Taking Notes in Biology

[Mission Medical]

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Would it be a bad idea to not take notes for my human physiology and biochemistry courses next semester? It tends to take me too long to do my work if I'm not just reading but also taking notes, and that just discourages me, so I end up getting through less material than I would have if I just did the reading and questions at the end of the chapter.

 

[Noggin]

Would it be a bad idea to not take notes for my human physiology and biochemistry courses next semester? It tends to take me too long to do my work if I'm not just reading but also taking notes, and that just discourages me, so I end up getting through less material than I would have if I just did the reading and questions at the end of the chapter.

It really depends on the way that your school teaches the science courses. At my school the teachers tend to lecture off of slides. They also happen to post the slides online. So in theory you never need to go to class because you have the slides on your computer at home. I never ever took notes and just studied the slides and I did fine. Certain teachers like to say things that aren't necessarily on the slides. In that case, I would print out the slides ahead of time and take notes directly on them during the lecture.

 

[ace12345]

Definitely depends on the school/class.

I liked to take notes on a laptop, which both made me a much faster typist and allowed me to get almost everything that happened in class down.

 

[Euxox]

It sounds to me that the OP is talking about taking notes on the readings. It really depends on your learning style. Personally, I find that taking notes on readings is helpful for classes that are heavy on memorization. When test time comes around, I have a very condensed reference with important relationships clearly marked and emphasized and it makes studying a great deal easier. For more concept based classes, I tend to skip the notes and jump right into practice problems.

 

[lobo.solo]

Yeah, it depends. In general writing notes unto the slides and study those will cover you pretty good if your professor doesn't test you from the book.

 

[SnakeOilForSale]

Most science professors at my school just use the powerpoints that came with the textbook, and personally I found it too tedious to take textbook notes when I had taken Anatomy and Physiology. There's just a mass of information that is better served as read and reread, rather than taking the time to catalog it all. YMMV though, as it all depends on your particular leaning style.