Impressively written and every image meticulously arranged, on March 10 an event at Tianjin University was held to collect students’ assignments, reports and notes accumulated during online classes and home-based learning. Since February 17 approximately five hundred twenty four notes and one hundred and eighty five homework assignments were collected.

This collecting event mainly covers the excellent study notes and finished homework by students who are studying online at home since February 17, 2020. A total of 524 notes and 185 homework have been collected.

Early this year, Tianjin University used data resources and informatization to control real-time teaching status on cloud-based learning platforms. Students' online learning status could be obtained through student's attendance, completion of pre-reading and interaction between teachers and students and other measurements. Tianjin University's students from all over the world, are as rigorous in cloud-based learning as ever in their studies and note taking.

Taking notes is easy, but taking useful notes is not so easy as Luo Xin from the School of Electrical and Information Engineering demonstrated. In her notes on High Frequency Electronic Circuit, each calculation formula and every circuit diagram are drawn neatly and marked in different colored ink. During the interview, she shared her own methods and techniques of taking notes. "I usually choose hand write my notes because I think that handwritten notes can not only deepen memory, but also facilitate review afterwards. Notes should be differentiated by major and minor parts. It should focus on key parts. The notes in preparation can be a little more detailed and highlight the derivation process. The notes in review can provide an outline and extract core formulas and knowledgeable points.”

Zhang Zhuoyuan majors in pharmacy. In her notes, there are many complicated anatomy drawings in amazing detail. However at the beginning, she admits she was slow and her anatomy drawings were unsightly. In order to improve her anatomical diagrams better drawings, she went online to learn related courses and practiced repeatedly. Gradually she learned the three-dimensional model by her heart, so that she can be sure and draw faster.

Ma Jiali from the School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology handed in full color and English course notes, which were like a work of art. “I think that taking notes is actually a logical combing process. I use many marks and symbols to organize the content and indicate links and cause and effect in the key points.” She said of her note taking.

In her eyes, taking notes carefully is very fulfilling. When reviewing and looking at her own neat notes, the memorization points of the previous study will come to mind more clearly. During her daily studies, she would look at her notes from time to time, turning her appreciation of her own notes into motivation for learning.

For Ren Xiaoxin from the Medical College, taking notes should be more about reorganizing the key information taught by the teacher according to your own thinking rather than copying the PowerPoint Presentation content from the teacher's class.

She stated, “You should have a systematic understanding of the knowledge you have mastered. In the class, mark the textbooks according to teacher's instructions and sort out some important information after class. They can be arranged into mind maps or other graphic organizers. You should find a suitable way to sort out the knowledge. The process of organizing notes is also a kind of review of knowledge; you can find any specific knowledge part in time when you need. It is also convenient for you to review when you take the exam.”

There is still a big difference between online teaching and classroom learning. In Luo Xin's opinion, online teaching can make her more focused and give a tighter schedule. But it also makes the interaction between teachers and students less convenient and less timely.

As for Ma Jiali, she feels online lessons are a new model and that she needs to adapt, find her own learning rhythm. However, she added, that this way of learning is a training opportunity for self-learning and time management.

For online learning, Ma Jiali from the pharmacy major has her own unique self-disciplines methods. The first is establishing goals. Everyday one must determine what needs to be finished and keep track of the tasks completely. This ways, she says, one will have a sense of urgency to complete assignments and gain a sense of accomplishment.

The second is to isolate temptation. Once you are ready to begin put aside any distracting gadgets or devices equipment such as mobile phones. “If you have your phone nearby, the learning efficiency will be greatly reduced. Even if you originally want to use it to find information, you often can't resist the temptation completely.” She said.

Some students have adopted different methods to resist the temptation. Ren Xiaoxin downloaded a learning software called Forest on her mobile phone, allowing this learning software to manage most of the software on her mobile phone and play a self-supervising effect. In the class, Ren Xiaoxin will use the software to set a managed time. She calls this process planting trees. "If you open the software during this time, the mobile phone will vibrate strongly, reminding me not to open the software. During the class, my friends and I plant the same tree. If anyone uses the mobile phone, the tree will wither. Thus, it can form a learning atmosphere where the learning peers can supervise each other.”

During cloud-based learning, teachers' determined attitudes are also conveyed to every student through web-based teaching.

Mr. Fumi, a teacher of Molecular and Cell Biology, left a deep impression on Ma Jiali she expressed that "Mr. Fumi is a very responsible teacher. In addition to the knowledge in the textbook, he will often tell us more about the principles of many common drugs and cutting-edge knowledge.” This teaching method, she added, is more attractive to students than basic information delivery, which deepens our understanding of the course knowledge. At the same time, he makes a questionnaire after each class to know more students’ situations and collects feedback regarding any problems that arise in their learning process. Students are also given feedback based on the questions they generated in the following classes.

By: Chen Yuxuan

Editors: Gabriela Venegas, Sun Xiaofang