Otago HSFY chat - archive

[AmyT]

I was just wondering what people take to lectures normally - do people take a folder and refill and transfer these notes to something else later, or do people just type on laptops? Thanks

 

[skyglow1]

I was just wondering what people take to lectures normally - do people take a folder and refill and transfer these notes to something else later, or do people just type on laptops? Thanks

The majority of people use refill/exercise books. Only a small proportion use laptops. I used a laptop because I can type faster than I can write, so it's easier to get the information down. It also allowed me to record lectures when no audio recording was available on blackboard.

 

[skyglow1]

Hi there.
What's the best general paper to take in semester two, as in the easiest to achieve a high grade?
In Auckland everyone takes the economics paper. Is it the same for Otago?

Also I heard that in Auckland, the tests leading up the the final exams are also worth marks. Does Otago do this as well, or they simply to test where we at?

Thanks

Tests are worth marks throughout the semester. See greenglacier's recent post about a page or two back on the other thread for more information on how much the tests are worth.

 

[dalif110]

Hey ZL9685. I'm staying at Cumberland lol. Hopefully our floor won't be rowdy huh

 

[l0lita]

Question: Does it matter if you get a textbook one edition older than the one on the textbook list? Thanks

 

[OUSchweiz]

Hey, I was wondering do lecture slides only come up after lectures or what? and if so, how soon after lectures do they come up?
Thanks

 

[Cathay]

Hmmm... Course approval was quicker than I thought - got to IBS at 0910 when the line was still growing, got to an adviser at 0945 and was in the ID card line by 0950 (funny how all the most important business only took 5 minutes)... Size of the line appeared to have reached equilibrium at around 1000... Visited the bookshop afterwards to pick up the latest Biological Physics and the second edition of Essential Epidemiology (was a bit of a bummer when they released the booklist - I had already got the first edition off trademe)...

I still don't appear to have access to Blackboard, and my PIMS timetable is rather empty - but I think it's just me and my impatience, lol...

 

[Bamboozle]

did you already have the chem guy's signature? cuz my mates and i were in the line real early but got sent somewhere else cuz apparently we needed initials to say we passed lvl 3 chem... got in the id place at around 1030, only to find that my name was entered funny on the computers so i have to come back on monday.
apparently timetables are out on friday on pims. not impressed. i need way more than 2 nights to get things sorted...

 

[Cathay]

Nah I was at the check-in place panicking when the check-in lady went to have long discussions about the issue of chem signatures (lots of people got sent back by castle apparently - so one of the advisers came over to sign all of those people's chems for them) - then I was told I didn't need one, and the adviser I went to (after that check-in delay) signed my chem so all was well afterwards. ^_^

It would appear that I joined the line at the right time - any earlier and I may have fallen victim to the chem signature hiccup... (So it turned out to be a good thing that I got lost when I first went into the ISB and walked in through the doors on Cumberland St, turned right for some reason and walked out onto Albany St before coming all the way around to enter via the door by The Link, saw the signs and joined the line...)

 

[Twads]

laptop notes note taking.

The majority of people use refill/exercise books. Only a small proportion use laptops. I used a laptop because I can type faster than I can write, so it's easier to get the information down. It also allowed me to record lectures when no audio recording was available on blackboard.

How did you get around battery usage using laptop in lectures? Did you have any trouble with this? Were there power points or was your battery able to last say a 2 hr lecture?

Also what program did you use for notes or do you know of any good programs for note taking on a Mac?

I have found a possible good note program called curio but I need to upgrade my operating system for it to work. Looks solid. Other best solution I have found that is apparently similar to OneNote for PC is View>Notebook view in MS Office Word.

https://www.zengobi.com/products/curio/

If anyone else knows of a good note taking system for Macs please share, I haven't used a computer for notes before but can certainly type faster than I can write so would like to take notes on computer.

 

[Cathay]

As far as I know our HSFY lectures are only 50 minutes long (good news for battery life), and I doubt that there'd be power points available for us in the lecture theatres, so I'd say that perhaps charging at one of the libraries inbetween lectures would be a solution?

I'm in a dilemma myself in terms of what I'll take notes with - at about 90 WPM I can type much faster than I can write (good for catching every last word if the lectures have a fast pace), but I don't think I can pay attention at the same level if I had a computer in front of me, and there is the issue of distractions with computers, for instance, a dialogue box can pop up unexpectedly in the middle of typing something, and dealing with it (so typing can resume) would consume time and divert attention... So I guess I have a question for the past HSFYers: is there going to be massive amounts of examinable information not covered by slides being thrown at us (verbally) at a rate that would make an average-to-somewhat-fast writer struggle to keep up? If not, I personally think I might be better off sticking to my handwritten notes - especially since I have, in the past, had a tendency to remember much more of what the teacher said than what I wrote down... One of my ideas (which currently looks to be a good one) is to take notes on refill, then go to the library afterwards to go through, add more from memory if need be, and type them up (incorporating any info from the slide not on the handwritten notes) to be a good set of digital notes which aren't made frantically in a lecture environment...

 

[Twads]

Yeah, was more concerned if there was a few lectures in a row. But yeah I am sure there will be opportunities to re-charge as you say, library between lectures.

Agreed distractions from the computer could be an issue, I guess I will give it a go and if it isn't working switch back to written notes. I am assuming by what I have read in older posts that most of the pertinent information will be contained on the slides or otherwise alluded to by the lecturers, so the notes taken in a lecture would be more to extend the understanding of what is on the slides based on what the lecturer is saying.

Typed notes also raises the problem of digital storage and a chance of losing notes if you don't have a good system of backing up. Have to be on top of that.

 

[Deleted member 4350]

How did you get around battery usage using laptop in lectures? Did you have any trouble with this? Were there power points or was your battery able to last say a 2 hr lecture?

Also what program did you use for notes or do you know of any good programs for note taking on a Mac?

I have found a possible good note program called curio but I need to upgrade my operating system for it to work. Looks solid. Other best solution I have found that is apparently similar to OneNote for PC is View>Notebook view in MS Office Word.

https://www.zengobi.com/products/curio/

If anyone else knows of a good note taking system for Macs please share, I haven't used a computer for notes before but can certainly type faster than I can write so would like to take notes on computer.

I used a laptop for note taking during HSFY. There are power sockets on the seats closest to the walls at the front and back of St Davids theatre (where you'll have like 80% of your lectures)

 

[skyglow1]

As far as I know our HSFY lectures are only 50 minutes long (good news for battery life), and I doubt that there'd be power points available for us in the lecture theatres, so I'd say that perhaps charging at one of the libraries inbetween lectures would be a solution?

I'm in a dilemma myself in terms of what I'll take notes with - at about 90 WPM I can type much faster than I can write (good for catching every last word if the lectures have a fast pace), but I don't think I can pay attention at the same level if I had a computer in front of me, and there is the issue of distractions with computers, for instance, a dialogue box can pop up unexpectedly in the middle of typing something, and dealing with it (so typing can resume) would consume time and divert attention... So I guess I have a question for the past HSFYers: is there going to be massive amounts of examinable information not covered by slides being thrown at us (verbally) at a rate that would make an average-to-somewhat-fast writer struggle to keep up? If not, I personally think I might be better off sticking to my handwritten notes - especially since I have, in the past, had a tendency to remember much more of what the teacher said than what I wrote down... One of my ideas (which currently looks to be a good one) is to take notes on refill, then go to the library afterwards to go through, add more from memory if need be, and type them up (incorporating any info from the slide not on the handwritten notes) to be a good set of digital notes which aren't made frantically in a lecture environment...

I wouldn't say massive amounts of verbal material, but there is definitely some stuff that the lecturer says that's not on the slides. The best example I can think of is HUBS, where some lecturers like to have slides that only have a diagram or picture on them and no words, and then they talk about the slide. In these situations I found it helpful to be able to type at a fairly quick pace to catch every word. If I didn't catch every word, I used the lecture recordings to tease out the exact wording (Onenote has that awesome but non-obvious feature of seeking to the right part of the recording when you click on a word you typed during that part of the recording). Another frequent example where verbal material becomes important is when the lecturer puts short bullet points on their slide, and then elaborates on these points or gives an explanation for them verbally.

Recharging between lectures is not really feasible. Lectures can run further than 50 mins and you'll find it much easier just to stay in the same seat and wait for the next lecture. I'd either get an extra battery or use the power ports like koochkooch said.

Can't you get Microsoft office for Mac and use Onenote? I'm not familiar with Macs at all, but I think the students in my class are using the notebook view in Microsoft word.

Bit of a side note, I would advise against trying to frantically write or type down everything that's on the slides. All of that information can be taken off the slides on blackboard later. Spend the time in the lectures making sure you're really listening out for things said that are additional to the slides, and making sure you understand all the material.

 

[Ben]

but I don't think I can pay attention at the same level if I had a computer in front of me, and there is the issue of distractions with computers, for instance, a dialogue box can pop up unexpectedly in the middle of typing something, and dealing with it (so typing can resume) would consume time and divert attention...

A dialogue box such as MSN/Skype? Couldn't you just not connect to the internet?

 

[Cathay]

Thanks skyglow, so it seems to be a case of "use good discretion, but be prepared to write/type like hell", lol.

Also, for Twads' interests, I've just looked up Office for Mac and it seems to be a whole different beast to Office for PC, it seems to be more about similarity to, and compatibility with Office for PC, rather than being a full equivalent. In fact, it doesn't even have OneNote - just Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, and a few lesser-known bits and pieces.

A dialogue box such as MSN/Skype? Couldn't you just not connect to the internet?

Perhaps I've used the wrong term, but I meant more like if windows popped something up and asked me to do something, or like "Norton 360 has detected 4 Tracking Cookies that require your attention" (admittedly the latter can be prevented with Norton's Silent Mode).

For the reliability of digital storage Twads brought up, I could spend a minute manually getting Norton to back up my files to online storage (it does this automatically but not nearly regularly enough), and there's always the possibility of keeping USB drives on/with you to back stuff up regularly... But aside from reliability of storage, I can think of some pretty undesirable scenarios - windows freezing up, OneNote crashing, or windows update automatically restarting computer (usually it asks - but if I was busy typing notes, I may well click on "restart now" by mistake, or even just press enter without thinking) in the middle of a burst of verbal information... And yes, Murphy's Law dictates that it will happen >.<

Maybe it's the paranoia, but I think I'm going to stick to refill for starters - but will keep an open mind for change and improvement to my methods, including using a laptop if the pace picks up.

 

[skyglow1]

Another cool thing about Onenote is you never need to save your work because it automatically saves it for you after like every word you type! So crashing isn't a problem. Maybe run Windows 7 on a Mac and then use Onenote haha...or that's a bit overkill.

 

[greenglacier]

Personally I just wrote all my notes by hand. There's something nice about having all your notes for a paper in a couple of exercise books, written in your own hand. I never had an issue with missing a detail - on the occasion when I did fall behind the point the lecturer was making I made a note of it and listened to the relevant part of the podcast (but this really was rare). It's a nice thought to be able to write down everything the lecturer says word-for-word, but realistically you're never going to learn it all (nor would the lecturer expect you to!). Almost always if a lecturer wants you to learn a specific fact they'll put it on the slide. If they say something outside the slide it'll be to help explain a concept/point, in which case the exact details of the explanation aren't important.

 

[skyglow1]

Agreed. I just like having what the lecturer said word-for-word for reference, as it can be useful to clarify some vague bits. What's on the slide is most important, and then if you have time you can learn extra bits like what the lecturer said.

 

[aaa24]

Bit of a side note, I would advise against trying to frantically write or type down everything that's on the slides. All of that information can be taken off the slides on blackboard later. Spend the time in the lectures making sure you're really listening out for things said that are additional to the slides, and making sure you understand all the material.

Do people really write/type everything that's on the slides? That seems like a huge waste of time isn't that what printing the lecture slides is for? The only thing i can see any point of writing is, like you said, additional information that the lecturer says or to clarify a specific point. Then after that writing some good ol' final notes.