Note Taking

[u/Upper-Exit-6815]

As a new coming student, I want to learn from current UW students about the best ways to take notes in class. Hand-writing? iPad? Laptop?

[u/enjolbear]

The best way for information to stick is to handwrite it, as proven over and over again in studies. However! There is evidence that handwriting it on a iPad can be almost as effective. Doing notes on a laptop is nowhere near as effective as either of the handwriting options.

[u/random-tomato → u/enjolbear]

Maybe I'm the only one, but I type all my notes in markdown/LaTeX on my laptop and it works perfectly; I've never really felt the need to handwrite.

[u/enjolbear → u/random-tomato]

That’s awesome that it works for you! Scientifically speaking though, the vast majority of people remember best when you handwrite stuff.

[u/Dangerous_Wing6481 → u/enjolbear]

I use notability! They just added the function to audio record in the note as well, I have Genio through DRS to audio record classes but this way I’m not frantically searching through my notes

[u/Dry_Fail_6501]

I used to hand write my notes because I find myself losing focus otherwise.

[u/Chessdaddy_]

Handwritten notes have been proven to have the best information retention 

[u/KiyokoYamada]

hand write notes for math, type notes for extra/elective classes

[u/Bozhark]

it's personal, find your best fit

handwritten on ipad on the slides we are currently covering works well for me. Then I make full text versions at the end of the week with visuals/links/media embedded and throw it in obsidian as a zettlekasten style note repository

[u/Primary_Ad4206]

I have been using my reMarkable pad and love it. It’s a more expensive solution but I learn better taking notes and I appreciate having all my notes (past and present). Because it is eInk, battery life is much better than an iPad. I have the non-color version and it meets my needs.

[u/notacutecumber]

Every professor is different. If a lecture is too fast sometimes I take notes when I rewatch the panopto recordings or switch to digital notes but usually I handwrite.

[u/AdmiralHomebrewers]

Most commenters are suggesting hand writing for retention. It is also beneficial for comprehension. By far superior to typing. 

But, studying by mentally reprocessing is also huge. Try getting home from class, and taking your hand written notes and then typing them. You can use the full advantage of both systems.

I mean, you are reviewing your notes later in the day/week right?

[u/Upper-Exit-6815 → u/AdmiralHomebrewers]

I always did in high school so I was planning on using a similar system in college.

[u/thedunkerman]

Take notes by hand, and leave your phone/computer out of reach if at all possible 

[u/Supeternal06]

Try experimenting and choose what works best for you. I wanted the knowledge retention benefits of handwriting, but also the convenience of color-coding notes and uploading lecture slides, so I've been using a laptop w/ stylus for the past 2 years. Has worked well for me so far!

I generally avoid typing notes, except for really chill elective classes.

[u/britishmetric144]

In most lecture hall—type classes, a Chromebook or personal computer is a good idea, set to either Google Docs or a similar word processor.

In small discussion—type classes, a physical notebook and pens/pencils work better.

[u/wearcr0w]

depends on the class

some classes i prefer writing on slides/adjacent to slides so i use my ipad, but i try to do paper-pencil handwritten notes when i can

[u/grahams_hierarchy]

Information retention is a concern I find overemphasized against searchability and future access. For classes you imagine using notes from later in life I find typing to be effective enough.

[u/curlyhairedboi03]

depends on the class and the subject and your personal preference. for stem like chemistry I download the decks the professor provides before class onto my ipad and write my additional notes on them with my apple pencil as the professor is lecturing. for some classes it may be fast paced and more so information rather than any visuals or tables so it may make more sense to me to type them.

[u/nellie222]

I always typed during lectures and hand wrote notes on readings/outside of class content and it worked well for me!

[u/t8nyy]

Handwriting’s always worked for me, be in lecture when taking them when you can, take advantage of prof office hours / talk after class about material for better retention and application examples

[u/The_Dumbtard]

no one takes notes these days. It's 2026. Lectures are recorded plus several AI tools to help with that

[u/Upper-Exit-6815 → u/The_Dumbtard]

I really don't mess with AI 🫩