I might need a minor attitude adjustment.

[ChodeNode]

So I'm in the middle of A&P II. It's a different teacher. This guy sucks. He reads off his outline for 70-90% of the class. I basically end up retyping his outline for my notes and flesh it it out further at home. I've tried to readjust my attitude to not think about how horrible he is. I show up and try to learn. But I keep walking out with nothing substantial.

I tend to view school as more about how to learn rather than what I learn. In this sense, I feel like I'm failing. So I'm going to quit going to lecture and just show up for the tests. If I'm going to get nothing from the lecture, it might as well be because I'm not there.

I study between 15-20 hours a week as it is. I'll use the extra time as extra study time for sure. But I hate that it's come to this. The last time I quit showing up to lecture I got the only B in a class I've received since going back. But I've got no other plays in my playbook unless anybody else has a couple pieces of wisdom.

Screw this professor. "Doctor," my vanilla butt...

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[DrShazam]

So I'm in the middle of A&P II. It's a different teacher. This guy sucks. He reads off his outline for 70-90% of the class. I basically end up retyping his outline for my notes and flesh it it out further at home. I've tried to readjust my attitude to not think about how horrible he is. I show up and try to learn. But I keep walking out with nothing substantial.

I tend to view school as more about how to learn rather than what I learn. In this sense, I feel like I'm failing. So I'm going to quit going to lecture and just show up for the tests. If I'm going to get nothing from the lecture, it might as well be because I'm not there.

I study between 15-20 hours a week as it is. I'll use the extra time as extra study time for sure. But I hate that it's come to this. The last time I quit showing up to lecture I got the only B in a class I've received since going back. But I've got no other plays in my playbook unless anybody else has a couple pieces of wisdom.

Screw this professor. "Doctor," my vanilla butt...

I personally think the onus is on the professor to create an environment that is stimulating for the student. If not, professors shouldn't feel offended when students skip and utilize their time better by studying at home. I would say try it out, and see if it works. I would caution against procrastinating though. At least when you are in class you are getting exposed to the material. If you are not a self-starter or someone who has a strong science background already, I would highly suggest against doing this.

 

[EdLongshanks]

So I'm in the middle of A&P II. It's a different teacher. This guy sucks. He reads off his outline for 70-90% of the class. I basically end up retyping his outline for my notes and flesh it it out further at home. I've tried to readjust my attitude to not think about how horrible he is. I show up and try to learn. But I keep walking out with nothing substantial.

I tend to view school as more about how to learn rather than what I learn. In this sense, I feel like I'm failing. So I'm going to quit going to lecture and just show up for the tests. If I'm going to get nothing from the lecture, it might as well be because I'm not there.

I study between 15-20 hours a week as it is. I'll use the extra time as extra study time for sure. But I hate that it's come to this. The last time I quit showing up to lecture I got the only B in a class I've received since going back. But I've got no other plays in my playbook unless anybody else has a couple pieces of wisdom.

Screw this professor. "Doctor," my vanilla butt...

Don't type notes. He's already given them to you. Appreciate his effort and use them. Use the class time to use his intonations and explanations to make flashcards in an excel spreadsheet.

You will learn to appreciate teachers who provide you outlines. You job is now to intuitively understand the material and memorize the necessary facts. A highlighter and a spreadsheet program is all you need.

 

[ChodeNode]

Don't type notes. He's already given them to you. Appreciate his effort and use them. Use the class time to use his intonations and explanations to make flashcards in an excel spreadsheet.

You will learn to appreciate teachers who provide you outlines. You job is now to intuitively understand the material and memorize the necessary facts. A highlighter and a spreadsheet program is all you need.

When you're entering things into Excel for flash cards, are you manually writing your flashcards? Are you using some program to incorporate the Excel sheet and print them?

Also, his last test just slaughtered the crap outta my grade and an A is likely no longer possible at this point. The questions were application questions. I'm not sure how to prepare for these since I don't know what I don't know. For example, he's going over the renal system right now and asked the question "what if there were capillary damage in the glomerulus, what would it do to the filtration rate." While studying, I wouldn't guess that damage could occur there. I have difficulty thinking abstractly on this material because I don't know what I don't know.

Any advice along these lines? I've handled these fairly well in other sciences, usually just through dimensional analysis. Here, I feel somewhat unequipped.

 

[EdLongshanks]

When you're entering things into Excel for flash cards, are you manually writing your flashcards? Are you using some program to incorporate the Excel sheet and print them?

Also, his last test just slaughtered the crap outta my grade and an A is likely no longer possible at this point. The questions were application questions. I'm not sure how to prepare for these since I don't know what I don't know. For example, he's going over the renal system right now and asked the question "what if there were capillary damage in the glomerulus, what would it do to the filtration rate." While studying, I wouldn't guess that damage could occur there. I have difficulty thinking abstractly on this material because I don't know what I don't know.

Any advice along these lines? I've handled these fairly well in other sciences, usually just through dimensional analysis. Here, I feel somewhat unequipped.

If you save the excel spreadsheet in csv format, any flash card program will import it. If you don't know about this, then you shouldn't waste the remaining time that you have in researching it.

I don't know how to help you on the application questions except for you to understand the material, flashcards won't help you there.

 

[yellowpens]

Do you have a lab with your A and P course? If so, I would suggest spending as much time in there as possible. Being able to be hands on with the material you are learning will likely help solidify some of the "application" things.

 

[jace's mom]

Could you perhaps find a tutor through your school? Also, have you tried meeting with the professor during office hours? Some profs do much better one-on-one than they do in lecture.

Are there practice questions in your book? Do them, and read the answers until you thoroughly understand them. If your book doesn't have questions, find one that does.

This will be something that you will experience in med school - some instructors are better than others. I'm not saying that to make you feel bad but just to let you know that there will be many, many times in med school where you will have to keep reinventing yourself and the way you think until you can grasp a concept. Think of what you're going through as good practice for the future.