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Wikipremed Reliable?
- Thread starter iPremed
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Hi everyone. I've been noticing a trend in the threads over the past few weeks with a lot of talk aimed at trying to identify the 'high impact topics' for the current MCAT. Some folks argue that physiology has been greatly diminished with the rise of molecular biology / genetics and the new impetus AAMC is giving to basic biochemistry. The importance of the organic chemistry mechanisms is endlessly debated. Some even argue against the whole idea of 'high impact topics' making the point that anything can show up on any test at any time, which is the kind of thing that turns out to be true as soon as you stop believing it.
For my part I am reluctant to give answers that pretend to be definitive. It's true that any given test is hard to predict. More importantly there is the fact that some topics may not be high impact in themselves but are incredibly high impact as underpinnings for the rest of the subject matter. Though a topic might not give rise to many MCAT passages in itself it may still be crucial. So much else depends on a person's understanding of chemical thermodynamics, for example, that a person can miss questions all day for the lack of attention to that topic without knowing exactly why.
Despite all that, I do have a list. I work it around year to year. It changes with my teaching experiences and my sense of how the test has evolved and continues to evolve. I am sharing my list of topics below, from highest to lowest 'impact'. I'm very interested in feedback. Please make suggestions. Please. This is a part of a new learning management system I'm working on for WikiPremed which will help people keep track of how they are doing in mastering the knowledge for the exam. If anything I've given this a lot of thought. I hope it is helpful to you even though it's all mixed up, physical and biological sciences, from the most to the least important. The importance of a topic is weighted somewhat towards direct impact for the exam rather than as underpinnings for other topics without completely ignoring the latter.
Gene Expression
Solutions
DNA Replication and Cellular Reproduction
Proteins
Acids and Bases
Reactions of Aldehydes and Ketones
Electricity
Recombination and Mutation
Work, Energy, and Power
The Chemical Bond
Chemical Thermodynamics and the Equilibrium State
The Eukaryotic Cell
Bioenergetics and Cellular Respiration
The Nervous System
The Endocrine System
Oxidation-Reduction
Electrochemistry
Chemical Kinetics
Biological Membranes
Reactions of Carboxylic Acids and Derivatives
The Molecular Biology Laboratory
Kinematics
Waves
The First Law of Thermodynamics
The States of Matter
The Second Law of Thermodynamics and Heat Engines
Newton's Laws
Fluid Mechanics
Atomic Theory
Modern Physics
Wave Optics
The Ideal Gas and Kinetic Theory
Heat and Temperature
Geometric Optics
The Lymphatic System and Immunity
The Urinary System
Stereochemistry
Mendelian Genetics
The Properties of Light
Reactions of Alkyl Halides
Thermochemistry
Sensory Systems
Reactions of Alcohols and Ethers
Nuclear Physics
Carbohydrates
The Physical Properties of Organic Compounds
Reactions of Alkanes
The Musculoskeletal System
The Cardiovascular System
Blood
Nucleic Acids
The Prokaryotic Cell
Oxidation-Reduction in Organic Chemistry
Conjugated Pi Systems and Aromaticity
Organic Acids and Bases
Nucleophiles and Electrophiles
Bacteria and Archaea
Human Genetics
Periodic Properties
Integration of Metabolism
Viruses
Molecular Spectroscopy
Animal Development and Embryology
Mammalian Tissues and Histology
Magnetism
The Respiratory System
Simple Harmonic Motion
Momentum and Impulse
The Reproductive System
Intermolecular Forces
DC Current
Electomagnetic Induction
The Digestive System and Nutrition
Reactions of Conjugated Species
Reactions with Radical Intermediates
Stoichiometry
Coordination Chemistry
Lipids
Reactions of Amines
Evolution
Ecology
Intramolecular Cationic Rearrangements
Gravitation
Fungi
AC Current
Reactions of Organic Phosphorus Compounds
Elastic Properties of Solids
Animals
Reactions of Organic Sulfur Compounds
Protista
Rotation
Reactions of Aromatic Compounds
Reactions of Alkenes
Reactions of Alkynes
Plants
Photosynthesis
For my part I am reluctant to give answers that pretend to be definitive. It's true that any given test is hard to predict. More importantly there is the fact that some topics may not be high impact in themselves but are incredibly high impact as underpinnings for the rest of the subject matter. Though a topic might not give rise to many MCAT passages in itself it may still be crucial. So much else depends on a person's understanding of chemical thermodynamics, for example, that a person can miss questions all day for the lack of attention to that topic without knowing exactly why.
Despite all that, I do have a list. I work it around year to year. It changes with my teaching experiences and my sense of how the test has evolved and continues to evolve. I am sharing my list of topics below, from highest to lowest 'impact'. I'm very interested in feedback. Please make suggestions. Please. This is a part of a new learning management system I'm working on for WikiPremed which will help people keep track of how they are doing in mastering the knowledge for the exam. If anything I've given this a lot of thought. I hope it is helpful to you even though it's all mixed up, physical and biological sciences, from the most to the least important. The importance of a topic is weighted somewhat towards direct impact for the exam rather than as underpinnings for other topics without completely ignoring the latter.
Gene Expression
Solutions
DNA Replication and Cellular Reproduction
Proteins
Acids and Bases
Reactions of Aldehydes and Ketones
Electricity
Recombination and Mutation
Work, Energy, and Power
The Chemical Bond
Chemical Thermodynamics and the Equilibrium State
The Eukaryotic Cell
Bioenergetics and Cellular Respiration
The Nervous System
The Endocrine System
Oxidation-Reduction
Electrochemistry
Chemical Kinetics
Biological Membranes
Reactions of Carboxylic Acids and Derivatives
The Molecular Biology Laboratory
Kinematics
Waves
The First Law of Thermodynamics
The States of Matter
The Second Law of Thermodynamics and Heat Engines
Newton's Laws
Fluid Mechanics
Atomic Theory
Modern Physics
Wave Optics
The Ideal Gas and Kinetic Theory
Heat and Temperature
Geometric Optics
The Lymphatic System and Immunity
The Urinary System
Stereochemistry
Mendelian Genetics
The Properties of Light
Reactions of Alkyl Halides
Thermochemistry
Sensory Systems
Reactions of Alcohols and Ethers
Nuclear Physics
Carbohydrates
The Physical Properties of Organic Compounds
Reactions of Alkanes
The Musculoskeletal System
The Cardiovascular System
Blood
Nucleic Acids
The Prokaryotic Cell
Oxidation-Reduction in Organic Chemistry
Conjugated Pi Systems and Aromaticity
Organic Acids and Bases
Nucleophiles and Electrophiles
Bacteria and Archaea
Human Genetics
Periodic Properties
Integration of Metabolism
Viruses
Molecular Spectroscopy
Animal Development and Embryology
Mammalian Tissues and Histology
Magnetism
The Respiratory System
Simple Harmonic Motion
Momentum and Impulse
The Reproductive System
Intermolecular Forces
DC Current
Electomagnetic Induction
The Digestive System and Nutrition
Reactions of Conjugated Species
Reactions with Radical Intermediates
Stoichiometry
Coordination Chemistry
Lipids
Reactions of Amines
Evolution
Ecology
Intramolecular Cationic Rearrangements
Gravitation
Fungi
AC Current
Reactions of Organic Phosphorus Compounds
Elastic Properties of Solids
Animals
Reactions of Organic Sulfur Compounds
Protista
Rotation
Reactions of Aromatic Compounds
Reactions of Alkenes
Reactions of Alkynes
Plants
Photosynthesis
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I just wanted to let folks know that WikiPremed has just added three new biology diagnostic tests this week. Now there are quizzes for both physics and biology. Each of the new tests consists of 110 true-false questions with explanations. Creating these new biology exams has been a big effort this past month, so I'm hopeful folks will let me know if anything doesn't work in the system.
There are particular identities and differences throughout the material underlying common questions and important break points in understanding that the tests are designed to communicate. The true-false format allows for topic level performance data to be generated with high resolution within a reasonable time-frame.
There is a lot of new programming with the new exams. The system now provides explanations between questions, instead of waiting until the end, and there is now a new printable score report giving all of the questions and explanations as a study tool. The memory errors that were plaguing us a month ago should be fixed. If you try the tests out, please let me know if the system acts up in any way. It's a mountain of spaghetti programming so there may still be a bug in there. I hope these things are fun as well as helpful. All the best.
There are particular identities and differences throughout the material underlying common questions and important break points in understanding that the tests are designed to communicate. The true-false format allows for topic level performance data to be generated with high resolution within a reasonable time-frame.
There is a lot of new programming with the new exams. The system now provides explanations between questions, instead of waiting until the end, and there is now a new printable score report giving all of the questions and explanations as a study tool. The memory errors that were plaguing us a month ago should be fixed. If you try the tests out, please let me know if the system acts up in any way. It's a mountain of spaghetti programming so there may still be a bug in there. I hope these things are fun as well as helpful. All the best.
JohnWetzel, you are my hero!! Damn!! you are awesome.
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John, thank you so much for all your hard work. I am beginning studying now for my third and hopefully final attempt at the MCAT and I just don't think I could push through those textbooks again, so your video lectures are a lifesaver. Question that I'm sure you get asked all the time: is there a reason you don't use youtube to host your videos? Advertising is really easy to set up on there and I (and I'm guessing most others) would gladly watch a 6 second ad at the start of each video to help fund this project. Also, and please don't take this as an insult, but you talk a little bit slowly at times, and youtube has rolled out HTML 5 to supported browsers ( http://www.youtube.com/html5 ), which allows you to increase the video speed, which is a huge time saver for me (I always listened to my lecture recordings at at least 1.5x speed in undergrad as well). Anyhow, that was just a suggestion/question; I just purchased your study pack (primarily for the DVD of videos so I don't have to rip and convert them all from the current hosting in order to watch them at a higher playback speed) and I'm excited to see that you are still adding new content and hope that when the new videos hit the web there will be a high speed playback option!
Also, quoting this for the new page; having taken the exam twice myself I will say that this list seems accurate based on my experiences.
Also, quoting this for the new page; having taken the exam twice myself I will say that this list seems accurate based on my experiences.
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malaika, Thank you for your kind comments, and thank you for your offer to provide WikiPremed technical expertise and help in web development. My feeling is that some of the site is starting to get a bit out of date design-wise, so I am glad for your help. It's all hard coded using HTML and CSS on the front-end with PHP and MYSQL on the back-end. Some pages follow good modular design principles and some do not. It's a big, sprawling thing. I'm trying to get up to speed these days on some of the newer tools like JQUERY and AJAX that look like a lot of fun. As I bring new content and learning management services onto WikiPremed over the next few months the front-end design will also improve. Maybe I should break down and start using Dreamweaver. I believe WikiPremed can definitely be more accessible and intuitive. I really appreciate your offer of advice. I will definitely PM you in the future. Thank you!
Eptar I am glad you like the topic list. I should make the point that this list isn't based on any specific study of question frequency from actual exams. It comes out of a sense of what subject-matter is most relevant to the exam from years of teaching and my sense of AAMC's own pedagogical approach as conveyed in their public statements and practice materials. Also, a topic may have a higher place on the list as underpinnings than as a source for MCAT passages, so you can take it as you will. The relative weighting of topics is part of a new learning management system I'm building for WikiPremed, so I thought I would share and get feedback.
Speaking of feedback, I should mention that a person whose opinion I respect did tell me that they themselves would have ranked Fluid Mechanics and Electrochemistry as the two topics of highest importance in Physics and Chemistry respectively. I will probably elevate them in a future version of this list, though it is hard to see putting Electrochemistry above Solutions. It's also hard to split hairs. They are both essential.
And yes yes yes. I have heard that I talk too slowly on the videos. Unlike some of the other education videos out there, I recorded the WikiPremed videos in live teaching. This gives them a bit of a different feeling and pacing, and a lot of the talk is extemporaneous instead of scripted. However, while my speech moment to moment is extemporaneous, the overall structure of the program is intricately planned out. so I hope folks will have patience with the course, because I believe it will get you further than anything else out there, whether a live course or video. That being said, I can see the benefit of Youtube's HTML5 player, as you suggest, which would allow folks to speed up the videos at the browser level. I might definitely move them over to Youtube. Our current host Blip.tv is not the best fit, anyway, for a number of reasons. I might definitely do this, though as long as Youtube will let me upload longer format videos with no monetization, which I think is possible. Although I can understand how advertising could benefit WikiPremed's finances, I'm just not going to have ads. It's not going to happen. From my perspective as a teacher I feel like it's hard enough to get students into the right state of concentration without having to compete for attention with ads on my own site. I like the current way WikiPremed has of supporting itself, to produce and sell printed works derived from the larger project, printed works that are a good value proposition in themselves. Nothing is at cross purposes that way. As a business we're doing okay. It's a good product at a good price, so as long as we keep a focus on that I think we'll be okay without ads.
Anyway, thanks again for the kind comments and suggestions. Good luck everyone.
Eptar I am glad you like the topic list. I should make the point that this list isn't based on any specific study of question frequency from actual exams. It comes out of a sense of what subject-matter is most relevant to the exam from years of teaching and my sense of AAMC's own pedagogical approach as conveyed in their public statements and practice materials. Also, a topic may have a higher place on the list as underpinnings than as a source for MCAT passages, so you can take it as you will. The relative weighting of topics is part of a new learning management system I'm building for WikiPremed, so I thought I would share and get feedback.
Speaking of feedback, I should mention that a person whose opinion I respect did tell me that they themselves would have ranked Fluid Mechanics and Electrochemistry as the two topics of highest importance in Physics and Chemistry respectively. I will probably elevate them in a future version of this list, though it is hard to see putting Electrochemistry above Solutions. It's also hard to split hairs. They are both essential.
And yes yes yes. I have heard that I talk too slowly on the videos. Unlike some of the other education videos out there, I recorded the WikiPremed videos in live teaching. This gives them a bit of a different feeling and pacing, and a lot of the talk is extemporaneous instead of scripted. However, while my speech moment to moment is extemporaneous, the overall structure of the program is intricately planned out. so I hope folks will have patience with the course, because I believe it will get you further than anything else out there, whether a live course or video. That being said, I can see the benefit of Youtube's HTML5 player, as you suggest, which would allow folks to speed up the videos at the browser level. I might definitely move them over to Youtube. Our current host Blip.tv is not the best fit, anyway, for a number of reasons. I might definitely do this, though as long as Youtube will let me upload longer format videos with no monetization, which I think is possible. Although I can understand how advertising could benefit WikiPremed's finances, I'm just not going to have ads. It's not going to happen. From my perspective as a teacher I feel like it's hard enough to get students into the right state of concentration without having to compete for attention with ads on my own site. I like the current way WikiPremed has of supporting itself, to produce and sell printed works derived from the larger project, printed works that are a good value proposition in themselves. Nothing is at cross purposes that way. As a business we're doing okay. It's a good product at a good price, so as long as we keep a focus on that I think we'll be okay without ads.
Anyway, thanks again for the kind comments and suggestions. Good luck everyone.
Thank you for your generosity and energy creating WikiPremed John. It is a great asset to be able to utilize. I was wondering if the quicktime videos of wikipremed are posted online or are available to use? Thank you!
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Physics Flashcards are second-to-none! You a wizard or something?
Seriously great flashcards, they help more than reading TBR.
Seriously great flashcards, they help more than reading TBR.
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Yeah. People just complain that he speaks too slowly, but if you search wikipremed on SDN, you'll find the ways people have sped up his speaking.
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wikipremed is just another tool in the belt.
it is very comprehensive.....more info than i like for just the MCAT....
i have used it several times to clarify topics when i was confused or just burned out...and it definitely help sometimes...
overall....i recommend that you Favorite it....and use it when necessary
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I was watching some of the videos and they go sooooo slow. What 'detailed' materials are you talking about? the concepts pdf's??
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Hi Everyone. I wanted to thank everyone for your kind comments and constructive criticisms. Tell you the truth I'm throwing in the towel on WikiPremed videos being too slow. There are some good reasons why the videos at WikiPremed are so long, but those reasons aren't enough. On the one hand, they are long because there is a great deal of work going on building themes and developing ideas in an interdisciplinary way, and the people who have patience with the course come to understand this after the first few modules and ultimately benefit a great deal from this approach. However, because the recordings were done in small group teaching, with the ebb and flow of interactions of real people working through things in real time, I think the videos do require too much patience. I have to admit that they are much better at 1.5 speed. Anyway, Ive found some software that will allow me to convert them all to 1.5X without changing the pitch of the audio, so over the next week the faster versions will start appearing as the default online versions and hopefully this will make the course better.
Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't been on SDN for a while because I've been immersed in the day-to-day work here, as well as some big development projects for 2015. In the Fall, WikiPremed will begin its transition to the new MCAT. I'll try to keep things well organized for everyone taking the current format in January. WikiPremed's way of doing things is very much in line with the integrated approach of the new test, so I'm very excited about the new MCAT.
Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't been on SDN for a while because I've been immersed in the day-to-day work here, as well as some big development projects for 2015. In the Fall, WikiPremed will begin its transition to the new MCAT. I'll try to keep things well organized for everyone taking the current format in January. WikiPremed's way of doing things is very much in line with the integrated approach of the new test, so I'm very excited about the new MCAT.
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I just wanted to follow up on my last message in this thread. To make the WikiPremed video course more time-efficient, we have re-distilled all of the streaming videos to run about 30% faster. We have started uploading the new versions today. It should take us a couple of days to work through the whole course. After all of the new versions are up on the site, the video course will be reduced by approximately 20 hours, so it will be more concentrated in knowledge, and the viewing experience is better.
There are a lot of small steps to this. A mistake could get missed, so if anyone runs into a nonfunctioning video, please let me know. I would really appreciate it.
There are a lot of small steps to this. A mistake could get missed, so if anyone runs into a nonfunctioning video, please let me know. I would really appreciate it.
Last edited:
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Hey John,
I'm not sure if you'll see this comment, but I'll try anyway!
I believe there is an error on the back of card [17] in the physics flashcards set. The resultant vector seems to exclude the ratio of the 45-45-90 triangle. Since the two sides are 2 each, the resultant vector should be 2 x rad3, so I think the answer is C instead of A.
Hope you see this and can confirm!
Thanks for all your hard work--I'm really enjoying your products.
I'm not sure if you'll see this comment, but I'll try anyway!
I believe there is an error on the back of card [17] in the physics flashcards set. The resultant vector seems to exclude the ratio of the 45-45-90 triangle. Since the two sides are 2 each, the resultant vector should be 2 x rad3, so I think the answer is C instead of A.
Hope you see this and can confirm!
Thanks for all your hard work--I'm really enjoying your products.
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Over the years I have been very thankful for the allowance at SDN for me to post updates about progress at WikiPremed in this thread. This is my first post in a long time. The past couple of years at WikiPremed have been all about teaching for the new exam and rebuilding. We're making progress! At this point I've taught about fifty cycles, so I guess that's the update. I'm finally ready to start making new video, so keep an eye on WikiPremed. We're not dead yet! I'm really happy with the new course and the site redesign.
In celebration of still being around I decided to make a post today to share an Anki deck for psychology I created for my students. I decided to remove the physical set of flashcards we have been selling from our list because the digital version is so much more advantageous. With printed materials the philosophy has always been to produce a printed publication only if the medium has advantages not captured by digital versions. For this publication, though, the Anki format is just much better. And much lighter! So here is is! Comprehensive psychology and sociology concepts:
MCAT Psychology & Sociology Cards - WikiPremed - AnkiWeb
In celebration of still being around I decided to make a post today to share an Anki deck for psychology I created for my students. I decided to remove the physical set of flashcards we have been selling from our list because the digital version is so much more advantageous. With printed materials the philosophy has always been to produce a printed publication only if the medium has advantages not captured by digital versions. For this publication, though, the Anki format is just much better. And much lighter! So here is is! Comprehensive psychology and sociology concepts:
MCAT Psychology & Sociology Cards - WikiPremed - AnkiWeb
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Over the years this thread on SDN has functioned as something of a history of WikiPremed. I haven’t been posting so often lately, so I think an update is due. Given WikiPremed’s new found obscurity, a form of re-introduction may be needed. WikiPremed is an open, unified MCAT course that evolved from small group teaching methods in the early 2000s. Methods evolved over time into a unified course integrating physical and biological science concepts. In its heyday WikiPremed had reached the point of being ‘somewhat internet famous’ as an educational resource. At its peak we were helping thousands of students each year as a primary resource for MCAT review. Here is what WikiPremed looked like a few years ago.
With the introduction of the new exam, we shifted back to development work. For the past three years this has meant a great deal of teaching on my part as well as development work to rebuild WikiPremed. The impetus for development has always come from teaching with me. That’s my process. At this point I’ve taught somewhere north of fifty cycles with the new MCAT. It’s been an enormous amount of work, and many friendships have been formed. I really love the new MCAT. I’m happy with the work and its progress. I really enjoy the teaching. So that’s what’s been happening with WikiPremed.
There are many useful things we’ve developed recently for the new site, especially, I think, the psychology content, the revised physics cards, and the organic mechanisms integrated with biochemistry. While the course structure on the site is helpful, I think at this stage WikiPremed is most useful as a collection of supplemental resources and as a helpful guide to integrating review. We have many new resources and publications, and our older publications are fully revised, but we haven’t released any new video yet. I think people will find our new course pretty incredible when it’s finally edited and released, to be honest. It won’t be long now. The videos are turning out well. It’s paradoxical that revising for the new integrated exam would turn into a huge project for a course based on interdisciplinary teaching, but the new exam is very different in its challenges than the old exam.
We recently added a book of practice items for the psychology/sociology section to our publications. This book is not on the site yet in downloadable chapters. I just haven’t had time to do it. I think this book is a big reason for the recent success of our students in the psychology section of the test. We work very hard to prepare for the science sections, but we’re doing as well in psychology as on the science sections. The book is probably about 10% harder than the exam. It stretches a person to become more sophisticated about psychology. Here’s a PDF of the current edition. I hope it’s helpful for everyone!
600 Psychology Practice Items
With the introduction of the new exam, we shifted back to development work. For the past three years this has meant a great deal of teaching on my part as well as development work to rebuild WikiPremed. The impetus for development has always come from teaching with me. That’s my process. At this point I’ve taught somewhere north of fifty cycles with the new MCAT. It’s been an enormous amount of work, and many friendships have been formed. I really love the new MCAT. I’m happy with the work and its progress. I really enjoy the teaching. So that’s what’s been happening with WikiPremed.
There are many useful things we’ve developed recently for the new site, especially, I think, the psychology content, the revised physics cards, and the organic mechanisms integrated with biochemistry. While the course structure on the site is helpful, I think at this stage WikiPremed is most useful as a collection of supplemental resources and as a helpful guide to integrating review. We have many new resources and publications, and our older publications are fully revised, but we haven’t released any new video yet. I think people will find our new course pretty incredible when it’s finally edited and released, to be honest. It won’t be long now. The videos are turning out well. It’s paradoxical that revising for the new integrated exam would turn into a huge project for a course based on interdisciplinary teaching, but the new exam is very different in its challenges than the old exam.
We recently added a book of practice items for the psychology/sociology section to our publications. This book is not on the site yet in downloadable chapters. I just haven’t had time to do it. I think this book is a big reason for the recent success of our students in the psychology section of the test. We work very hard to prepare for the science sections, but we’re doing as well in psychology as on the science sections. The book is probably about 10% harder than the exam. It stretches a person to become more sophisticated about psychology. Here’s a PDF of the current edition. I hope it’s helpful for everyone!
600 Psychology Practice Items
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