[MV=PT]

Hey all,

Hopefully I will be starting Econ this October and I just wanted to ask those who have been there or are studying there how they think the best way if gaining from lectures is.

Personally what I have planned is to takes rough but extensive notes as he speaks and then soon after the lecture just put all that info into a neat concise but comprehensive notebook to which I can refer to for learning/revising, because I can't revise from rough scraps of paper taken in lectures.

Is this a good idea ?

What works best for you ?

[Shelly_x]

Sounds fine to me.

[heyimbored]

It's a good idea, but you may find that you soon don't have enough time to do it as well as you would like, especially once a project comes in, or you get stuck on something else. I did this after Christmas this year (2nd year astrophysics) and initially kept on top of it, but then I got a project to do which had to be prioritized over making neat versions of lecture notes and so I got behind; the lectures then weren't fresh in my mind when writing up which made them take a bit longer to do and as more projects came in this only got worse. It's also easy to just say "I'll copy up this lecture with the next one" and then that pushes you back, and even just pushing that one back can disrupt things quite a bit.

It is a good thing to do though, and I should point out that I am a believer in free time, I don't do much evening work at all, and get it all done during the day (unless there's a deadline approaching) so you could use that time to catch up where I perhaps wouldn't have. The most important thing to do is not leave work to the last minute and to spread it evenly where possible; that way you shouldn't ever get too far behind on yourself.

[dj1015]

Start simple, and then build up......

Turning up to the lecture is normally a good place to start.

[Aeschylus]

Unless you really need it on, I recommend turning your phone off before you go into a lecture. They're very distracting. Also I've never seen someone take notes on a laptop and not get bored/distracted

[lilahnurave]

(Original post by Aeschylus)
Unless you really need it on, I recommend turning your phone off before you go into a lecture. They're very distracting. Also I've never seen someone take notes on a laptop and not get bored/distracted

The guy who sat in front of me in my intro to law lecture used to watch family guy through the whole thing

[Jaydiee]

If you are allowed at your chosen Uni, I used to take in a dictaphone and record the lecture as well as jotting down some notes (Some universities record lectures themselves and put it on the Uni internet).

It's really helpful to listen over these after the lecture and make more exstensive notes as you can pause the dictaphone to write information down.
Just make sure you do actually listen to hem after lectures as, at the end of the year, you wont be able to revise from little notes you have taken in lectures.

[The_Last_Melon]

i recommend assigning everything directly to memory. the moment i stopped doing this and thought that paper and pen had some magical power was the moment i started to fail.

[lilahnurave]

(Original post by Jaydiee)
If you are allowed at your chosen Uni, I used to take in a dictaphone and record the lecture as well as jotting down some notes (Some universities record lectures themselves and put it on the Uni internet).

It's really helpful to listen over these after the lecture and make more exstensive notes as you can pause the dictaphone to write information down.
Just make sure you do actually listen to hem after lectures as, at the end of the year, you wont be able to revise from little notes you have taken in lectures.

Totally think this is the best idea I just always forget to bring mine to lectures

[skotch]

As I can't write down the stuff they say in lectures quick enough, I record the lectures and then write them up virtually word for word with the powerpoint slides. Comes in really useful having the lectures down word for word when it comes to exams. Had almost everyone in the year asking me to send them the recordings though!!
Would advise copying down the graphs/equations etc. that they draw on the whiteboard/blackboard as obviously you won't be able to get that info back once you've left the lecture.
Also, turn up! I would say don't be hungover for lectures, but that can't really be avoided in 1st year.

[SleepySheep]

(Original post by lilahnurave)
The guy who sat in front of me in my intro to law lecture used to watch family guy through the whole thing

I don't get people who act like that. Why bother turning up? It's not sixth form, you don't have to go to lectures if you don't want to.

[lilahnurave]

(Original post by SleepySheep)
I don't get people who act like that. Why bother turning up? It's not sixth form, you don't have to go to lectures if you don't want to.

I agree with you, but its better than the people who go to the lecture and talk ALL the way though

[SleepySheep]

(Original post by lilahnurave)
I agree with you, but its better than the people who go to the lecture and talk ALL the way though

People don't tend to do that in my lectures luckily If I don't care about the lecture I just stay in bed. I don't get why other people don't do the same

[lilahnurave]

(Original post by SleepySheep)
People don't tend to do that in my lectures luckily If I don't care about the lecture I just stay in bed. I don't get why other people don't do the same

I know, people seem to think they can absorb the knowledge from just turning up

[.ACS.]

Often you will have an idea of the topic to be covered in the upcoming lecture, and also you will have already been given the lecture slides and some relevant reading. What I found most helpful was to actually read the slides and the extra reading beforehand, so I had an idea of what was going on during the lecture. This meant the lecture was more of a consolidation process, since it was just reinforcing what I'd already learnt, and if anything was expanded on during the lecture, I had a better idea of what the lecturer was talking about.

The reason I think it's vital to do prep work before lectures is because you quickly realise that, actually, so much content is covered in that one hour session. The lecturer just skims over the topic, focusing on the key elements, and expanding in some cases beyond the set reading.

Also it's impossible to take notes of everything that is being said in the lecture and absorb it at the same time. So if you have an idea of the content, then you only need to take down notes of the key elements of the lecture, and any worked examples.

The best approach I've found to learning at university:
- Read the lecture slides and extra reading before the lecture, and make notes from these
- Attend the lecture, and take down notes of new ideas/content covered or emphasises elements
- Go over the notes from the lecture to absorb the content
- Go over the notes made from the lecture slides and the extra reading
- Amalgamate both sets of handmade notes into a single set for when it comes to revision

It definitely takes up a fair amount of time, but if you can keep on top of things, it'll be a godsend come exam time.

[TheHistoryStudent]

(Original post by MV=PT)
Hey all,

Hopefully I will be starting Econ this October and I just wanted to ask those who have been there or are studying there how they think the best way if gaining from lectures is.

Personally what I have planned is to takes rough but extensive notes as he speaks and then soon after the lecture just put all that info into a neat concise but comprehensive notebook to which I can refer to for learning/revising, because I can't revise from rough scraps of paper taken in lectures.

Is this a good idea ?

What works best for you ?

I find it's a great idea to invest in a voice recorder of some kind, so that you can record the lecturer just in case you miss something. You can then put the recordings on your computer as a record of what the lectures were about.

A further thing I would recommend if you are using electronic records is to divide the records up by year (say Uni year 1) and then by subject and module (for me that would be History --->, Europe in Turmoil, Rise of the Persecuting Society, The Historic Environment, Myths of the Medieval and Early Modern World) - that way you can place all of your stuff in organised files which are easy to locate for future use .

Lastly, consider using this site here:- https://www.dropbox.com/ - it basically allows you to save some of your current folders/electronic copies on an external hard-drive (I'm not too tech-savvy but I think that's how it works) by creating a folder on your computer where you can copy all the stuff you want to back-up. When you've done that, it automatically uploads it to the site and so you've got a backup of your work - invaluable in case of the odd PC crash or whatever.

Oh yeah, one last (promise!) thing - when revision time comes around, one thing that I do is get all of my relevant notes from over the year, and photo-copy them, when I've got all the copies of the relevant lecture notes, I then staple 'em all together so I've got a "Revision pack" as it were, of the particular subject.

I think that's it!

[MV=PT]

(Original post by .ACS.)
Often you will have an idea of the topic to be covered in the upcoming lecture, and also you will have already been given the lecture slides and some relevant reading. What I found most helpful was to actually read the slides and the extra reading beforehand, so I had an idea of what was going on during the lecture. This meant the lecture was more of a consolidation process, since it was just reinforcing what I'd already learnt, and if anything was expanded on during the lecture, I had a better idea of what the lecturer was talking about.

The reason I think it's vital to do prep work before lectures is because you quickly realise that, actually, so much content is covered in that one hour session. The lecturer just skims over the topic, focusing on the key elements, and expanding in some cases beyond the set reading.

Also it's impossible to take notes of everything that is being said in the lecture and absorb it at the same time. So if you have an idea of the content, then you only need to take down notes of the key elements of the lecture, and any worked examples.

The best approach I've found to learning at university:
- Read the lecture slides and extra reading before the lecture, and make notes from these
- Attend the lecture, and take down notes of new ideas/content covered or emphasises elements
- Go over the notes from the lecture to absorb the content
- Go over the notes made from the lecture slides and the extra reading
- Amalgamate both sets of handmade notes into a single set for when it comes to revision

It definitely takes up a fair amount of time, but if you can keep on top of things, it'll be a godsend come exam time.

Thnx, all you have been very helpful,

As for ACS, I can make notes from lecture slides and materials as you say but one major problem is notes from lectures, at best I will be able to scribble down everything he says into my notes but this will be very rough and it isnt something I will be able to revise from. Who can revise from 5-6 sheets of scrap notes, which is why I need your opinions on this tactic of rewriting scrap lecture notes into a neat concise folder.


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[Sapphire_Eyes]

Sit somewhere where you wont be distracted. I found sitting at the front where I could listen clearly to the lecturer the best place for me.

Work smart afterwards, read book chapters afterwards to gain the insight.
Print off lecture slides and write up neatly. I didnt do this, wish I did but I repeatly re-wrote latin names when needed which helped so much.

Record the lectures which has been said before so wont go into detail. Dont have phone on, and you'll be fine on paper/pen to laptop it's worked for years before, its fine now and actually distracts some people and lecturers.

Keep time back for working on coursework. Read up afterwards of lecture notes in order to keep it fresh just incase of a lovely spontaneous quiz which does happen!

Go to every lecture as well. Sounds stupid and I missed 2 (1 been ill and 1 due to behervement ) but my lecturers go on about anyone missing any and your grades do go down, plus your paying for it so if needs be you can ask your lecturer something on the day about the subject so you dont miss out, some are actually very strict on your attendance as well (mine was more then 3 without sufficient evidence and you got kicked off the module its not fair espicially with all the effort they go to to provide students with up to date evidence and some subjects are very hard going as well.

[.ACS.]

(Original post by MV=PT)
As for ACS, I can make notes from lecture slides and materials as you say but one major problem is notes from lectures, at best I will be able to scribble down everything he says into my notes but this will be very rough and it isnt something I will be able to revise from. Who can revise from 5-6 sheets of scrap notes, which is why I need your opinions on this tactic of rewriting scrap lecture notes into a neat concise folder.

It seems you didn't quite understand what I was getting at.

The simple truth is, if you're taking down six pages of notes from your lecture and writing down every word/thought he says, you just aren't learning intelligently. You need to be able to process during the lecture what is important, what isn't, and also what you already know and so don't need to write down.

Hence why you do prep before the lecture. If you make notes before the lecture from lecture slides, reading material, and so on, then come the lecture, you shouldn't even need to take note of half of what is said. The lecture will just be a recap of what you should have learnt, with maybe the odd extension on a specific point which you can obviously take note of.

Further, when actually reading lecture slides, the textbook, and supplementary reading such as journal articles, it's vital you read 'intelligently', and by that I mean you don't simply learn EVERYTHING but ensure you are learning topics that are specific to your module. Often a textbook chapter will cover certain things that you don't need to know, or when a lecturer provides journal articles of supplementary reading, you'll only need to know specific things within the article, and not the entire thing.

Also, I'm doing Economics. I've just finished my third year and am starting a Masters in it in October, so speak from experience. Out of interest, where are you doing your degree?

[MV=PT]

(Original post by .ACS.)
It seems you didn't quite understand what I was getting at.

The simple truth is, if you're taking down six pages of notes from your lecture and writing down every word/thought he says, you just aren't learning intelligently. You need to be able to process during the lecture what is important, what isn't, and also what you already know and so don't need to write down.

Hence why you do prep before the lecture. If you make notes before the lecture from lecture slides, reading material, and so on, then come the lecture, you shouldn't even need to take note of half of what is said. The lecture will just be a recap of what you should have learnt, with maybe the odd extension on a specific point which you can obviously take note of.

Further, when actually reading lecture slides, the textbook, and supplementary reading such as journal articles, it's vital you read 'intelligently', and by that I mean you don't simply learn EVERYTHING but ensure you are learning topics that are specific to your module. Often a textbook chapter will cover certain things that you don't need to know, or when a lecturer provides journal articles of supplementary reading, you'll only need to know specific things within the article, and not the entire thing.

Also, I'm doing Economics. I've just finished my third year and am starting a Masters in it in October, so speak from experience. Out of interest, where are you doing your degree?

Thanks, your advice has been helpful.

LSE hopefully

Where are you doing your masters and what type of industry are you looking to go into ?