Which do YOU prefer...??

For the school I attended, I would not have bothered with the lap top. A large portion of our lectures, studying, and test material was straight from our text books. What helped me the most was following along in the text book and doing lots of highlighting of the important need-to-know things and then going back to study it. I didn't even need to take many hand written notes. I never made anything less than an A, so I guess it worked for me :wink2:

Thank you very much for the adivice everyone!!

If I listen attentively, read along, actually look at materials the instructor refers to as he/she refers to them, and take good handwritten notes, read over the material once after class, I'm practically guaranteed an A on the exam. But thats me. I have to hear it, see it, check it, say it, envision it...I need all those steps. I can still see my algebra professor in my mind and tell you what he was wearing the day I thought "I'll never get this." I got it, though!!

Although I type 60wpm, I couldn't do typed notes, because my brain "hitches" when I correct a mistake. When I write, I can correct and still keep listening to the lecture/questions, etc.

I would start with whatever worked for you before, and incorporate the new things to see if it increases your absorption or reduces your stress/work level. Doesn't matter how neat and new it is if it doesn't help.

good luck to ya

definetely hand written notes. For some reason the computer only serves a distraction.

I used to type my study notes a day or two before the exam, but that was it. I used plenty of highlighters and red pens to make me remember, and used alot of post-its on the pages where I had to rewrite information to a version that made more sense to me.

Each person has to come up with their own method of success. I never typed lectures, but would type up study notes once I understood concepts that were difficult to me, thinking that once I took the time to type it, I would really remember it. Then, I would still use my famous yellow highlighters and red pens to annotate as I saw fit.

i bought a tape recorder for class lectures and typed my notes. My handwriting is bad.

For typing stuff at home, I prefer voice recognition. Vista comes with a voice recognition application, but it is turned off by default. Turning it on is quick and easy, just google it. This application is not quite as good as the famous third party application, but it works well enough for me. Also, while I have nothing against microsoft word, there is a comprehensive office suit out there that is comparable to office, compatible with office files, and best of all - it's open source, so it's free. Just google free office software. I've been using it for over a year now and I'm impressed, especially with the spreadsheet, which I use for tracking stuff such as weight.