tape recorders

[wjin06]

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sorry if this is a bit off topic, but how useful is it to tape record lectures in college? did anyone try that?

 

[pyra]

Unless you are a slow note taker, do you really want to listen to your professor for 2 hours say the same thing? I think you can better spend your time on studying your notes.

 

[Medikit]

I tried it in college, but it was really difficult to listen to the voice through the tape recorder because the lecture hall had a loud background noise. I stopped using it because my notes improved to the point where they were practically verbatim. I wrote down the anecdotes and everything, and my study partner loved it, because when we studied she said it was like having the lecture all over again.

 

[Scubadoc]

sorry if this is a bit off topic, but how useful is it to tape record lectures in college? did anyone try that?

I tried it for awhile but it was pretty much useless. I found that sometimes I would not pay as much attention as I should when I had that recorder on. Also, listening back through the lectures was so boring that I just ended up with a bunch of tapes sitting in my car.

 

[Luminous_1]

I think it gets handy if your your professor covers a lot of material in limited time. When I used recorder, it was useful but listening to the whole lecture again was pretty time-consuming.

 

[flighterdoc]

I tried it for awhile but it was pretty much useless. I found that sometimes I would not pay as much attention as I should when I had that recorder on. Also, listening back through the lectures was so boring that I just ended up with a bunch of tapes sitting in my car.

Just for test reviews, perhaps.

Develop good note taking skills - for instance, learn to print, quickly (it's faster and more legible than cursive writing). Write on only one side of a sheet of paper (you can use the opposite side (back of the previous page?) for additional info from books, etc. Use a pen, pencils smuge.

You might consider reading "What Smart Students Know" by Robinson, for more tips. He has some interesting ideas, he was the co-founder of TPR (The Princeton Review).

 

[kaikai128]

First of all, my school had a streamline recording system that automatically recorded all lectures and put them on the web for students who wanted to review them or missed class. You may want to see if this is something that your school has/is going to have.

For me, re-listening to the lecture really was not effective study time. However, there were times when teachers spoke too fast and everyone in my normal study group had poor notes. For these classes, the four of us would take turns re-listening to the lectures and typing up the notes as a dictation--we would waste only 1/4 of the time with the re-listening (if we determined we needed to re-listen to all of the lectures)...and it did prove to be somewhat helpful in certain classes.

That being said, overall there are more effective study mechanisms. 90% of the time or more...between the three or four of us that studied together, we had all of the notes from the lectures covered and could put it together by meeting for an hour a week or so.

 

[curlycity]

I did this for one summer class, Cell Biology, a ton of information in six weeks. I'd go to class in the morning and then listen to it again at the gym that afternoon, going over the notes one more time. It just sunk in a lot better that way. And I sped the tape up when I listened to it so it didn't take as long.

For sound quality, try asking the prof if you can just place your tape recorder on the base of the lectern or on the chalkboard behind him/her.

 

[mdsadler]

I have never really understood the concept of recording classes but sometimes I guess it could help. I guess it is because I really don't want to listen to a muffled version of my profs boring voice and spend that extra time when I could be reading the text or reviewing my notes. I find that the fewest sources I have to study from the easier.

Anyway is there any chance that you have an iPod? I was looking at the iPod voice recorder attachment that you can buy and I listened to a sound demo they had. It sounds very good. If you sit near the front with it you would be able to hear things clearly.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Yeah, just try to focus on listening during lecture. With a recorder on, you'll get the I can always listen later attitude which is pretty bad.

 

[bigdan]

I found it to be non-productive.

In a related note, a fella in my Orgo II class brought his tripod and VIDEOTAPED the lecture while he peacefully slept.

dc

 

[BubbleBobble]

A lot of college classes are videotaped, so if you miss a point, you can go check out the tape and watch it again.

A far more efficient thing to do is to read the lecture material beforehand so that you can focus more and write fewer notes.