Tips for Studying Bio?

[kunals]

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Hey what works best for you guys to study biology in general.

Ive read, highlighted, made note cards, studying with friends.

I understand all the things i read but what is a way to study concepts to apply on a test.

When it comes to the test it just does not come to mind what the answer would be.

Thanks guys

 

[deleted357625]

highlighting for me and side notes in the book help me.

Reread multiple times. Read SLOWLY that's the key

-Taking bio right now

 

[orthomyxo]

I read through all my notes, lectures, etc. over and over until I can explain everything to myself as if I was teaching it to somebody else, without looking. Still works great for me, even in physio. Ideally, you should be able to understand what's going on, rather than just memorizing everything. Then even if you don't know a question on the exam, you can at least eliminate some of the answers by rational thought.

 

[feathr]

i just go through all the ppt slides 3 times.

 

[thelullaby99]

I always make summary for each chapter using ms word. very useful as I don't have to bring around the textbook when I need some quick-reading-before-the-exam-starts...anything that works for you!

 

[NickNaylor]

I always thought studying for bio was a straight up grind. Go through the material as much as you possibly can. More will stick each time, and eventually you'll have most of it in your head.

 

[Lunasly]

Because there were many concepts to understand and facts to memorize, before each lecture I would read through the text book and make detailed notes in MS Word. I'd then go to the lecture with a good understanding of the material, take a little bit of handwritten notes from what he said, and then I'd go home and edit my document adding in what I thought was important from the lecture and getting rid of anything I thought was irrelevant.

I was 1% off from an A+ in the class. 🙁

 

[deleted357625]

I read through all my notes, lectures, etc. over and over until I can explain everything to myself as if I was teaching it to somebody else, without looking. Still works great for me, even in physio. Ideally, you should be able to understand what's going on, rather than just memorizing everything. Then even if you don't know a question on the exam, you can at least eliminate some of the answers by rational thought.

exactly

 

[apumic]

Go to class.

Take notes on what the professor expects you to know.

Go out for a beer with your other friends that already understand the crap in class and won't be studying tonight.

24 hrs before test, skim book for important details (i.e., the ones you earlier identified as "things my prof wants me to know").

Thoroughly understand all topics prof wanted you to know.

Drop by prof's office if any discrepancies between book and understanding from class.

Ace test.

Thank prof for good grade and get LOR.

Have a beer with your roomies to celebrate.

 

[nickmx50]

I always make summary for each chapter using ms word. very useful as I don't have to bring around the textbook when I need some quick-reading-before-the-exam-starts...anything that works for you!

+1

also draw diagrams and schematics of the different biological processes until you understand them. This sounds silly, but terminology and memorization is insufficient if you get a question like, "What would happen to (process) if (this occurred)?" Gain a conceptual knowledge of what's going on. Very important for high level biology classes as well.

 

[BAMF]

If you have a textbook, see if they have a companion website. I used it for quizzes and videos, which helped a lot.

 

[Residual]

The best way to make concepts stick is to relate them to things you already know and think of examples of the concept. Integrate them into your existing knowledge of the world. Make connections---"Because of this concept, X makes total sense now!" "So if this works like that, what would happen if Y?" "If that's the way things work, then I'd expect Z to be like this, right?" Ask those questions in your head and try to answer them. Make what you learn meaningful to you. You'll remember things a lot better with a lot less studying if you get into the habit of doing that constantly in lecture, trust me.

Then use concepts to deduce details you forget from the facts you remember.

 

[tman5890]

I'm not sure about anyone else, but my bio exams are all "choose the most incorrect statement" type of questions. It's really hard for me to study the material, try to get a great understanding of it while worrying about having to choose the the most incorrect. Has anyone else experienced bio exams in that format? I could use some advice on how to handle this. Should I just follow the same studying habits recommended in this thread?

 

[apumic]

I'm not sure about anyone else, but my bio exams are all "choose the most incorrect statement" type of questions. It's really hard for me to study the material, try to get a great understanding of it while worrying about having to choose the the most incorrect. Has anyone else experienced bio exams in that format? I could use some advice on how to handle this. Should I just follow the same studying habits recommended in this thread?

Start with most correct and POE the exam. Additionally, look for what just doesn't fit. If you know the concept, one of the answer choices should seem furthest from what you know. Try to find what is "right" with the less incorrect answers.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

This will sound harsh, but it works for me: I usually figure out which one of the rocks in the class I like the most and see if they would be willing to team up and study some. I learn/retain the material much better if and when I know it well enough to teach it effectively to someone else. By picking one of the, ahem, less capable students to work with ensures that I understand the material well enough to explain and teach it in accessible terms.

 

[wlee43]

don't read the textbook, it's useless and make you more confused with unnecessary details

 

[sc4s2cg]

@Pons Asinorum I do that too on occasion.

What I found really helps is if I draw everything out. My first bio class I got a bunch of loose-leaf papers, bound them together in a 3ring binder, and started drawing. I got creative too. Back then I didn't know how to draw a heart, so instead of drawing the standard box with the atria and ventricles labeled, I drew a valentine heart and labeled it. As the semester went on, I added everything I learned on to it: the myocardium, outer and inner layers, major vessels, even the lungs a bit.

But drawing it once isn't enough. If I felt that my brain was losing the info, I would force myself to draw, redraw, and reexplain everything to myself well beyond the point when I got sick of the topic. When I get sick of a topic, that's when I know I understand it. 🙂

I'm also unfortunate in that I have to read the book. The only way I can learn is if I get all the nitty-gritty details on the topic, draw it out, explain it, and then review everything twice just 1-2 days before the exam. Only subject this *hasn't* worked for was Physics. Especially Physics II. For that class I've started going to tutoring from 7p-10p 4x a week. We'll see how it works out.

 

[Residual]

don't read the textbook, it's useless and make you more confused with unnecessary details

Being able to figure out which information is necessary and which isn't is a skill you'll need for as long as you need to be able to learn anything. If you're going to be a physician that means until you retire.

If you're still getting confused by unnecessary details, it's a sign that you need to read more material that contains them, not less.

 

[wlee43]

Being able to figure out which information is necessary and which isn't is a skill you'll need for as long as you need to be able to learn anything. If you're going to be a physician that means until you retire.

If you're still getting confused by unnecessary details, it's a sign that you need to read more material that contains them, not less.

let me rephrase my statement. when I was reading the textbook I learned too much material that was not needed on the exam. Just looking at the prof notes worked fine for me and cut down lots of time studying, not to mention the book restates the class notes so I don't see a point in really spending lots of time with it. It's about being more efficient.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

Being able to figure out which information is necessary and which isn't is a skill you'll need for as long as you need to be able to learn anything. If you're going to be a physician that means until you retire.

If you're still getting confused by unnecessary details, it's a sign that you need to read more material that contains them, not less.

This is spot on right here.

 

[Residual]

let me rephrase my statement. when I was reading the textbook I learned too much material that was not needed on the exam. Just looking at the prof notes worked fine for me and cut down lots of time studying, not to mention the book restates the class notes so I don't see a point in really spending lots of time with it. It's about being more efficient.

Fair enough, I guess.

 

[apumic]

Being able to figure out which information is necessary and which isn't is a skill you'll need for as long as you need to be able to learn anything. If you're going to be a physician that means until you retire.

If you're still getting confused by unnecessary details, it's a sign that you need to read more material that contains them, not less.

This is essentially what I was getting at with my joke post earlier. If you pay attn in class, you should be able to get hints from the prof as well as your own experience as to what you need to know. Sometimes I would sit in with other students studying and they'd be talking stuff way over my head. They'd be going on and on about some detail of some tangential pathway we mentioned in class as an example of something and while I'd get what they were talking about it would sometimes make me panic for a half a second b/c they knew all these details that I hadn't really paid any attn to. Guess who consistently came out with the 100% and who consistently got a mid-range B? Here's a hint: the people who had memorized everything weren't the ones getting the A. You see, it's all about knowing the concepts. Sure, if the prof had cared about those pathways, I would have learned them, but the fact of the matter was this was an undergraduate introductory course in biochemistry. (Yes, UG 400-level courses are introductory courses. They are generally not advanced courses. You'll get those in grad or med school.) He cared about the fundamental concepts not the small details that frankly nobody has memorized. (I once had a bio professor tell me outright that "[Almost] no one keeps all the individual rxns of the Citric Acid Cycle memorized and ready to recall, because, honestly, either it's not your area of research or, if it is, you're researching one individual rxn for most of your life and that's really all you care about or even know without a reference manual." While I think she was exaggerating a bit there, there is some truth to what she was saying -- namely, you needn't memorize all those little details. Instead, know the big picture and understand it.)

 

[wlee43]

This is essentially what I was getting in with my joke post earlier. If you pay attn in class, you should be able to get hints from the prof as well as your own experience as to what you need to know. Sometimes I would sit in with other students studying and they'd be talking stuff way over my head. They'd be going on and on about some detail of some tangential pathway we mentioned in class as an example of something and while I'd get what they were talking about it would sometimes make me panic for a half a second b/c they knew all these details that I hadn't really paid any attn to. Guess who consistently came out with the 100% and who consistently got a mid-range B? Here's a hint: the people who had memorized everything weren't the ones getting the A. You see, it's all about knowing the concepts. Sure, if the prof had cared about those pathways, I would have learned them, but the fact of the matter was this was an undergraduate introductory course in biochemistry. (Yes, UG 400-level courses are introductory courses. They are generally not advanced courses. You'll get those in grad or med school.) He cared about the fundamental concepts not the small details that frankly nobody has memorized. (I once had a bio professor tell me outright that "[Almost] no one keeps all the individual rxns of the Citric Acid Cycle memorized and ready to recall, because, honestly, either it's not your area of research or, if it is, you're researching one individual rxn for most of your life and that's really all you care about or even know without a reference manual." While I think she was exaggerating a bit there, there is some truth to what she was saying -- namely, you needn't memorize all those little details. Instead, know the big picture and understand it.)

This was basically my point also. Efficiency always leads to higher grades. Although not knowing all the material to its full extent may be bothersome, this is sometimes what you got to do if you want one of the highest grades in the class

 

[bucks2010]

This will sound harsh, but it works for me: I usually figure out which one of the rocks in the class I like the most and see if they would be willing to team up and study some. I learn/retain the material much better if and when I know it well enough to teach it effectively to someone else. By picking one of the, ahem, less capable students to work with ensures that I understand the material well enough to explain and teach it in accessible terms.

So out of a class with hundreds of people, what system, if any, do you use to determine who the "rocks" are? This could get interesting.

But yes, being able to teach the information is key. I figure I always work better with those who know more than I do.

 

[Residual]

So out of a class with hundreds of people, what system, if any, do you use to determine who the "rocks" are? This could get interesting.

Baseball cap worn backwards/shirt with a brand name written on it.

 

[Residual]

Also, anything wearing Uggs.

But of course, those are just guidelines.

 

[Godric]

My way, I go to class, take notes. I try to review my notes. And About a week or two weeks prior to the exam I start reading the text book a little each day and take notes. My prof has power points up and he has converted them into outlines, and I just take the outlines and leave them open in ms word and I read a section in the book, find it in the outline and add to it. Once I am done, I usually print it, and then read them and my notes from class at the same time and then I add important details to the typed notes from class notes.
And if theirs a practice exam then I do that myself, and usually theirs no answer key so I go through the book and check. And then me and a friend go over it the practice exam and we always argue for why what ever answer we choose is correct and why the other choices are right. Its sort of like defending your answer, makes you really think if you choose the right one and why, we usually use notes and text book to back our answers up.

I didn't always use this method, I did part of this for my first upper level bio class and know I am doing everything I stated for my second exam (exam is on monday). Probably going to go over the practice exam soon.

 

[tman5890]

Everyone seems to have really good ideas from experience. I hope I can find what works for me quickly enough.

 

[two thirty]

My professor is worthless, I just have to read the book a couple of times and do some practice tests/old tests until I feel like I know it well enough. Study groups work too, but make sure you are with people who you can productive with.

 

[ucsfstudents]

Don't forget to use office hours for the really difficult concepts.... and Google... and old exam questions if they are available.

 

[senorsquishie]

I hate redoing reading over and over again. I pay attention in class, and then 4 or 5 days before a test I will spend ONE night pouring over all of the notes and reading.

If there is even a possibility that I might forget it, it goes on a notecard. I draw lots of cute pictures on my notecards, highlight them, and color them. If I don't I would never look at them. The funnier and more relevent the pictures the better.

Then I carry them with me everywhere in my sweater pocket. When I have random "wasted moments" like waiting for class to start, waiting for an appointment, or waiting for a friend to show up to dinner etc, I pull the cards out and flip through them. Once I master a card I leave it home. Works great for me 🙂