STUDYSmarter
SurvivalGuide
THE UNIVERSITY OF
WESTERN
~ AUSTRALIA
MATHS OR STATS LECTURE NOTES
Lectures involving maths or stats will often After trying a few other methods, this
“tell a story” written in algebraic language, one worked.
so a lot of the content is written out on a
whiteboard or screen by your lecturer. Now, this is the clever part . . .
Don’t just copy down what you see. You This would make a good exam question.
can get a lot more out of maths lectures
(and produce great notes you can use later)
with these handy tips.
Jot down summary notes alongside what
appears on the screen so you know why a
step was taken, where several steps have
Listen to what your lecturer says been left out, etc.
Sounds easy, right? Well, actually, it’s hard By using “active listening” you will get a
to listen and write at the same time. Listen better set of notes, get lost less often and
for phrases such as be able to concentrate for longer.
I’ve done this step because I need to get
x out of the denominator. TIP
I’ve left out a few steps here which you Stretch or shift position if you feel drowsy.
can fill in later. By pulling your shoulders back you will
inflate your lungs and send more oxygen to
If that method isn’t suitable you’ll have to
your brain!
do this instead.
This step works because . . .
... at this point it's a good idea to ...
nt shortcut ...
. ·s an exce \le · t
t h ,s, d f opulation size at time ...
... P(t) stan s or P
... using logarithm laws we can see that ...
... make sure you practice this a few times ...
Maths & Stats 1
TIP Quick notes for maths or stats lectures
Many lectures are recorded Get to know your neighbour. They might
as videos. If you miss pick something up that you miss.
something or get lost, note Sometimes it’s just nice to hear
down the time and fast- someone say “yeah, I’m lost too!”
forward to that part of the
video later. Sit close to the front if you can. There
are less distractions and you’ll see and
You can also speed up the video if your hear the lecture better.
lecturer talks too slowly (or slow it down if
Try reading ahead before going to the
they talk too fast).
lecture. Even if you find it difficult, the
lecture will make more sense.
Written notes & textbooks can create the
impression that solving problems involves TIP
blindly following a rigid set of “perfect”
steps. In lectures your lecturer’s voice The skills you use in other lectures can be
reminds you that it actually involves different. See our Get the most from
educated guessing, logical reasoning, lectures Survival Guide.
trial-and-error and there are often multiple
pathways to the same solution.
Don’t panic when you get lost in lectures
No-one can concentrate hard for more than
about 20 minutes at a time (especially if this
is your third lecture in a row!) and some
concepts are going to be difficult to pick up
first time.
In maths lectures it’s important to keep
writing and listening when you get lost. With
a good set of notes you can pick up the
thread later.
Like this Survival Guide? Why not check out more of our guides...
Keeping up with maths or stats, Being stuck on maths problems, Studying for maths or stats exams, A maths or
stats service course, Myths about maths at uni, Get the most from lectures, Note-taking.
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