Note Taking

[The Kube of Kubes]

Hey everyone! I’m about 3 weeks away from starting my D1 year, and I’m starting to get a game plan for how I’m going to tackle the course load. I’m going to try and switch things up from my undergrad and wanted to try some new techniques for learning. I have a plan for before and after lecture, but what does everyone prefer to do during lectures to maximize retention? Annotate slides? Word for word notes? Just listen? I wanted to hear what’s worked in dental school for everyone since I did a mix of everything during my undergrad. Thanks guys!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[smiletiger98]

I usually just sit and listen to the professor and follow along with the powerpoint on my laptop. I got distracted too easily when I tried to annotate in class and would have to refocus on what was being said. After class is when I will go usually through the recorded lectures posted on our Canvas page to annotate notes/review any concepts I felt were difficult to follow at first. But that obviously depends on whether your professors allow lecture recordings (there are professors that do not allow this). Anki and Quizlet rock too. A lot of people have tablets and think that it's a great tool for annotation if you go that route and want to spend the cash.

 

[Anonamoose]

Sit in front, pay attention and be engaged. I annotated the slides during lecture, but it is easy to over do it, so only writing for your own clarification, or if the information is not on the slide itself is a good rule of thumb. Once you get a feel for various professors and courses you will be able to tailor your approach case-by-case. But I think the single best way to retain info from lecture is to not let yourself get distracted and to be fresh and ready to learn. Keep the phone in your bag, don't open your iMessage and text people during lecture, do your best to think about what you are learning while you are learning it. And if something doesn't work, make a change, you will do great.

 

[Ryxndek]

Sit in front, pay attention and be engaged. I annotated the slides during lecture, but it is easy to over do it, so only writing for your own clarification, or if the information is not on the slide itself is a good rule of thumb. Once you get a feel for various professors and courses you will be able to tailor your approach case-by-case. But I think the single best way to retain info from lecture is to not let yourself get distracted and to be fresh and ready to learn. Keep the phone in your bag, don't open your iMessage and text people during lecture, do your best to think about what you are learning while you are learning it. And if something doesn't work, make a change, you will do great.

Great advice, thank you

 

[Ivy.ch]

As a class, we collected dues so we could pay someone to be a dedicated note taker/scribe. Then the rest of us could sit back and pay attention, and at the end, we’d still have detailed notes.

 

[anuoluwapo]

I took notes in class and mainly focused on noting things that I felt like were important- sometimes professors will hint at things so those were most of the things I noted. But usually, the slides had all the information that were important so notes were not as important. What i found useful most times were talking things with other classmates because other people would pick different points that you may have missed and long term it helped with retention and understanding. I rarely rewatched lectures, I felt like they were time-consuming (mostly because the slides were sufficient). Every class and professor tend to be different so I would recommend you take the first two weeks to understand how classes work and then make necessary changes. best of luck.