Really dumb question - studying

[TrocarKarin]

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I feel like an ass for having to ask this.

I've pretty much half-assed my way though school up until this point. As long as I did the required reading, and did my homework, I did well on the tests. I realized there was a problem with this strategy when I got to general chemistry (something that did not come naturally to me). Instead of half-assing my way though the rest of school, and risking dinging my GPA when my semester from hell starts in the fall, I thought I would ask. How do you study? I honestly managed to make it to my junior year in college without having this skill.

 

[LVT2DVM]

I have some advice as someone who is self-taught study-er. But if you dont mind me asking what classes are you taking..sometimes that makes a difference?

 

[kd87]

It really depends on your style of learning and the types of classes you are taking.

I'm a memorization/note card kinda girl, and I live by notecards and notes. Going over them a million times helps me remember them, and if it's a subject I enjoy, I never forget them either.. Most of my friends aren't like this though, and have different strategies.

 

[PrimalMU]

I think the lack of study skills is a real testament as to how crappy our education system is in the US. I'm like you... I went through highschool without studying at ALL and made more or less straight A's. I even made it through my sophomore year of college without studying and had a 3.0+ GPA. It really wasn't until my junior year when I started taking some hardcore history classes (yes, this was before my life as a pre-vet student) that I actually had to learn how to study. And honestly, I still haven't come up with a good system. But, I'm doing a heck of a lot better now, and I've finally gotten my cumulative GPA up to 3.5.

Some subjects really are easier to study for than others. Chemistry is pretty easy for me, even though I don't like it that much. Just do the problems in the book... several times. Its working for me so far; I'm making an A in organic I. Biology is a lot more difficult for me to study, but thats offset by the fact that I actually enjoy studying it.

 

[TrocarKarin]

Next semester is organic chemistry, physics, cellular biology and biostatistics. I don't know which ones will actually be harder for me, but I'm guessing it will be ochem and physics.

PrimalMu, I totally agree with you that its largely because of the public educational system. Before I dropped out of highschool, I was attending each class an average of once a week, and making A's and B's. Why bother to learn how to study when I could do the bare minimum and get away with it? My associate's degree wasn't much different, except less class time was wasted on busy work, so I actually showed up.

 

[cscip]

Well, I think it's important to figure out what "type" of learner you are. I, for example, am a very auditory learner. So I basically make sure that I get plenty of sleep so I can pay attention in class... I do about 80% of my learning the first time around. And when I'm studying, I'm a big note-card/study group person because I need to discuss things to cement them in my brain. Some people can't just read and re-read notes a million times to learn something. I'm also a big picture person, so drawing out pathways helps me too... it helps to go after a lecture and draw the big picture. Also, keeping up with classes and doing a little bit at a time keeps me from getting overwhelmed.

Your questions aren't stupid! Totally warranted, and I think a lot of people are in the situation you're in. I didn't do so hot my first semester at college, but I figured out how to study quickly and wound up with a really good GPA.

 

[LVT2DVM]

It really depends on your style of learning and the types of classes you are taking.
quote]

I agree, what worked for me might not work for you, but since your looking for some suggestions heres mine. First off..If you havent purchased the solutions manual for your Ochem book...do so immediately. Brown & Foote's is excellent. Hornback is so so. My prof was really big on mechanisms, almost the entire exam could be mechanisms..even the multiple choice questions. Not every teacher is this intense. But I had him for General chem and I knew this ahead of time.
I would read the chapter we were going to cover in depth a couple of days before the lecture. I would make notes, in an outline form, on the major ideas presented in the chapter. Then during lecture, I would take notes with my book open to the corresponding chapter. Teacher had a habit of choosing problems from the end of the chapter for examples, so I would make notations of the problem number he was covering and where in book(pg #) the concept was covered. The day after lecture (no more than 2 days) work ALL the extra problems in the chapters covered in class. Work each problem on one sheet on paper so you can review for exams. Flash cards are useful for memorizing acid/base strengths, molecular principles (Sn1, Sn2, E1, E2) and terminology but wont help you understand the mechanisms. You have to work the problems. Then a week before the exam, go back and skim the chapter again for important charts (Acid/Base, Ka/Pka stuff like that), your pre-lecture chapter summaries, key concepts covered in lecture and review the problems, reworking the ones you had trouble with or ones covered extenstively in lecture. After the first exam, youll have a better idea of what your prof. tends to concentrate on and you can tweak your studying to maximize for that. Physics is kinda the same idea. Cell Bio is more like studying for Gen Bio (IMO) reading, memorization and flash cards. Cant help you with Biostats never heard of it. If you have Ochem tutors at your school, dont hestitate to abuse them, I spent at least 2 hours in there weekly. But it totally paid off.

 

[twelvetigers]

This is a wee bit off subject, but did anyone else's orgo teacher include lots of complicated NMR/IR/MS problems on the tests? Like, it's formula is C4H12O2, it turns brown when mixed with blah, and here are the peaks shown on NMR... now draw it. Anyone?

 

[Barnaby]

Twelvetigers,

Hey my organic teacher regularly used to include NMR problems, but we had a huge lecture series on learning to interpret NMR. It's an extremely useful tool, but not if it's a foreign language!

Have you guys learned to interpret those spectra? If you haven't, definitely go and read up on it (or ask your teacher to spend some class time on it) because it will really help you on those problems.

 

[twelvetigers]

Man, I was done with orgo over a year ago. Unless I decide to take it over. *shudders*

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that suffered NMR business, though!

 

[lailanni]

I loved oraganic. The only part I never liked or understood was Mass Spec, NMR, and all that stuff. Our prof never expained it well - his PhD was in NMR work and he thought that it was cake. Natural as breathing. Hah. So I never got a good grasp on it, and our class pretty much always got the spec problems wrong on exams.

My theory was that if I could get great at everything else I could afford to mess up all the MS problems. And it worked just fine, I still got an A. Benzene is my friend!

 

[starlene45]

Trocar--

I totally feel the same way!! I'm doing micro and biochem in summer sessions with hardcore professors.... whoa... all of a sudden i actually have to DO the work and PREPARE for the tests. Amazingly I have found that a challenge makes me work harder, which is good. But my study skills are still not amazing. Mostly I:
-- try to go over my class notes with my textbook open, confirming things and learning extra details
-- either get practice problems from the instructor, or do a few of the problems in the book
-- make flashcards if i have to rote-memorize things
-- obsessively copy my notes over and over (i'm a tactile learner, yay!)

I think one of the hardest things about vet school for me is going to be learning how NOT to cram 😳

 

[BlazeoGlory]

Oh man, I think I was in the opposite boat..NMR and mass spec. were about the only things I COULD grasp in ochem! our (old) professors should exchange notes 🙂

Getting back to the original topic, does anyone else get realllllllly tired when studying? I had a real problem with it in undergrad, I would get sleepy (didn't matter where I was studying), and nothing would get absorbed! I know this needs to end in vet school, otherwise I will be in some deep poop, but I have no idea how stay focused and alert! Coffee usually tends to just up my heartrate so I'm still tired, but can't fall asleep

 

[SillyFilly]

Get yourself a giant whiteboard! This REALLY helped me for organic and biochem. 🙂
Drawing mechanisms makes a lot of sense and it wastes less paper!

 

[lazyjayn]

I think the only things I used note cards for in organic were functional groups and the funky nomenclature. There are practice problems all over the intarwebs.

I did find that the more problems I worked, the better I understood it. I'd do the reading, go to the lecture, take notes in my computer during that, then review the powerpoints after class, work some problems, figure out where I was going wrong, and do some more.

That, oddly, only worked when I went to class...

For cell bio, reading before class, taking notes in a way that didn't break my listening concentration, and asking questions about stuff that I couldn't figure out between the reading and the lecture worked pretty good. But I can close my eyes and see the details of the illustrations in the book... from almost two years ago, so...

Biostats, if this is the class like in NZ, which was basically statistics for life scientists, I still don't understand. Make sure you figure out the software. I still don't have any idea how to use it, even after three projects.

Is physics algebra or calc based? I had fits with the algebra- it'd been a while since I did any. Also, flash cards for quick reference. And working all the problems in the book. Find out ahead of time if the formulas are provided on the tests. If they are, great- get stuck and you can fudge. If not... pleh.

Then again, I still don't have any study skills, just doing the reading before class and going over the power points (for about 10 minutes) before an exam is, for the most part, enough to pull a decent grade.

it's interesting to hear about how other people "study" tho. Do they teach it in school?

 

[Kylana]

I loved NMR and all the spectroscopy stuff and it made a lot of sense to me. But it was part of my physical chem course oddly enough. I heard a lot of people tell me that it used to be part of the O chem class here but too many people were failing it so they decided to make it easier by taking out the spectroscopy portion and putting it in the Physical Chem course.

Getting back to the original topic, does anyone else get realllllllly tired when studying? I had a real problem with it in undergrad, I would get sleepy (didn't matter where I was studying), and nothing would get absorbed! I know this needs to end in vet school, otherwise I will be in some deep poop, but I have no idea how stay focused and alert! Coffee usually tends to just up my heartrate so I'm still tired, but can't fall asleep

I definitely get super tired when studying! Actually, I usually fall asleep within 10 minutes. I even fell asleep during an online quiz (didn't do too well on that one since I woke up and realized I had less than 4 minutes left)! The only way for me to stay awake in class is if I drink lots of tea, although that gives me headaches, makes me feel nauseous and makes me have to use the washroom every fifteen minutes. And I usually get about 7 or 8 hours of sleep a night too and don't feel tired...😕 But for any other sleepy people - studying with a friend really worked! (at least for me). Actually, I think for pretty much anyone, having a friend to study with would be very beneficial. It works best if they are taking a lot of the same classes, live near you and are aiming to get a similar grade in the course. It really helps you stay on top of things if you can assign each other homework/reading to do, assign times to meet up and study or do problem sets together, go over concepts togther and ask questions, and predict exam questions together. Plus my friend and I would come up with tons of interesting ways to study for specific courses and we'd share them with each other.

 

[ylrebmik]

I take reallly detailed notes and make notecards. Last semester I studied with people once a week and it helped soooo much. I carried either my notebook or my notecards with me everywhere (at the bottom of my purse) so when I had an extra few minutes here and there I could pull them out and it helped.... and I didn't feel as bad when I didn't study as much at home! My bigggg problem when it comes to studying/ school/ etc is that I have to stay modivated and focussed. If I get offtrack... there's like no return. Last year my grades suffered sooooooooooo bad from this and I'm trying realllly hard to turn this around... but its hard. 🙁

 

[ShelterGirl]

I have to summarize key points in a notebook and then review those notes a minimum of 3 times. Re-drawing pictures and diagrams helps too.

YMMV. It took many classes and many different strategies (study groups, flashcards, studying the text, recording and listening to lectures ...) until I found something that worked for me. Try several techniques and see what sticks.

 

[Pennvet]

Well, I think it's important to figure out what "type" of learner you are. I, for example, am a very auditory learner. So I basically make sure that I get plenty of sleep so I can pay attention in class... I do about 80% of my learning the first time around. And when I'm studying, I'm a big note-card/study group person because I need to discuss things to cement them in my brain. Some people can't just read and re-read notes a million times to learn something. I'm also a big picture person, so drawing out pathways helps me too... it helps to go after a lecture and draw the big picture. Also, keeping up with classes and doing a little bit at a time keeps me from getting overwhelmed.

Your questions aren't stupid! Totally warranted, and I think a lot of people are in the situation you're in. I didn't do so hot my first semester at college, but I figured out how to study quickly and wound up with a really good GPA.

All of this is great advice, but probably best explained by the book:

"Quantum Learning" by Bobbi Deporter and Mike Hernacki

After reading, I have improved my grades and halved my study-time.

 

[BlazeoGlory]

Thanks for the suggestion Pennvet! I just purchased the book on Amazon 🙂

Looking forward to some study-habit improvements!