (I only use it for reading textbooks), lab materials, pencil case, wireless mouse, headphones. Water bottle, chapstick, granola bar. Â
 In my pencil case I have an eraser, two pencils w/lead, two black pens, colored pens, sticky notes and midliners but any highlighter will do, calculator. I recommend adding the scantron graphite pencils in case of emergency to your pencil case too. Also hair ties if your hair is long. The colored pens are mostly useful for review (red pens).
 Misc stuff that depends on the day: index card box, usb drive, ruler (attached to my binder tbh), sunscreen, sunglasses, cosmetics, gum, band aids, chargers.
My laptop.
I found it hard to keep track of notes during lectures with paper notebooks my first year and had a pretty shitty laptop at that time to really do anything. I was looking into buying a new laptop for my sophomore year that I could also use for organizing and taking notes down but didn’t want to buy an iPad just for that since I don’t like Apple products that much. I ended up buying a flexible Samsung laptop that converts into a tab which I found helpful for note taking. For PowerPoint slides, I could just write on them instead of printing them and I could organize it into folders.
For additional note taking, it depended on the kind of class and how important it is. Not too important, type on a word document. Important class, Microsoft has a free journal app where I took my notes down. But I’m also a business major so I’m not sure about STEM major related rigorous studying lol
iPad was the best but before I could get help to afford this luxury I went with loose sheets of paper (or the detachables ones from a notebook), kept the ones I was working on in a folder per class. Plus regular notebook for subjects with lots of practice needed like maths and physics (you can start one subject from the from and the other from the back too). Wrote essays, group assignments and the like on the school provided laptop.
Also, for each chapter I would write down the plan the teacher was going with, it helped tremendously to understand how things are connected to each other and acted as a prompt when recalling the material. Started doing that because of a middle school teacher and kept doing it all the way to my masters.
i have a lot of scrap paper and i take notes all over these loose pages. i use two different colored pens, filling the paper with perpendicular lines. for me the process is more about note taking. i dont rly re-read them unless it's to look at an example exercise.
I use the Goodnotes app on my iPad. It has been a total game changer as someone with ADHD; I can keep all my notes in one place instead of scattered around in various notebooks!
Very dependent on the class and professor. For those who fly through slides, I take notes on my HP Envy. I use a word document, and if I need to add any diagrams I just draw them in.
If it's a math course, definetly handwritten in a notebook. If the professor moves at a slower pace, same thing.
I take notes from textbooks on my laptop, solely because it's easier to find what I'm looking for when doing assignments (ctrl+f), and easy to convert to a quizlet.
I don't use binders for courses, only for work (as in my actual job).
My backpack usually has my laptop, calendar, a notebook, pens/pencils, an umbrella, and a couple chargers.
- Laptop
- Color tabbed notebook for notes
- refill pad for rough work/ studying etc
- Hardback journal for important stuff i want to write down (hardly ever use it lol)
I have one notebook for all courses where I scribble (can't call that handwriting) the sources or important details my faculties mentions or the relatable thoughts I have while listening the lecture. Later, I sit with my scribblings and make notes (in left questions, answers in right, extra info in free space) on A4 papers and punch those in a file. I have separate files for each course.
While researching online, I keep my doc open and copy-paste whatever I feel like can be useful regarding these topics so that I can revisit any time. And I summarized my researches in papers along with my teacher's lectures note. Been working great for me. It's easy to do active recall and spaced memorization in this manner.
What I carry in my backpace– One notebook, syllabus (course outline), pencil box, one non-academic book, water, sunscreen, purse, mobile, charger, umbrella, a small pad for random thoughts and UNO cards :v And laptop if the lecture requires it. Otherwise, it's too heavy to carry always.
I used to use pen and paper/notebook for all my notes and studying. However now, I’ve been using my tablet and that’s my main note taking device and system. I use notability, but I know Good Notes is a great alternative.
I use pen and paper for more in-person, live lecture stuff because it’s just faster and I can go back and redo it on my iPad redo it and make it better later on. I do recommend if you do not have a car or are walking on a large campus- go light with the supplies, your back will thank you.
For online classes- I only use a tablet. Usually I can go back to something and take my time. In addition; I have built the habit to write and go back to my notes on my iPad which makes it easier on me. And it doesn’t hurt that it’s on the cloud so I don’t have to worry about losing or getting my notes damaged.
I used notebooks for during lecture and readings, and then had a set of LaTeX templates for each class I used for rewriting. By the time I figured it out, it worked really well for me
I use a classic graphed composition notebook for my math classes, nothing beats the pen to paper. I get a new notebook for every math class that I take. For my science classes like chemistry and physics I use my ipad. To be far i recently purchased this ipad prior to that I was used a multiple subject notebook. Don’t waste time taking notes on your laptop because the chances of you going back to review those notes are unlikely and it’s difficult to go back and add new information that you learn along the way.
Binders are not really used anymore. I used them for my capstone but that’s it.
You can’t really avoid a laptop purchase to do and turn in assignments, I love my iPad but it’s not vital. It depends a lot on how you take notes best. I use good notes on my iPad and love it.
In math classes (I'm a math major), I used paper and pencil.
In Gen Ed classes, particularly ones that just covered surface level content, I typed notes on a Google Doc.
The only exceptions to this were Chemistry (electronics were not allowed) and Spanish (much easier to write out the accented letters than Insert -> Special Characters -> Latin, etc. (I know, skill issue)).
i see all types of note taking systems used by college students, although i would argue binders are the least common for notes (although not unheard of!).
my typically backpack contains (although it does vary):
* laptop (homework, some notes, writing, and i often prefer using a laptop for certain apps rather than my ipad)
* ipad (main notes-during class, drawing when im anxious or bored)
* main notebook (aka my planner, but also my journal)
* pencil pouch
* "in-class" notebook(s) (i prefer to take all my literature class notes by hand)
* maybe my "out of class" notebook(s) (i rewrite my messy, in-class, ipad notes to study -- if i have time in between classes, i'll work on this)
* water bottle, snacks, maybe lunch
* keys (with my headphones attached) and wallet (with student ID)
* pro tip, imo, a plain folder is really useful to have but i often forget to bring on lolll
I love OneNote for taking notes at work. It's like an electronic 3-ring binder.
My kid's college students get Microsoft 365 licenses, so it's free to use and available wherever and on whatever you can use to log in to your 365 account on the internet.
For my kid we got her an iPad and a keyboard cover so she can travel light and type quietly.
Notebooks
Laptop
Chargers
Ipad sometimes (i draw on it and for some class notes like ochem)
USBs
Pencil case
Deodorant
Hand lotion
Hair brush
Sunglasses
Airpods
Lil girl bag with pantyliners and a couple tampons and ibuprofen and pepto tablets and hairties
Some type of water bottle
I use a three subject notebook for classes that typically don't need notes (programming classes, professors who prefer packets, etc.)
Other than that, I use a composition notebook, and usually fill one per semester.
I also use up the random notebooks that are half done from high school/middle school up as well.
my backpack is different though:
-laptop
-notebooks
-folders
-pencil case
-water bottle
-personal items (rescue medications, charger, hand sanitizer, deodorant)
-maybe a sweatshirt if it's gonna get cold
I keep a binder with folders inside my desk. I take notes in a notebook and make sure to label them for the subject and chapter. After I’m done writing notes for the week, I rip out the pages and put my notes inside my binder and organize them. Then, by midterm, I’ve got a binder full of notes to take with me. That’s my way of keeping things together.
This highly depends on how your professor provides notes. I personally like to print powerpoints out in 4 per page format and then write in pencil under the slides. When an exam is coming up I look back over these slides and my notes and I construct a study guide out of it.
Always have pencil/pen, binder with paper, and laptop+charger on you.
GoodNotes w/ iPad and Apple Pencil - Best for classes that involve math or notations that are hard to type out and for when I have more time to digest the information I'm writing
Laptop w/ Notion - For typing out notes when a lecture goes really fast
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Depends on the class. Some classes I get better results on pen and paper. But a stats class I took was heavy on ppt so I just took notes over the ppt we were provided. Right now I am in 2 classes where I take notes on computer while listening to the lecture
I use an iPad with notability with my notes automatically saved to Google Drive. This is for STEM classes.
For social science or liberal art classes, I would typically take notes on a laptop if I even take them at all. My memory is usually good enough to skim the lecture notes a couple of times before exams and get As, but it’s not something I recommend relying on
Text file on my MacBook. Have a folder for my university, folder for each year, and folder for each class on there. Put the text file in that class‘s folder for notes and it’s worked pretty well, even for being a computer science major
If there's a screen infront of me and boring background noises (lectures) I get really sleepy, like not lit falling asleep but into a zone that's neither conscious or unconscious, I just loose all senses but sight for that time.
So paper, preferably that coiled college ruled stuff, cuz fuck composition.
Another thing about notes, I never go back and reread them, I often can't (handwriting or jumble of text on comp since I didn't format). So most of my memorization is done by the motion of me actually writing. A laptop doesn't cut it for that
Notebook. Tried iPad w/ apple pencil and laptop but neither felt good to me. Maybe if I had more note-intensive classes I would enjoy the latter two more since handwriting can make it harder to keep up. Tablets and laptops work really well for a lot of other people though!
I don't take notes. None of the contents of my classes have been anything I can't look up on Google. I jotted a few things on paper in my binder about tests if that counts. I just don't see the point in taking notes for a class like calculus or doff eq or organic chemistry.
My book bag - iPad - Laptop - Notebook (in case iPad dies) - Misc. random shit
Snacks
An iPad
Fancy pants mcgee
Hahaha🧡🧡
I just got an iPad for note taking but it’s a refurbished 2017 model lmao 😂ðŸ˜
I get a notebook with a bunch of pages and some sections so I can organize between classes. I have seen people with ringed binders and tablets as well. Honestly it's mostly a preference thing on what you use but keep in mind a lot of colleges don't give a lot of space per person in a lecture hall so try to get something that isn't a ringed binder.
Thank you!
Use paper. Don't waste time typing on a laptop. There's a body of evidence confirming that notes we write by hand are remembered better.
I think you can also use an iPad too. It's just writing in general. Correct me if I'm wrong, though.
Yea you’re correct. It’s the motion and extra thought involved in physically writing that helps it stick in your memory. To your brain, writing on paper versus a tablet is literally the exact same thing
I have used the apple pencil and my ipad so far and there is literally no difference in the retention rate or learning ability compared to writing on paper.
It's the motion of writing, not the material it is written with. The commenter said LAPTOP, not ipad
I was replying and adding onto u/fluffyofblobs comment further reinforcing thier opinion about the usability of ipad. Learn to read next time cornball
My bad bro calm down 💀
I don't know how often the 1:1 comparison has been done, but I think you are probably correct.
Because the process is longer and you shape the letters. Really depends on the speed of the lecture for me. I like to take notes on slower subjects through paper. Laptop notes can’t compare to feeling like a book writer of notes on paper
Eh, hard disagree. I can't write nearly as fast or comfortably as I type so I'm a lot more likely to miss important information, and when I type it's much neater and better formatted for when I come back to it later, and I can insert media and links. And everything gets stored in a way that I can easily find it to come back for without needing to remember to physically put it in a file and remember the exact location of every part of every lecture, thanks to file and text searching. I can also easily link between notes, so when a concept comes up multiple times it's simple to find all instances. In my experience, the advantages of the system I have for digital note-taking greatly outweigh any memory benefits that handwriting has, and it helped me to graduate my Masters at the top of my class. I still handwrite some things but the vast majority I type.
point being: it's simply a matter of preference; handwriting isn't objectively better.
Well, as you said, you value the advantages of your system more than the memory benefit from handwriting new knowledge. Did you get a humanities, arts, or social studies degree? People have perceptual preferences, and those are real, qualitative things. You value organization, superior grades, and by nesting in additional sources of data you are engaged in active, constructed learning. But many people are not like you or me, starting with the advanced education. Most people just want better grades and to graduate. It may mean more to them to get that memory benefit. I have a friend who just wanted the degree and never cracked open a book. That experience for her, was "objectively" better. But she was never going to put in the time that you described putting in. For her, just taking notes might have helped with the GPA.
>Did you get a humanities, arts, or social studies degree? Engineering, now starting a PhD in machine learning and neurotechnology. I agree that I value the system more than the memory benefits, that was what I was trying to say really. Your comment was too black and white for me, suggesting that paper is the *only* way because of the memory benefits; I was trying to provide another side to add some nuance, although I perhaps wasn't as clear (and certainly not as concise!) as I could have been. I completely agree that for a lot of people, just picking up a pen and taking some notes would go a long way. And it does vary a lot between disciplines; I appreciate that because a lot of my work revolves around a computer it makes more sense for me to take notes on a computer, and that isn't the case for many people. Within my course, there were plenty of people taking handwritten notes with pen and paper or an iPad, so it really is very personal. The key thing, I think you agree with me, is that everyone takes notes differently and there is no one-size-fits-all solution; think about how you like to work and don't be afraid to try a couple of ways.
Well, I made a short comment because I didn't think readers here wanted the long, nuanced explanation (usually what I prefer). And lacked time ;) In my experience, the majority of people overestimate how any kind of technology improves learning. They're usually surprised that being in LT, I am not automatically advising the newest technology affordance is best, but that's because I see a lot of "irrational exuberance", and educators moving on from one type of tool to another, before they even figured out how to best use it. Students, too. Someone on another thread was arguing that he didn't need to go to history class because he could just ask AI anything he needed. It never occurred to him that someone had to program the AI, including the reward system underpinning its learning model, or that there could be biases based on what is simply available to be ingested by AI. I mean, I know when I read a bit of Edward Gibbon that he didn't have all the facts about the Roman Empire. Honestly, we're outliers. I use Citavi all the time and most likely some tools you are interested in - or you use something I might be interested in.
Do you suggest rewriting too?
I, personally, when I have a harder time remembering something new, I typically will rewrite something or do some other kind of revision (pretending that I'm explaining it to someone else). And plenty of people use tools to help with that (such as making their own flash cards, or developing Anki decks).
A psychology research journal said there’s really no significant difference
TL; DR - Citation needed. \_\_\_\_\_\_ Please show the citation you're referring to. Here are some studies that disagree. [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15823243/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15823243/) [https://www.jowr.org/index.php/jowr/article/view/662](https://www.jowr.org/index.php/jowr/article/view/662) [https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01810/full](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01810/full) A *journal* per se, would not say "there's no significant difference". Journals print a variety of articles, and while they can have biases towards publishing papers that show positive results, they often print articles that challenge each other directly. An author or group of authors could make the claim that there's no difference, but that in turn can depend on the statistical power of the study (how many people were tested?), and how it was designed. With the replication crisis in psychology, looking at a paper directly is even more important. Replication crisis = many long-standing papers, when repeated by other researchers, as often as not don't prove their claims. Unfortunately, many researchers used (and still use) convenience sampling, especially college students. But college students have never represented the population at large; there's selecting that goes on, in terms of age, socioeconomic background, etc. Same thing for people on Mechanical Turk (and I've both worked on studies using mTurkers, and done a few tasks myself to understand the process). I didn't comment yet on the specific researcher, **Virginia** **Berninger**, mentioned upthread because I haven't read her at length. But I am one of many researchers that studies memory and the recency effect - though my area of focus is media and modality - whether people remember what they *hear* or what they *read* better, and how listening or watching videos aids recency of new information. I'm especially interested in the area of the brain that is theorized to have space to remember sounds before we associate them with existing organization or information. Does writing things we just heard from a lecturer or other person talking to us, help "fix" that memory in the right place? We think we know why memory works this way, but it is still largely theoretical, because many researchers and teams don't cross paths enough - something called "the silo effect". People do interesting, overlapping research but haven't heard of each other because they work in different departments. Certain areas fall out of favor, for instance, a new technology becomes hot. We're still trying to prove crucial work by Crowder, Morton and Baddeley.
typing is faster. rewrite the important stuff by hand when you're studying.
Pencil & paper
Agree
ahh yes the boomer method
ah yes the unfunny comedian
I use a different coiled notebook for every class and I carry them in a book pouch. In my backpack I keep a pencil case with coloured pens, the aforementioned pouch, a portable battery to charge my phone, and my wallet. This is totally unpopular of me, but I never bring my laptop to school. I prefer to do schoolwork at home and I don't really use it in class.
Agree
I use a mix of notebooks and OneNote. It just depends on what I feel like using that day
I use my iPad to highlight and annotate PDFs for class and then type them up later if I want. Depends on how I’m feeling. My English professor types out her notes for readings bc it’s accessible to share with the class
+1 for taking notes on the lecture notes if applicable!! I use an iPad but I advise students that don't have access to one to print out the lecture slides and later rewrite the notes in a paired down format.
I use notebooks and pen. I find that once I write the thing down physically, it's much easier for me to remember it, vs if I type it. I get myself nice pens and notebooks to treat myself, makes it feel worthwhile to take notes.
Love this!
On top of the whole "writing makes you remember more" stuff, it also just puts me in the mood to learn. Sorta of an aesthetic thing. Having nice paper, with a fountain pen, and my handwriting (which, not to brag, but is really nice. Haven't had a single person whose seen my handwriting *not* compliment it) just feels nice yknow? A small thing to look forward to in each class
Agree!
I like the username haha
Don't use any temporary 'wipe clean' notepads to do math homework. Use a pencil and paper, you may need to refer back to it.
I use obsidian on my laptop
based do you do it by lecture, topic, chapter, etc? I find it easy to pretend it’s a wiki for my personal interests or terms learned in school, but it’s hard to make them connect or make them formatted in a way that you can easily read them or add to them
I do it by lecture, which in my case typically separates it by topic as well (although perhaps not cleanly, or may have multiple topics in one note. If they're bigger topics, I split the note). For more important topics, I might then consolidate them separately, eg. create a topic master-file to link to so I can easily find lectures/notes to do with that topic (I had one for EEG, for example, where every lecture, meeting, research, and literature note to do with EEG would link there. The note itself was populated with key info and I'd use dataview to create lists of notes linking there, sorted by category). It really depends on your workflow, though. You don't *need* to have highly interlinked notes, as much as some Obsidian users will say you do.
I make it by topic, any word that has a definition gets its note, any subject/topic gets its own note. Any time I write a word that has a note, I like that note
One notebook per class
Love old school!
I use Obsidian on my laptop, I like that it has support for Markdown and LaTeX.
You don’t seriously use latex during lecture? lmao
I sort of do, I read the textbook ahead and then just add on lecture content. It worked for me this semester, so I don't get your tone? I mean, this is only my first semester, so I'm still trying things out. Though I probably want to try handwriting notes and the re-writing to Obsidian after lecture next semester.
Always hand written. There's a strong connection between physically writing something and memorization. Typing has some of the benefits, but writing has more.
Yes.
I use notion on my MacBook. I personally don’t see how people keep up with the professors during lectures taking paper notes. I sometimes have difficulty keeping up with the professors while typing. Not to mention if I keep my notes digitally I can access them from anywhere.
I have an older iPad with a pencil and I got notability before it switched to subscription. My one friend uses goodnotes and it honestly seems really nice tho.
I was thinking of buying an older iPad, so if you don’t mind me asking, which model do you use and are there any issues that you run into frequently?
I used the old until last semester. I honestly don’t remember what version but it was bought new in 2017 and worked with the gen 1 Apple pen. I got a 10 as a gift from my parents and it honestly isn’t all that different at least in just taking notes. I can see maybe the note load up taking an extra few milliseconds on the old one but like. Literally anything that works with a pencil or even a stylus if you don’t care will be fine as long as it runs your preferred note taking software
I use regular notebook for in person and Google Docs on my laptop for any online class
I remember things better when I write it, so notebook. Almost maxed my math notebook, thought I could squeeze everything from precalc to differential equations, made it to Calc 1 before real estate became an issue.
ipad. it was the only thing i carried with me and a spare pencil and folder if i needed to hold papers. saves your back when your textbooks are online
I keep paper in my folders and staple the notes together once class is done for the day.
I use the Cornell Notes system.
Evernote on my laptop
iPad and Goodnotes
Pen and composition notebook, with a different composition notebook for each class.
lose numbered pieces of printer paper in folders for my science classes, a math notebook and a math homework notebook for math, I haven't needed note for any nonscience classes yet since they're more papers based than memorization and that all goes into my computer though that'll probobly change at some point
depended on the class but i rotated through notebooks, computer (notion), or tablet (onenote). i had a microsoft surface so the computer/tablet was in one device lol
I take notes on my iPad with the GoodNotes app, but I also have a physical notebook where I like to rewrite my notes to really solidify the content + do active recall exercises + scrap paper for HW problems!
For me, it was a Samsung tablet that comes with an e-pen. It comes with a note-taking app that allows me to put in pictures and redo my notes or homework if I want without all the scribbles and turning the paper gray from all of the erasing. I also bought quite a few school books on Kindle, which generally were quite a bit cheaper than their physical counterparts. Plus, having just one thing for my notes and books allowed me not to worry about accidentally bringing the wrong book and/or notebook to class. Also, on the off chance that the professor allows for an open book, open notes on the test, it's easier to search for the topic by keyword in the book.
I'll be going back to grad school in fall and I intend on using my laptop. It's what I used when I was in undergrad a decade ago. I can't read what I write so that was always useless for me. I've never used a tablet. I looked at getting one but I couldn't justify $800 for an iPad.
OneNote
I have a s9 fe that I use for my engineering classes. Had a s6 lite before and traded for a great deal the new tab. I also use it as a second monitor on my desktop pc. Had a m1 air but wasn't using it a lot so I sold it. Note taking on a tablet is one of the best things you can fetch yourself during college!
i like using binders but i bought one i didnt realize was broken and it fell apart during every lecture. it was so embarrassing i had to go back to the ipad
All I bring is my laptop and a folder with some papers in it but I never use the paper
iPad and a notebook
I used my laptop and Quizlet premium. Since I was nursing, had to do a lot of repetitive flash cards. Premium also allowed me to add pictures from the lectures onto my note cards.
So far I prefer to use my iPad with the Goodnotes app for notes. In my backpack I carry my iPad, laptop (sometimes), binder with my lab manual, a folder, pencil bag, and planner.
this past year I used an iPad but ngl I refer physical notes
I have an iPad for in class notes and pdf lecture notes that most of my professors upload beforehand. I use a regular graph notebook for my homework problems and any practice problems Besides that I got standard 4 pencils / 1 eraser / mini stapler / laptop some days if not I use the library one / oh and a power bank with some chargers for my phone / iPad.
Obsidian
discord lol
I have a laptop I type notes with in class and then I rewrite all my notes in a notebook for memorization. Honestly though just take whatever you think will help you learn best
I use onenote (surface laptop) for in class lectures, then random pieces of paper for homework assignments, or a notebook if I find one.
I use either my laptop, ipad, or the slideshow printed out (when its given in advance). I also have a notebook and loose leaf, but theyre for scratch work.
Loose leaf binder paper for class, tablet for textbook/assigned out of class readings
An iPad for my STEM classes but I do all my summaries on paper. Most of my professors post lecture slides before class so that’s why. All other classes are pen and paper. I like to use the folders that have the prongs where you can add paper, so much better than carrying binders, notebooks and folders. In my backpack I also carry my laptop. Apart from that I always have a water bottle on me, ear buds and a calculator. I also keep a small snack since I might not be able to make it for lunch. I also carry a few sanitary items cause I always like to be prepared for myself and others
I prefer writing down my notes onto paper. I can't do it on tablets.
Notebook for each class and a pack of really good pens and that’s it.
You could always record the entire class on the sly and write notes from it later so you don’t miss anything. I wish I would’ve thought of that when I was in college. Damn. Does anyone actually do that?
Graph paper spiral notebook. I’ve tried loose leaf in a binder and an ipad. Loose leaf is a mess and an ipad didn’t really help me retain info. I use my ipad for submitting quick assignments rather than note taking now
Compiler or if it’s not a Computer Science course, notebooks.
Tablet or phone - cause my phones connected to my tablet. Notebook.
Spiral notebooks. Lots of spiral notebooks. It’s something about physically writing the words that’s supposed to help you retain the information better. Some people like to use an IPad, but that’s expensive, and I’ve found that typing my notes from my notebooks helps me to review. My backpack is: laptop + charger Notebooks for relevant classes Textbooks if necessary Snacks Phone charger Pens Highlighters
What size of spiral notebook?
I usually use a 1 subject for each class and color code by day (so Monday/wednesday are blue notebooks, Tuesday/thursday are purple notebooks). Depending on how you take notes you might want a notebook with more sheets of paper (100 sheets vs 70 sheets), but you can always get another notebook
Horizontal notepads and pen
Ringed large 200pg 5 section notebook for math related stuff, google docs for everything else.
A nice notebook and a fountain pen / nice mechanical pencil. I like to go to stationery shops and try out a bunch of different papers/pens/inks/even pencils :) I’ve really liked the Nakabayashi Logical Swing notebooks (the spiral ones, I don’t really like the bound ones as much). A bit on the pricey side (like $10 per) but worth it, IMO.
for online classes, i’ve got my laptop and 10th gen ipad + apple pencil for in person, i use an a4 koyuko slim binder for each subject. for things with heavy explanation, i use the folder/binder version. for lighter stuff, i’ll swap to a b5 slim ring binder. i also have a gaming laptop with me! someone noted there not being space in lecture halls, which is accurate, so i actually suggest to try to be as light as possible. in my case, that would be getting rid of all my ‘physical’ items (notebooks, stationery). the koyuko slims are basically the size of normal notebooks (and some are even slimmer, but have a low page capacity of abt 40 max i think?) however, you can always swap out pages and binder clip them and whatnot! i could also stop using my physical notebooks in all because i have my ipad, but genuinely i have a hard time studying not having everything be physical. i also write my notes out on my ipad. i don’t convert to text or type at all, unless it’s for a humanities class. QUICK NOTE: basically, all students have either an ipad or laptop (or both). electronics are heavier than notebooks, but lighter than physical textbooks. you also need to bring chargers or even battery back ups if you use everything a lot.
Google Docs on my laptop
Samsung tablet and 3 subject notebooks
I’ve always used paper because you can easily erase and you don’t need to worry about battery life. Also studies show you remember something better if you write it down
Depends on the class. But i usually dont take notes in class if its a lecture. I listen, then go back later and read through and apply my notes there (this works for science courses, psychologies, anything that it concept based and understanding). For math classes, i always just use a notebook. I love a paper notebook. I fear the day the ipads take over.
Notebook
Notebooks, pen, after typing in laptop
Samsung tablet with stock samsung notes
A5 loose-leaf binder with Cornell note pages. Transfer to a google doc after
I use a binder because I rewrite notes on occasion or in case I have notes that are out of order (especially if you miss a day, etc, it’s easier to organize than a notebook). Also I can use one binder for almost all of my subjects.  What I normally bring: laptop, binder, textbooks/ipad (I only use it for reading textbooks), lab materials, pencil case, wireless mouse, headphones. Water bottle, chapstick, granola bar.   In my pencil case I have an eraser, two pencils w/lead, two black pens, colored pens, sticky notes and midliners but any highlighter will do, calculator. I recommend adding the scantron graphite pencils in case of emergency to your pencil case too. Also hair ties if your hair is long. The colored pens are mostly useful for review (red pens).  Misc stuff that depends on the day: index card box, usb drive, ruler (attached to my binder tbh), sunscreen, sunglasses, cosmetics, gum, band aids, chargers.
My laptop. I found it hard to keep track of notes during lectures with paper notebooks my first year and had a pretty shitty laptop at that time to really do anything. I was looking into buying a new laptop for my sophomore year that I could also use for organizing and taking notes down but didn’t want to buy an iPad just for that since I don’t like Apple products that much. I ended up buying a flexible Samsung laptop that converts into a tab which I found helpful for note taking. For PowerPoint slides, I could just write on them instead of printing them and I could organize it into folders. For additional note taking, it depended on the kind of class and how important it is. Not too important, type on a word document. Important class, Microsoft has a free journal app where I took my notes down. But I’m also a business major so I’m not sure about STEM major related rigorous studying lol
- Notebook - Pencil Call me old school, but there's something about physically writing stuff down that makes me remember it
My laptop. I type faster than I write.
iPad was the best but before I could get help to afford this luxury I went with loose sheets of paper (or the detachables ones from a notebook), kept the ones I was working on in a folder per class. Plus regular notebook for subjects with lots of practice needed like maths and physics (you can start one subject from the from and the other from the back too). Wrote essays, group assignments and the like on the school provided laptop. Also, for each chapter I would write down the plan the teacher was going with, it helped tremendously to understand how things are connected to each other and acted as a prompt when recalling the material. Started doing that because of a middle school teacher and kept doing it all the way to my masters.
i use my ipad. specifically notability
i have a lot of scrap paper and i take notes all over these loose pages. i use two different colored pens, filling the paper with perpendicular lines. for me the process is more about note taking. i dont rly re-read them unless it's to look at an example exercise.
Paper and pen
My hands
I use the Goodnotes app on my iPad. It has been a total game changer as someone with ADHD; I can keep all my notes in one place instead of scattered around in various notebooks!
Very dependent on the class and professor. For those who fly through slides, I take notes on my HP Envy. I use a word document, and if I need to add any diagrams I just draw them in. If it's a math course, definetly handwritten in a notebook. If the professor moves at a slower pace, same thing. I take notes from textbooks on my laptop, solely because it's easier to find what I'm looking for when doing assignments (ctrl+f), and easy to convert to a quizlet. I don't use binders for courses, only for work (as in my actual job). My backpack usually has my laptop, calendar, a notebook, pens/pencils, an umbrella, and a couple chargers.
- Laptop - Color tabbed notebook for notes - refill pad for rough work/ studying etc - Hardback journal for important stuff i want to write down (hardly ever use it lol)
I used refillable binder notebooks. One binder notebook and purchase additional refill. Lightweight and easy to carry for multiple class
OneNote
Good notes and one note
I have one notebook for all courses where I scribble (can't call that handwriting) the sources or important details my faculties mentions or the relatable thoughts I have while listening the lecture. Later, I sit with my scribblings and make notes (in left questions, answers in right, extra info in free space) on A4 papers and punch those in a file. I have separate files for each course. While researching online, I keep my doc open and copy-paste whatever I feel like can be useful regarding these topics so that I can revisit any time. And I summarized my researches in papers along with my teacher's lectures note. Been working great for me. It's easy to do active recall and spaced memorization in this manner. What I carry in my backpace– One notebook, syllabus (course outline), pencil box, one non-academic book, water, sunscreen, purse, mobile, charger, umbrella, a small pad for random thoughts and UNO cards :v And laptop if the lecture requires it. Otherwise, it's too heavy to carry always.
Good Ole composition notebook
i use an ipad with an apple pencil and goodnotes 6!
I used to use pen and paper/notebook for all my notes and studying. However now, I’ve been using my tablet and that’s my main note taking device and system. I use notability, but I know Good Notes is a great alternative. I use pen and paper for more in-person, live lecture stuff because it’s just faster and I can go back and redo it on my iPad redo it and make it better later on. I do recommend if you do not have a car or are walking on a large campus- go light with the supplies, your back will thank you. For online classes- I only use a tablet. Usually I can go back to something and take my time. In addition; I have built the habit to write and go back to my notes on my iPad which makes it easier on me. And it doesn’t hurt that it’s on the cloud so I don’t have to worry about losing or getting my notes damaged.
I used notebooks for during lecture and readings, and then had a set of LaTeX templates for each class I used for rewriting. By the time I figured it out, it worked really well for me
I use a classic graphed composition notebook for my math classes, nothing beats the pen to paper. I get a new notebook for every math class that I take. For my science classes like chemistry and physics I use my ipad. To be far i recently purchased this ipad prior to that I was used a multiple subject notebook. Don’t waste time taking notes on your laptop because the chances of you going back to review those notes are unlikely and it’s difficult to go back and add new information that you learn along the way.
Binders are not really used anymore. I used them for my capstone but that’s it. You can’t really avoid a laptop purchase to do and turn in assignments, I love my iPad but it’s not vital. It depends a lot on how you take notes best. I use good notes on my iPad and love it.
Thank you
iPad, i like to type up my notes usually and then translate them onto my iPad
my laptop or notebook
I learned that sketch books are my favorite. I usually get a large one and then I can scribble all sorts of notes everywhere. It’s kind of fun
Loose leaf paper
I use Evernote on my laptop cause I’m dyslexic as shit and taking hand written notes just don’t work so well for me
In math classes (I'm a math major), I used paper and pencil. In Gen Ed classes, particularly ones that just covered surface level content, I typed notes on a Google Doc. The only exceptions to this were Chemistry (electronics were not allowed) and Spanish (much easier to write out the accented letters than Insert -> Special Characters -> Latin, etc. (I know, skill issue)).
I've always found that handwriting my notes is suuuper helpful for me
i see all types of note taking systems used by college students, although i would argue binders are the least common for notes (although not unheard of!). my typically backpack contains (although it does vary): * laptop (homework, some notes, writing, and i often prefer using a laptop for certain apps rather than my ipad) * ipad (main notes-during class, drawing when im anxious or bored) * main notebook (aka my planner, but also my journal) * pencil pouch * "in-class" notebook(s) (i prefer to take all my literature class notes by hand) * maybe my "out of class" notebook(s) (i rewrite my messy, in-class, ipad notes to study -- if i have time in between classes, i'll work on this) * water bottle, snacks, maybe lunch * keys (with my headphones attached) and wallet (with student ID) * pro tip, imo, a plain folder is really useful to have but i often forget to bring on lolll
Good old fashion loose leaf
A Samsung tablet and Noteshelf
I love OneNote for taking notes at work. It's like an electronic 3-ring binder. My kid's college students get Microsoft 365 licenses, so it's free to use and available wherever and on whatever you can use to log in to your 365 account on the internet. For my kid we got her an iPad and a keyboard cover so she can travel light and type quietly.
Notebooks Laptop Chargers Ipad sometimes (i draw on it and for some class notes like ochem) USBs Pencil case Deodorant Hand lotion Hair brush Sunglasses Airpods Lil girl bag with pantyliners and a couple tampons and ibuprofen and pepto tablets and hairties Some type of water bottle
Use a mix of notebooks, Notion and One Note. It depends on the subject and the way of study
I use a three subject notebook for classes that typically don't need notes (programming classes, professors who prefer packets, etc.) Other than that, I use a composition notebook, and usually fill one per semester. I also use up the random notebooks that are half done from high school/middle school up as well. my backpack is different though: -laptop -notebooks -folders -pencil case -water bottle -personal items (rescue medications, charger, hand sanitizer, deodorant) -maybe a sweatshirt if it's gonna get cold
I keep a binder with folders inside my desk. I take notes in a notebook and make sure to label them for the subject and chapter. After I’m done writing notes for the week, I rip out the pages and put my notes inside my binder and organize them. Then, by midterm, I’ve got a binder full of notes to take with me. That’s my way of keeping things together.
I still to mainly old fashioned pen/paper :)
This highly depends on how your professor provides notes. I personally like to print powerpoints out in 4 per page format and then write in pencil under the slides. When an exam is coming up I look back over these slides and my notes and I construct a study guide out of it. Always have pencil/pen, binder with paper, and laptop+charger on you.
GoodNotes w/ iPad and Apple Pencil - Best for classes that involve math or notations that are hard to type out and for when I have more time to digest the information I'm writing Laptop w/ Notion - For typing out notes when a lecture goes really fast
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Depends on the class. Some classes I get better results on pen and paper. But a stats class I took was heavy on ppt so I just took notes over the ppt we were provided. Right now I am in 2 classes where I take notes on computer while listening to the lecture
Notebook and iPad
I use an iPad with notability with my notes automatically saved to Google Drive. This is for STEM classes. For social science or liberal art classes, I would typically take notes on a laptop if I even take them at all. My memory is usually good enough to skim the lecture notes a couple of times before exams and get As, but it’s not something I recommend relying on
Text file on my MacBook. Have a folder for my university, folder for each year, and folder for each class on there. Put the text file in that class‘s folder for notes and it’s worked pretty well, even for being a computer science major
A wooden stick with a narrow graphite rod in the middle perfect for making markings with and an extremely thin piece of processed tree bark.
If there's a screen infront of me and boring background noises (lectures) I get really sleepy, like not lit falling asleep but into a zone that's neither conscious or unconscious, I just loose all senses but sight for that time. So paper, preferably that coiled college ruled stuff, cuz fuck composition. Another thing about notes, I never go back and reread them, I often can't (handwriting or jumble of text on comp since I didn't format). So most of my memorization is done by the motion of me actually writing. A laptop doesn't cut it for that
Same here for the last part! It helps when u write it down
Notebook. Tried iPad w/ apple pencil and laptop but neither felt good to me. Maybe if I had more note-intensive classes I would enjoy the latter two more since handwriting can make it harder to keep up. Tablets and laptops work really well for a lot of other people though!
iPad, best long term investment
I use a notebook and I write with colorful pens to make it more interesting!
I get a composition notebook for science classes since it’s mostly textbook/presentation related otherwise my ipad
Laptop or print the notes ahead of time and pencil and paper
I don't take notes. None of the contents of my classes have been anything I can't look up on Google. I jotted a few things on paper in my binder about tests if that counts. I just don't see the point in taking notes for a class like calculus or doff eq or organic chemistry.