As a graduate student, I have decreased my note-taking-during-lecture over time, especially if I know I'll have access to the professor's notes. However, I now take notes on papers I read, some textbook and lecture notes I read, and instructional Youtube videos (since you can pause them). For papers with algorithms in them, it helps me to write out my own copy of the algorithm. It's a similar mental process as if I were to code an algorithm from a paper -- that's when I really understand it.
> For papers with algorithms in them, it helps me to write out my own copy of the algorithm. It's a similar mental process as if I were to code an algorithm from a paper -- that's when I really understand it.
Yeah, that makes sense. It sounds like you're talking about "listening on paper" (I made a distinction between "note-taking" and "listening on paper" at the end of the post).
Yes, engaging in flashcard-based spaced repetition would qualify as valid retrieval practice. But if you're in a skill hierarchy like math, then you would need to make sure you're not only recalling isolated bits of information (facts, formulas, theorems, etc) but actually practicing pulling together this information to solve problems. Like this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40954571
