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Taking notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim (2019)

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Re: Taking notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim (2019)

#51

Post by yesenadam »

a_lost_needle wrote: post #34
jimhefferon wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forgive me, there is nothing to explain. I bring paper and pencil. Boring.

Take a look at what you do remember easily, and then game your note taking process, so that you add that stimulus/reward to your note taking. Maybe it's paper, maybe it's a computer, maybe it 's a fountain pen. Maybe you're like me and your retention is better if you're fully engaged and not taking notes. I see notes as some see a camera. You're so busy trying to transcribe what you're seeing, you're not fully compre…

The person you're addressing like they're 16 and asking for your guidance is a literal expert in their field(s). (See https://hefferon.net/ )

Re: Taking notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim (2019)

#52

Post by sharikous »

For quick self notes I use Markdown. I found most rendering engines support $math$ these days. Either that or pen-and-paper/tablet/remarkable.

Joplin is fantastic for creating and organizing references as long as you don't need advanced layouts. When you need them you can very quickly convert MD syntax to html or latex.

On a side note I always wonder who has the time of fine tuning uber-specialized text editor configuration at those levels. Not only that, but also having the burden of maintaining that and the inconvenience of being dependent on a very specific setup. I could see myself doing such an effort only after 4-5 years of daily use and friction.

Re: Taking notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim (2019)

#53

Post by salamandersauce »

axby wrote: post #21
salamandersauce wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An 11" Chromebook maybe? I'm done with classes as of last year but I just used pen & paper in all my schooling. I would rewrite my notes on a tablet after class though. It's more common to see people using iPads and Surfaces than when I first started.

I have heard that the latest chromebooks make it easier to switch into linux mode. I bought one a few years ago and had to go through some hacks to run linux, and every time I power it on, it would tell me to press space bar to "fix" everything and wipe the harddrive. Was the tablet not a good fit for real time handwriting? Is it a bit slower than pen and paper?

Linux is better supported on Chromebooks now. Some of them have been officially blessed by Google to do it so there shouldn't be any problems like that.

Haha it was fine for real time handwriting, I just did that because it forced me to go through my notes again and I felt like using a tablet may have been more distracting for me and other people.

Re: Taking notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim (2019)

#54

Post by whimsicalism »

axby wrote: post #14
whimsicalism wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting - once I got into a rythym I didn't find tex-ing live lectures actually that time consuming. I think it really depends on the field of math though, maybe? I also use a markdown + inline latex setup rather than tex from scratch.

I found it was relatively easy to type and tex everything that was written on the board. But I think my comprehension probably suffered a bit, though maybe that would have happened from using a pen and paper too.

Agreed - I ultimately just stopped taking notes.

Re: Taking notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim (2019)

#55

Post by kvakerok »

hwers wrote: post #13

I did this too for a while. It's a fun challenge for yourself and a cool way to brag to your friends. Paper is such a better interface though and real time latex takes away too much of your attention from the lecture I found in the end (the best way to attend a lecture is to barely write anything imo, just some rough notes while mostly spending your time in your head - if you missed something look at a friends' notes…

I end up doodling, which I found helps my thought process immensely.

Re: Taking notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim (2019)

#56

Post by vitus »

teruakohatu wrote: post #42
adamisntdead wrote: post #41

I'm currently a mathematics undergraduate at Cambridge and there's quite a few students who live type notes in various different formats. I think that the majority of the learning curve comes when getting used to the format of writing in LaTeX, and once you have that down (so that typing both prose and mathematics takes little to no effort) you can type notes faster than you can write them - with the small exception…

I am always in awe of people like you. I have no idea how someone can type \frac{}{} faster than I can draw a horizontal line (while listening to a lecturer), but I believe you. Meanwhile I use Onenote. I don't have to worry about keeping notes safe, or the stress of trying to type at warpspeed. I would go with a Remarkable tablet but now with subscription pricing it's a non starter.

My recollection is that the main speed advantage lay in being able to copy-paste the previous line when working through a derivation.

I live-LaTeXed notes for a couple of years in undergrad but eventually went back to pen + paper (approximately all my assignments continued to be typeset, though).

Re: Taking notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim (2019)

#57

Post by pugworthy »

I'm curious about the correlation (or lack of) between this kind of note taking and the ability to talk and type at the same time. I can take high level concept notes, but not details. And I can't talk and type at the same time all. Always figured it was a shared brain thing between the talking and the typing.

Re: Taking notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim (2019)

#58

Post by GhettoComputers »

axby wrote: post #12
R0b0t1 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used a Microsoft Surface Pro for a math course. It was great. The pen could be better but you learn to write with it.

Cool, did it have a physical keyboard? And if so, what was it like when using it like a laptop? That's my main aversion to a tablet, I would prefer a laptop so I could precisely angle a screen and the screen wouldn't be so heavy. Also the price since I would almost exclusively use it for traveling.

You can use a USB keyboard on it, and a tablet is more ergonomic when its not attached to a keyboard so you can position them differently. I really like the better ergonomics of a magic keyboard from Apple, but its too expensive compared to a USB/BT keyboard you can positon anywhere. Tablets are actually better for positioning, since you end up bending your back when using keyboards. https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MJQL3LL/A/magic-keyboard-...

Surface Pro 3 works great with linux when I used it, but you can't replace anything on it. If you just want to use a laptop you already have this is a good option. https://www.amazon.com/XP-PEN-Graphic-Drawing-Digital-Teachi...

Re: Taking notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim (2019)

#59

Post by jdlyga »

I tried all sort of ways of taking notes in math class using LaTeX, an iPad, etc. I had the most success using pencil and paper. You want as little friction as possible, especially trying to remember latex syntax. Remember, math been done handwritten for centuries. Unless you're getting syntax help like with programming, pencil and paper is a safe bet.

Re: Taking notes in mathematics lectures using LaTeX and Vim (2019)

#60

Post by ravel-bar-foo »

__turbobrew__ wrote: post #29
wanderingmind wrote: post #17

Maybe I'm missing something but why do I need to write notes like textbook when textbooks already exist. I have only taken applied math courses, but when I go to lectures I'm trying to create a mental model of how the various assumptions, statements and theorems relate to one another. I need to listen to the lecture on the arguments of how the proof works, create examples, counter examples and outliers to test the pr…

I’m the same way. You don’t need notes when you understand the underlying concepts. For me it is better to spend 100% of my concentration on the prof and ask questions when something doesn’t make sense.

That worked for me in courses which provided context, or where proof were short and simple. Then I took a real analysis seminar where very little motivation was provided, and couldn't grok the proof in the time provided. If I had better memory or faster understanding or read ahead I would have been fine... ended up taking detailed notes and trying to fit it all back together after the course, which was not very efficient.
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