Note taking for biology and chemistry: handwritten or typed?

[tdod]

So, I usually do chem notes by hand, now thinking about typing.

For biology and for chemistry, does anyone have experience with typing notes? If you have experience with both note-taking types, do you think the speed gained with typing is better than the flexibility from handwriting?

Thanks.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[MaenadsDance]

I take notes by hand, then type them up. Taking notes by hand is a little slower, but laptops are often heavy and also valuable, and therefore inconvenient to tote around. I type up my notes because it's neater and it cements the information.

 

[UPPremed]

Definitely plan to take notes by hand. Bio and Chem both contain many topics that a quick drawn diagram will be more valuable than typed notes. Leave typed notes for classes that do not use illustrations.

 

[Renaissance Man]

Definitely plan to take notes by hand. Bio and Chem both contain many topics that a quick drawn diagram will be more valuable than typed notes. Leave typed notes for classes that do not use illustrations.

This.

But also, most people don't have the will-power to ignore Facebook and SDN on their laptops during class. I know that I don't, so I just leave the laptop at home and use hand-written notes for everything.

 

[Josh7]

For chemistry I think you have to take notes by hand because the professor goes over practice problems in class or draws a lot of diagrams.

With biology I think you can get away with taking notes on a laptop but I still prefer taking notes by hand since I feel like I remember the information better. As said above, typing your notes up in the evening is also a good option for remembering the material

 

[Ashley1989]

I do both. My Chem And bio professors post the lectures online. I download the PowerPoints and then as they lecture on a slide I will create a text box and take notes on the slide as its being discussed and then save it. Then when it's written explanations as in equations I write it down and if i really feel like staying organized I will sometimes snap a picture of the work and create a new slide and put the picture in there. It sounds like a lot but with practice I've become quite efficient haha

 

[AdrianVeidt]

I hand write notes in every class, not quite sure why seeing as I have a laptop and regularly bring it to school with me. In classes where the teacher gives out powerpoints, I find it extremely useful to print out the powerpoint (3 slides per page outline) and hand write notes on that.

 

[MaenadsDance]

I hand write notes in every class, not quite sure why seeing as I have a laptop and regularly bring it to school with me. In classes where the teacher gives out powerpoints, I find it extremely useful to print out the powerpoint (3 slides per page outline) and hand write notes on that.

I love it when the professors do that, it makes it so much easier to listen to what the prof is saying when you're not furiously transcribing slides.

 

[Josh7]

I love it when the professors do that, it makes it so much easier to listen to what the prof is saying when you're not furiously transcribing slides.

Also makes it possible to take notes before class and just focus on listening to the lecture during class and make sure you're understanding practice problems.

 

[funtertaining15]

For me, and this is just my opinion, but I tend to memorize more when I hand write notes. I never understood how people could type notes in class, but I guess it varies. As tech savvy as I am sometimes, I'm old-fashioned when it comes to taking notes and studying. One of my professors told us that there was a statisitc that proved hand written notes are more efficient when it comes to studying. If you're a really tech savvy person, go for it. If you read books on tablets and whatnot, maybe typed notes are for you. If you're like me, and prefer to read books in print rather than on a screen, maybe you're better off writing them down. It's a hassle to bring your computer to class, especially if you don't have a small laptop. At my school, a lot of my professors don't even allow you to bring laptops to class unless you're taking notes, but from what I've witnessed, only a handful of people actually take notes on their computers.

 

[wjs010]

Definitely by hand. Typing is faster, but I'll give you a technique for by hand that makes it faster and even more engaging so you remember it even better:

I did this and aced physiology. Write your notes in your own words. Listen to what your teacher says and literally simultaneously write it down in your own words. The goal is to make the info as concise as possibly. It's sort of like that saying that if you can recall the information verbally or teach it to someone, you really know it.

 

[lobo.solo]

Usually by hand. I download the the ppt. and write on them while in lecture. As someone else pointed out, I usually write the explanations in my own words, that makes it stick in my head and its easier for me to recall it latter. For problem solving classes that don't have ppt. I take notes by hand because it's easier and faster--for me at least.

 

[Ansar]

Chemistry is definitely with paper.
- Gen Chem has worked out examples, with means math, which means unless you're an expert with Word's formula writing program, or with LaTeX, you're gonna fall behind with the computer
- Ochem is similar. Unless you're an expert with ChemDraw, and can do the rxn mechanisms and draw the structures as quickly as you would on paper, go with paper.

Biology
- Haven't had much experience with it (only one course down so far), but paper was our only option (professor didn't allow laptops -- deemed it too distracting)

 

[Blaughable]

I was always a big fan of trying to do my notes on my laptop. Never worked

Chemistry: Equations ruin note taking on a laptop, once you have to start inserting deltas and other greek letters it just becomes a pain to copy and paste them or to constantly bring up the insert keyboard.

Biology: There's too many things that could use a picture. And unless you're a beast on a track pad, sketches on your laptop are going to look like chicken scratch. Also, it's just annoying that spell check programs don't have 85% of the words you use in class.

Orgo: Mine was entirely computer based which I actually loved. Can't imagine handwriting all those mechanisms/structures.

On top of that I just never retained information the same way if I typed it. I think I heard it has something to do with the fact that we learned to write by hand first and so we make stronger connections that way. It may be just a few more years before kids stop writing by hand and typing will be the stronger way to learn things.

Now if you have a stylus, go for it! I'm always jealous when I see people hand writing their notes on their tablets.

 

[Atlas Shrugged]

By hand. I've noticed I don't retain information as well when I type in class.

 

[lucitrea]

if i had to choose one, id go with handwriting. sometimes i do end up writing absent mindedly and not listening to the teacher so thats bad.

I load ppts on my ipad and write on them with a stylus with notability. if i dont get ppts (some of my teachers were like this), id just hilight the book and write notes in the margins.

 

[Praefectus]

I hand-write my notes in all of my classes because it sticks better for some reason. It's also much easier and faster to draw diagrams/pictures.