[WalterBright]

> Doesn't the lecturer give out notes ahead of time?

Sometimes. But the thing about taking the notes by hand is it fixes it in your memory. Glancing over pre-printed notes just does not work (at least for me). I still have the pre-printed handouts on Special Relativity from Ph2, and I never quite understood it.

It's sort of like reading a programming language spec. I think I understand it, but trying to implement it shows I didn't understand squat.

[lugged]

I'm dyslexic, lecturers talk to fast for me to notetske anything other than utter scribbles in the margins. That's why I like have the slides in advance I can add to them as I listen. Actively listening is how I do most of my learning, I didnt really reread notes (much) or do any extra study before exams. (Again, dyslexia put me off reading (for a long time) although I did manage to read some textbooks ok but it took a lot)