Understanding rather memorizing

[pinkcadillac]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I've heard it is more important to understand rather than memorize details in biology for the MCAT. How does one study with the goal of understanding rather than memorizing a lot of details?

Thanks

 

[NickNaylor]

They are somewhat one and the same. You've memorized the minutia and random details, but you have to understand the subject enough to be able to explain it well. In other words, you should be able to explain why or how something works.

 

[EricMont]

I feel that you must synthesize the material and by that I mean take things you have memorized or drilled into your head and then apply them to a scenario described in a passage.

 

[TriagePreMed]

The human body is an organism whose organs must work efficiently and together to function properly. If you study to just memorize what parts do, you'll understand nothing. If you relate how each part works with each other, you will study to understand. Avoid EK if you want to learn to understand. EK is made for those that understand and just want to refresh details.

 

[ACSheldor]

It's like the difference between knowing someone's name and knowing someone. Just knowing F=ma doesn't mean anything but knowing how it works and what it's used for and when is the important part.

 

[pinkcadillac]

The human body is an organism whose organs must work efficiently and together to function properly. If you study to just memorize what parts do, you'll understand nothing. If you relate how each part works with each other, you will study to understand. Avoid EK if you want to learn to understand. EK is made for those that understand and just want to refresh details.

If you think I should avoid EK, what study guide do you recommend?

 

[brado]

If you think I should avoid EK, what study guide do you recommend?

Ehhh EK isn't too bad, really, you just have to apply what they teach you to novel situations. Have you taken physiology or biochemistry? Understanding is knowing why glomular filtration rate increases as blood pressure goes up, or why keto acidosis occurs, or why blood pH decreases when ventilation decreases. MCAT passages love to ask questions that make you apply concepts to new things.

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

There's actually a fair bit of concepts in biology. You just have to memorize a ton of lingo in order to understand the concepts clearly. Unfortunately, that memorization makes up, IMO, a good 90%+ of studying for biology (with the exception of certain topics like physio and immuno).