Improving Study Habits

[PlayUrCards]

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What is the best advice you guys have to assist in getting A's in core science classes.
Freshman year I started with a couple C's in intro chem and psych. I am now consistently getting A- in most of my science classes. I am quite satisfied with my A-'s (I won't complain) BUT I feel like I study REALLY hard to make my A-. I have many peers who don't put the same study hours into an exam as I do and get 100's or A+ on exams as if its no big deal. I usually score 88-93 on all my exams. Any suggestions! What is the best study habit you have gained through undergraduate education?
I have genetics and biochemistry coming up!!

 

[ciucia53]

What worked best for me was flashcards. I took the information from the slides and make flashcards in Quizlet (people also use Anki) and just worked through my flashcards. Once I felt confident with the material, I moved on to practice questions or quizzing my friends/them quizzing me. Also, don't worry about your peers who can study less and do super well -- some people are just really gifted like that. Focus on doing the best YOU can!

 

[stickgirl390]

Not to speak poorly of other people's study habits, but I always found flash cards the opposite of what you should be doing. I've been teaching bio/chemistry in some form for the past 2 years, and the students who cling to flash cards tend to be the ones who memorize just enough info to pass the class, but never truly learn the material. This results in poor final exam scores, and even greater struggle in the upper level sciences when the student is lacking foundational knowledge.

I suggest forming a small study group. Divide class lectures into chunks and give each person in your study group one section. Give yourselves 1-2 days to learn your section, and then meet with your group and have everyone TEACH their section to the rest of the group. In my experience, teaching to others is the best way to solidify your own understanding.

Also remember that group study should not be a "once a week" or "right before the test" thing. My study group met daily, or at the worst every other day, for the entire semester.

But also remember: what works for me might not work for you. Flash cards might be your thing, and that's totally okay! I'm just saying from my experience and the literal hundreds of students I've taught, flash cards tend to take up too much time while providing little actual learning.

 

[PlayUrCards]

Not to speak poorly of other people's study habits, but I always found flash cards the opposite of what you should be doing. I've been teaching bio/chemistry in some form for the past 2 years, and the students who cling to flash cards tend to be the ones who memorize just enough info to pass the class, but never truly learn the material. This results in poor final exam scores, and even greater struggle in the upper level sciences when the student is lacking foundational knowledge.

I suggest forming a small study group. Divide class lectures into chunks and give each person in your study group one section. Give yourselves 1-2 days to learn your section, and then meet with your group and have everyone TEACH their section to the rest of the group. In my experience, teaching to others is the best way to solidify your own understanding.

Also remember that group study should not be a "once a week" or "right before the test" thing. My study group met daily, or at the worst every other day, for the entire semester.

But also remember: what works for me might not work for you. Flash cards might be your thing, and that's totally okay! I'm just saying from my experience and the literal hundreds of students I've taught, flash cards tend to take up too much time while providing little actual learning.

I like the advice. Flashcards do, for me, seem like a pleasant way to memorize some of the facts that are essential to the baseline concept. Although I would agree that flashcards alone do not provide too much benefit to those seeking to truly 'understand' or 'conceptualize' a topic rather than learn fact after fact that have no form of connection to one another. I like the study group idea, I will have to try that this coming fall semester!

 

[Lawpy]

Not to speak poorly of other people's study habits, but I always found flash cards the opposite of what you should be doing. I've been teaching bio/chemistry in some form for the past 2 years, and the students who cling to flash cards tend to be the ones who memorize just enough info to pass the class, but never truly learn the material. This results in poor final exam scores, and even greater struggle in the upper level sciences when the student is lacking foundational knowledge.

I suggest forming a small study group. Divide class lectures into chunks and give each person in your study group one section. Give yourselves 1-2 days to learn your section, and then meet with your group and have everyone TEACH their section to the rest of the group. In my experience, teaching to others is the best way to solidify your own understanding.

Also remember that group study should not be a "once a week" or "right before the test" thing. My study group met daily, or at the worst every other day, for the entire semester.

But also remember: what works for me might not work for you. Flash cards might be your thing, and that's totally okay! I'm just saying from my experience and the literal hundreds of students I've taught, flash cards tend to take up too much time while providing little actual learning.

Maybe they're not using flashcards the right way? I don't know them obviously but flashcard programs like Anki are based on efficient, space repetition algorithms to allow for long-term retention of facts. Flashcards can be adapted to include concept-based learning but that requires work and creativity on part of the students. Flashcards can be a very effective and efficient studying method, and they are the major reason as to how many people do well on the MCAT (especially dominating the psychology/sociology section) and excelling in preclinical years + board exams (you can look up their study habits in allo/Step 1 forums and they almost always advocate using flashcards).

 

[stickgirl390]

Maybe they're not using flashcards the right way? I don't know them obviously but flashcard programs like Anki are based on efficient, space repetition algorithms to allow for long-term retention of facts. Flashcards can be adapted to include concept-based learning but that requires work and creativity on part of the students. Flashcards can be a very effective and efficient studying method, and they are the major reason as to how many people do well on the MCAT (especially dominating the psychology/sociology section) and excelling in preclinical years + board exams (you can look up their study habits in allo/Step 1 forums and they almost always advocate using flashcards).

I've never tried anki, is it an app?

 

[Lawpy]

I've never tried anki, is it an app?

Anki is a flashcard software that can be downloaded and used in computers, and downloaded as apps in iPhones and Androids. More information here:

Anki - powerful, intelligent flashcards

Anki Central

 

[Goro]

What is the best advice you guys have to assist in getting A's in core science classes.
Freshman year I started with a couple C's in intro chem and psych. I am now consistently getting A- in most of my science classes. I am quite satisfied with my A-'s (I won't complain) BUT I feel like I study REALLY hard to make my A-. I have many peers who don't put the same study hours into an exam as I do and get 100's or A+ on exams as if its no big deal. I usually score 88-93 on all my exams. Any suggestions! What is the best study habit you have gained through undergraduate education?
I have genetics and biochemistry coming up!!

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