Reading Biology Textbooks

[Mission Medical]

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Any advice on this? I always hate reading biology textbooks in college. There's so much detail. I never had a problem reading the general chemistry textbook because it was very conceptual and not so much about memorization and detail after detail (Like protein kinase phosphorylates this, which activates this, which then activates this and this and this, which then opens up this channel, etc.). Actually, I could easily read through more than one full general chemistry chapter the night before the test and then ace it.

With biology textbooks, getting through just a few pages is so tedious. For example, I was looking at the Vander's physiology textbook. It's a good book, but there's so much detail, even though I know there are books like Guyton that make this one look so simple. How do you guys get through it? I was thinking it might be a good idea to answer review questions at the back as I'm reading so that I have some task to accomplish as I'm reading as opposed to passively reading.

 

[The Bunk]

Textbooks are always gonna be dry. Do you like biology as a subject at least?

 

[ghboyd25]

Is it necessary to read the book for class? Many classes just go off the lecture and the textbook is used as more of a reference.

 

[Mission Medical]

Textbooks are always gonna be dry. Do you like biology as a subject at least?

I'm definitely more into math, physics and general (not organic) chemistry, but biology can be somewhat interesting once I've read it and got it in my head. I find physiology a more interesting aspect of biology than others. The main problem for me with biology is all the details and reading.

 

[freakingoutabit]

I'm the same way. When I took bio classes, I watched a Khan Academy or Crash Course Biology (youtube) video before starting a chapter and then stopped to answer any questions in the text while reading. Read a section, answer the questions, read another section, answer a few more questions. I even wrote out the questions and answers in a notebook and then flipped through the notebook before tests. By the time I finished the chapter, I knew the topic backwards and forwards and didn't have to study it again.

Hope this helps. 🙂

 

[Katatonic]

If it's pathways and details like that, for every page try to just draw a flow chart of what's being described. For most molecular pathways I like to draw them out anyway, but it can help summarize dry textbooks as well.