So question.. How do you study?

[JustintheDoctor]

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I know I can find older threads, but i'd rather start up a new one. I'm starting A&P2 and I was wondering how you guys/gals study for your harder classes?

I got a B in A&P1 but tbf I studied once a week so I deserved the grade(plus the professor used online word banks so I would just memorize 300 index cards and hope majority were on the exam - kind of cheating, I know)


So, any study tips/recommendations?

 

[NotASerialKiller]

Completely nude. Try it and you'll understand why.

 

[Optimist Prime]

T get A's in A&P 1-2 I skipped every single lecture and read every single chapter starting 3 days before the tests usually about 14 hours a day lol. Do what works for you but lectures don't teach me anything and I would rather read a lot all at once than spread it out. Especially with A&P because it builds on itself so the more different ways I could look at a few systems in a short time span the better I remembered it.

 

[lemonscientist]

It depends on the class! For anatomy, I studied by illustrating all relevant structures. For denser subjects (eukaryotic pathogens, microbial pathogenesis, immunobiology, virology) I find that teaching is the best way for me to study. My friend and I would get together for an afternoon or day before midterms and for multiple sessions during finals and talk about topics, going over what was difficult for each other and explaining concepts. If she wasn't around, I would teach my dog

 

[alpha-GTP]

I agree with @Optimist Prime. Once I got to my upper level bio courses, I realized that lectures were not very helpful and sometimes made me more confused than I was coming into class. Sometimes professors explained things vaguely or incorrectly. What I usually do after each lecture is supplement anything that wasn't explained well using the textbook or outside sources. I then waited until 2 days before the test to begin any actual studying. This formula has worked out pretty well so far.

 

[aymar]

I actually found it helpful to record lectures and listen to them while I reviewed the material. For A&P I took notes within the lecture powerpoint that our professor distributed. When it came time to study, I would replay the lecture audio while taking handwritten notes based off of the powerpoint/what I was hearing.

 

[jih]

T get A's in A&P 1-2 I skipped every single lecture and read every single chapter starting 3 days before the tests usually about 14 hours a day lol. Do what works for you but lectures don't teach me anything and I would rather read a lot all at once than spread it out. Especially with A&P because it builds on itself so the more different ways I could look at a few systems in a short time span the better I remembered it.

Lol I did exactly this. Never went to lecture, and our exams were on Tuesdays, so the Saturday - Monday before each one I'd be reading the textbook all day.

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[Goro]

Get your butt to your school's learning or education center STAT.

I know I can find older threads, but i'd rather start up a new one. I'm starting A&P2 and I was wondering how you guys/gals study for your harder classes?

I got a B in A&P1 but tbf I studied once a week so I deserved the grade(plus the professor used online word banks so I would just memorize 300 index cards and hope majority were on the exam - kind of cheating, I know)


So, any study tips/recommendations?

 

[binko]

Early and often.

Also I was the annoying classmate with a zillion different colored hiliters to color-code everything.

I found that for me if I focus effort on memorizing, the larger understanding clicks into place on its own, which is contrary to all the advice I've ever recieved but it's what works for me.

I made a point of attending lectures even when others didn't, because it provided some much-needed discipline that kept me on track. I brought my laptop to class and took notes in OpenOffice and color-coded those too.

As soon as I learned something I started cementing it by explaining it to other people (whether they wanted me to or not).

When I'm having trouble doing a big chunk of reading, taking it to the gym and reading while walking slowly on a treadmill was very helpful.

These are the things that worked for me in UG. YMMV.

 

[Sardinia]

@JustintheDoctor @NotASerialKiller Make sure to touch your anatomy often while you do this. If you feel like you're going to procrastinate, then try different poses to keep the relationship fresh and exciting.

 

[neekzg]

There's really lots of ways to go about it. Hopefully you get some good suggestions here but you should try different things out and see if/how they work for you.

For my bio classes, I would go to class and take notes on the slides. I would usually re-watch the lectures (they were podcasted) and write down more notes I might have missed the first time. I'd look over the slides/notes and try to understand everything conceptually and then eventually start to memorize all the details by writing them from memory onto a small white board.

For things like biochem/ochem, it's a combination of memorizing and understanding pathways/reactions and doing tons and tons of practice problems/tests.

 

[allanMED15]

I didn't figure this out until graduate school, but it is what it is.
I review the lecture slides and notes immediately following class and put those onto a single front and back page of printer paper. Then I would go over those sheets every day to make sure that I was retaining the information. Eventually over time, the stack of sheets gets bigger, but you aren't necessarily learning sheets of new material everyday.

That is what worked for me.

 

[frosted2]

Reading my notes (out loud) and drawing diagrams helped me IMMENSELY in A&P I&II.


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[The Knife & Gun Club]

Times like this I'm greatful my undergrad did not offer any courses in human anatomy

 

[JustintheDoctor]

Thanks for the tips guys, really appreciate them!

 

[Afp0731]

Sit in the front of class, be attentive, take good notes. Record the lectures on your phone or with a recording device - some professors speak too quickly to take good notes in class and at the very least, it will provide a good reference if you don't understand something. There have been a number of classes where I listened to each recording fervently after class and made new notes. Its a pain in the ass but you will learn the heck out of that course. Exercise after class and then study what you learned that day. Read over the days notes a few times until you understand the concepts well. Where there is material that needs memorization, practice writing it out on a sheet of paper until you can recall easily. Don't just memorize and don't just try to grasp the conceptual idea. Balance the two with one another and do it daily so that when the exams roll around, no cramming or stress will be involved. With HW assignments, never put one off if you can get to it immediately.
This is how I approach studying and it has served me well.

 

[Crayola227]

hand write notes

review them

rewrite them

 

[RealHumanBean1]

I would take notes over the top of printed lecture slides, go home to review them, and then read the associated material in my textbook. I would then write out comprehensive notes that included all of the important information from lecture slides, my lecture notes, and supplemental material from the textbook that I found to be relevant/helpful (usually functioned to fill in informational gaps from lecture and fully explain the specifics of a certain concept). I would then use these comprehensive notes to study for the rest of the semester and, by the time finals rolled around, would have a complete study guide to review. It seems like overkill at the beginning, but you can't beat it when finals come around and all you really have to do is memorize a 40-50 page study guide.