Hi, next semester I will be using a new IBook to help me with my in-class note taking at university. However, I have two science courses (Biology and Chemistry), I was wondering if any programs existed that make science-course based note-taking easier? As in, a way of inserting formulas and diagrams into a text-editor relatively quickly?
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University Note Taking Aps
- Thread starter THX
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The new office has a good note taking layout for word, but this is not useful for science classes. I have only ever seen one person use a computer to take notes in class in 4 years ( mechanical engineering major) and he was using a tablet PC. It is still far simpler and much faster to just take them by hand.
THX said:
may i suggest taking your time when you make your notes? sheesh. get a voice recorder and tape the lecture (with permission), then only take notes of important data (graphics, images, etc).
this is what i do. I have a nice voice recorder that records to compact flash. has a nice display that tells me how much time i have left to record and how much i have recorded. i then get out a notebook, and take sparse notes that i deem important, and then casually make a note in the margin of what time that particular note was taken (via the display on the recorder), that way i know exactly where to go to in the audio notes to see where it was mentioned.
as for using a computer for this stuff. good luck, you'd be better off selling the ibook and getting a tablet pc. there's no way of making drawings and other notes as quickly on a computer.
for anyone doing any OTHER kind of note taking. i recommend TiddlyWiki
http://www.tiddlywiki.com
Uh...
Best and really only solution I can think of is to type the notes out and keep a small tablet real close so you can quickly copy down the equations to be inserted later.
And no, there really is no program that allows for what you're doing...although I can see how a tablet pc would work quite nicely.
Best and really only solution I can think of is to type the notes out and keep a small tablet real close so you can quickly copy down the equations to be inserted later.
And no, there really is no program that allows for what you're doing...although I can see how a tablet pc would work quite nicely.
gallivant said:
all my professors put their notes online. i also voice record all lectures to a compact flash device. i barely take ANY notes. why? because i'm paying attention in class rather than taking notes. i only take very important notes, the rest are in audio .. see my previous post
I would recommend Circus Ponies Notebook which a very powerful app for notetaking. Just think of a digital advanced version of a common spiral notebook. You can insert your typed-notes, pictures, live audio recording, and any file you wish into your notes. Its really hard to explain it all, but one of its best features is its on-the-spot indexing, where it automatically creates all sort of indexes like by word, date, use of certain types of files, and more so you can find things in flash like with Tiger's Spotlight. The education license is $29.99 but you can try it out for an entire 30 days with a Fully-Functional demo, so you have nothing to lose but possibly everything to gain.
www.circusponies.com
www.circusponies.com
Yes you can take science notes with Word. It takes a while to format it correctly, but once you get the pattern down it isn't too much of a problem.
I would recommend taking notes by hand the first few times in class. Then while you are out of class use the notes to learn how to do the same thing in Word. Once you figure out how to do it, work on your speed to make it happen. If you need to insert an equation make a custom shortcut key so you can press it fast. Also know where certain equation functions are so you can easily in two or three clicks and in under a couple of seconds be ready to type things into what you have formatted.
For tables it takes getting used to as well. I have used my computer for foreign language and used tables. I then had a custom shortcut key for language switching. I highlighted a column and had one for the language I was studying and the other one for english. It was hard to get used to but once I got the pattern down, it was worth it.
A tablet would definitely work better for me but maybe not for others. I have really bad handwriting but I write anyway. Writing slowly makes a difference with legibility.
I would recommend taking notes by hand the first few times in class. Then while you are out of class use the notes to learn how to do the same thing in Word. Once you figure out how to do it, work on your speed to make it happen. If you need to insert an equation make a custom shortcut key so you can press it fast. Also know where certain equation functions are so you can easily in two or three clicks and in under a couple of seconds be ready to type things into what you have formatted.
For tables it takes getting used to as well. I have used my computer for foreign language and used tables. I then had a custom shortcut key for language switching. I highlighted a column and had one for the language I was studying and the other one for english. It was hard to get used to but once I got the pattern down, it was worth it.
A tablet would definitely work better for me but maybe not for others. I have really bad handwriting but I write anyway. Writing slowly makes a difference with legibility.