Various College Student questions

[niccig]

I know a few people here are back in school or teach at universities. I'm after any tips or advice you may have. This is what I'm trying to work out:

How to carry everything?

I have a lot of heavy stuff. On Tu/Thur I have 2 classes with a 4 hour gap in between, and I'll work in the library. I have 4 heavy textbooks, 2" binder (might need to split into 2 binders if it won't all fit), lunch bag, and I might start to take the computer. There's a lot of readings online in PDFs and I would like to avoid printing them all out, if I can get used to reading online. I have another 2 classes but I think I won't study those on these days, so I don't have to bring those folders and textbooks.

I'm thinking a rolling backpack might be better.

How to incorporate readings and lecture notes into one outline without rewriting?

A couple of professors advise in the syllabus to make one outline of lecture notes and notes from the readings. Assessment is on all of the material. I use the Cornell system for taking lecture notes and it works for me. I can take separate notes for the readings, but I do not want to have to rewrite anything to make one outline. I can see that typing up notes would help, but I'm still old school with my lecture notes. Plus both professors insist on you doing the reading BEFORE the lecture, and you get quizzed on the readings in the lecture (one professor grades those questions.).

Rewriting notes doesn't work for me. I prefer to read over my notes, add in material to clarify content. Then I'll either draw pictures or concept maps or make lists (eg. I have running list of definitions, measurements etc). I find if I learn the definitions first, then it's easier for me to learn the rest of the content in the lecture notes. If it's something I need to memorize eg. If have list of 15 things, I'll write it out several times, walk around saying it, go over it when on eliptical etc.

I only do flash cards for certain things. So, I'm against rewriting reading notes + lecture notes into one outline.

Thanks, and if you have any other tips that have served you well, please pass them on.

[mytwosons]

I don't know if this is what you are after, but my boss just bought a cool "toy" at Best Buy. It's a pen that you can connect to your computer and then upload everything you have written. You need to use a special notebook they sell for it. Sorry, I don't know the name off-hand, but I bet someone at Best Buy would know what it is called.

[o_mom]

I'm not sure I'm following completely, but if you are doing the reading notes first, can you write them with extra space, between lines/sections? Then when you are in the lecture, add the lecture notes in the spaces.

[Green_Tea]

I am in grad school right now. I don't being any of my textbooks to class with me, and didn't as a ugrad either. Usually there is assigned reading from texts that is to be done at home, and the lectures compliment it. So you might not need to lug those around.

[hellokitty]

I don't know how feasible it is for you, but I would avoid carrying text books. I'd keep them in your car, and get them in btwn classes if needed.

[weech]

I just finished grad school (literally, like a week ago), and your classes sound way harder than any of my grad or undergrad :D My personal style is to use a laptop. If you type your outline while doing the assigned reading at home, leave your book at home and bring your laptop to class. Then open the same document and take lecture notes as you go. It's all in one place.

Hope you find something that works for you!

[wendibird22]

Does your campus have any type of commuter lounge with storage space? We have a room with lockers that students can reserve. Otherwise I'd probably do the rolling backpack. I can also highly recommend the VB laptop backpack. It holds a ton of stuff. But, I think fully stuffed it would be heavy.

For notes, I guess I'd type them. Type up reading notes and then take the laptop to class and and in your lecture notes in the appropriate spaces. I've also known people to write reading notes on the left hand page and the lecture notes on the right hand page in the corresponding areas to what's on the left side. Or if simply an outline with terms or short phrases I've seen students fold a page in half portrait way and basically do the same as above only obviously with less detail because the space is small. But this is a way to get it all on one page view. And if this is an outline for quick study you don't need as much detail as the rest of your notes which would contain more content.

[ellies mom]

I have a rolling bag. I used it in nursing school and honestly I hated it. I had a Swiss Army one that came with a laptop case. I do actually love the laptop case and considering how many cases I went through to get one I love, I consider it money well spent even if I never touch the rolling bag again.

My nursing program heavily relied on the on-line classes software (Blackboard) so almost everything we needed was on-line. Docs To Go is a mobile app that lets you read (and edit to a certain extent) office documents and PDFs. I had it on my iTouch and used it all the time. I would put the pdfs we needed to read and unit outlines on there, as well a random stuff I wanted to refer to. Most of my instructors used powerpoint and would give us access to the slides ahead of time. I liked to print them up and write my notes directly on the paper.

We had a few people that had netbooks and laptops for taking notes but that doesn't really work well for me so I stuck to taking notes by hand.

[bubbaray]

I never used flashcards, but I did use course outlines extensively in law school. Um, yeah, often passed down from people in years ahead.

Anyway, I did re-write/type my lecture notes into the outline. I used a different font (italics? Its been nearly 2 decades, LOL) for the lecture notes, then different font yet again for my reading notes.

I'd probably skip taking my textbooks, though it sounds like you have 4hrs to study so you need them?? If you do, I would use a rolling backpack and a neoprene laptop sleeve or somesort of thin protective sleeve that could be tucked into the backpack.

[mamalia]

To lug lots of textbooks and my laptop I found a rolling laptop case worked best. I got a Samsonite one from either Costco or Sams that had three large areas for my things.
Personally, I *hate* rolling bags so whenever I can, I try to just use a tote for my books and a sleeve for my laptop.

For notetaking, I love, love, love OneNote. So much so that we plan on dual loading windows on my apple just because I don't think apple's option compares. You can highlight material using shortcut keys (yellow, green, pink highlights with the stroke of a key), you can flag material the same way (stars, exclamation points, etc), and then you can search by those different highlights/flags. Your material is searchable, which really helps for exam prep. You can upload powerpoint lectures and type in them real time. You can share notes with classmates. You have options on how to organize, and your info visually appears like notebooks/ filing cabinet files. I actually like retyping my material into outlines because it helps with memorization, but you could easily cut and paste. It does have a pen feature but I find it cumbersome with my laptop touchpad or even with my external mouse. If you take lots of handwritten notes for math equations or diagrams and want to keep all material electronically, an ipad or a tablet pc would probably be more helpful.

When I did take paper based notes, I would fold the notebook sheet in half vertically and take lecture notes on the left side. After class or during exams I would write supplemental info on the right hand side in a different color/ highlight the key material there for studying.

[rin]

I finished my MS a few years ago and have taught a handful of undergrad classes/TAed grad classes (I'm currently working on my dissertation).

Carrying everything

For both grad/undergrad classes I never bring my textbook to class unless it's explicitly requested, and I never expect my students to have their books unless I've explicitly indicated before class that we'll be using them in class. If your professors DO require the textbook, of course, that's a different story, but I'd check to see if you actually do need it.

If you need the textbook to study at the library, you might try checking to see if the library has reserve copies. Many universities keep several copies of assigned textbooks on reserve so that students can use them in the library.

You might also check to see if there's an online/kindle version of your textbook; that way you could bring a laptop and use the online version if you need to reference it during class.

Notes

If you do want to make one outline of all your notes, I'd try leaving blank space in between your notes from the readings so that you can fill in the lecture notes when needed.

However, unless you're being graded on the notes, I'd also consider whether the recommended system works for you or will be creating more work without much benefit. Every note taking system works for some students and not for others. I personally have never created a single outline with notes from the readings + lecture. (I'm also old-school about my notes, and take them all by hand. I use one notebook for each class and date/label the notes from a reading, then follow them with the dated & labeled notes from the corresponding lecture, etc. It works for me.)

[swissair81]

Wish I could help. My classroom is either my couch or my bed. My lectures are written out or on video (and when I took classes, I literally wrote down every relevant word out of the instructor's mouth).

[larig]

I'd leave books at home, or if I needed something from them I'd scan or take pictures of the pages that I needed--I really hate carrying things.

[SnuggleBuggles]

However, unless you're being graded on the notes, I'd also consider whether the recommended system works for you or will be creating more work without much benefit. Every note taking system works for some students and not for others. I personally have never created a single outline with notes from the readings + lecture. (I'm also old-school about my notes, and take them all by hand. I use one notebook for each class and date/label the notes from a reading, then follow them with the dated & labeled notes from the corresponding lecture, etc. It works for me.)

Yeah, do you really need to change your systems? You've gotten this far with whatever note strategy you have been using and I imagine you have a pretty good thing going with it.

Beth

[niccig]

Thanks everyone. Yesterday was my first day and I took the textbooks for those classes (one professor requests it), but I left them in my car, which is parked close to where I have my classes. I got them when needed and carried them in a tote. So I had two bags. And it wasn't too bad to carry them that way. I was balanced with a bag on each arm.

I'm going to buy a smaller lunch bag, so it'll also fit in the tote. I have a lot of reading to do for all my classes, and I'll try to structure my time to do as much as possible at home, so I don't need to take my laptop, or the books much.

I'm going to try this for a while and see if it'll work out. I know roller bags can be annoying and when you do need to lift them, it'll be heavy. DH said he would give me a new bag for my upcoming birthday, so I'll decide by then if it's a necessary purchase or not.

As for the reading and lecture notes, I think I will continue how I've been doing them. I'll experiment with leaving space or writing on the back side of the page etc, to have it all together. I can see how typing everything out would help as it could easily be incorporated, but I'm not ready to change how I do my notes that drastically. The livescribe pen that lets you wrote and then convert into a document, is appealing, but again maybe it isn't needed.

I think I got caught up in the back to school needs, and I might just not need those things after all. It's a new way for DH and I, wait and see if we need something or if there's another option.

[pb&j]

If you have a Kindle, you can send/move PDFs to it and read them from there.

[eh613c]

I just finished grad school (literally, like a week ago), and your classes sound way harder than any of my grad or undergrad :D My personal style is to use a laptop. If you type your outline while doing the assigned reading at home, leave your book at home and bring your laptop to class. Then open the same document and take lecture notes as you go. It's all in one place.

Hope you find something that works for you!

:yeahthat:

That's what did for both of my grad studies. It really helped and very efficient.