Engineering Notebook Tips Selection and Strategy

VEX V5 General Discussion General Forum
#1

Greetings, this is my first post.

I have been trying to scope out an engineering notebook for this season, but I haven’t been that good at using one, so I don’t know what characteristics to look for.
How many pages should I aim for, or does it not matter since I can use multiple notebooks?
Should I worry about getting one with paper that’s too thin, or does it not matter that much?
I am also wondering if I should get one with a spiral, since it would stay open easily. Does that break the bound requirement?
Is getting one with a leather cover a bad idea?

I also don’t have the best ideas for how to organize and use it.
I think it’d be a great resource for me and others if we made this a thread where we shared our tips and tricks for notebook selection and strategy. Peace!

Wiki
#2

Truth be told , the content of the notebook matters more than the type of notebook you use.

3 of my Excellence Award Winners this year all used the VEX Notebook that they provide. They use multiple notebooks and bind them together before turning them in. It’s a nice, effective, cheap way of using the engineering notebook.

#3

Thanks, so I should good to go with a decent notebook.

Does anyone have more tips for using/formatting and engineering notebook?

#4

Just a quick type in the search bar and you should get the answer to your question with old threads like this:Engineering Notebooks

#5

Gotcha. Much thanks!

#6

I would agree with OscarMNOVA12. The content matters the most. Our girls have really been focused on the engineering notebook as part of the engineering process for 4 years now and that has been the key to our successes. We have used the VEX notebook every season, supplimented with additional documentation as relevant.

In the partner documentation section of the REC foundation site there is a link to a sample notebook you can use to get more info on content:

REC Notebook Example

There are many youtube videos that are helpful as well:

YouTube Notebook Videos

#7

@brad4478 has been my main notebook writer for 3 of the past 5 years, and is definitely the best in our program. He could probably give some solid advice on this post so I’ll tell him to look at it and give you some tips

#8

Another item that will help for content is to look up the award rubrics. Not that you want to have a notebook organized the same as the rubric, it can be used to review your content to make sure you are covering the necessary items. These can be found at the REC foundation site under Partner resources . The ones from last season are gone, but I’m sure new ones will be posted.

#9

Here’s a link to a post where I put together a set of notebook links:

https://vexforum.com/index.php/conversation/post/260055

#10

The ultimate resource! Haha, thanks so much

#11