<p>After my four years of effortless 'A's in high school classes, a sub-3.0 first semester GPA was a well-deserved slap in the face. I didn't realize until too late that it would be necessary to put in time outside of class to learn the material: I (foolishly) thought that showing up to class the majority of the time and understanding what the professors said would be enough. And once I did realize that active learning (reviewing notes outside of class, reading the textbook, taking notes) would be necessary in order to do well, I realized, more importantly, that I had no idea how to do so. </p>
<p>I'm devoting some of my time during this break to learning the material that I never quite mastered during the semester so I can go on in these subjects with confidence. So I'm asking for your advice, CC (especially people who have done well in intro science courses: think biology, neuroscience, etc.; classes where memorization is really key). I know everyone is different, but what have you found effective in memorizing material? Does highlighting the textbooks help? Typing up outlines? Taking notes by hand? </p>
<p>if i wereee you i’d read what you’re supposed to 2 or 3 times, 1st time pretty leisurely then the 2nd time really think about it and see all the connections you can, then the 3rd time if you need to to recap. then if you wanna you can make an outline or summary or vocab words but highlighting/notes as you go takes a lot of time and distracts you and gives you false sense of productivity so most important is 2 just think about it as you read. that’s what i think, but ive never done a memory intensive course in college. do some experiments to see what works best for you!</p>
<p>I pretty much re-write my notes into a study guide. If something is in a bulky paragraph, I break it down into steps. I then read over it once. I then go back, memorize each thing on the page, and when I get to the end, do the whole page at once. I have someone ask me a question, then answer. </p>
<p>For certain things, like if you need to know a group, I make up sayings. In anatomy, for instance, we would have to know the thigh flexors, so I would make up a saying with the beginning letter of each word.</p>
<p>For certain things, like definitions, I do index cards, but writing takes me too long, so I use online card makers because I can type fast, then print them.</p>
<p>So I’m actually stalking your posts right now, but that’s ok.</p>
<p>What helps for me is taking as many notes as a can. I do the readings before class and take notes while I read (I usually type summaries of the textbook as I read). I then take as many notes as I can during lectures. Then when studying for exams, I go over all of the notes I’ve taken, often writing out all of the things I cannot remember immediately off the top of my head. Subsequently, I explain things to myself and if I cannot do a satisfactory job, I go back to my notes and write out all of the things I forgot. I also create a separate document of questions that I can easily access when given the opportunity to speak to a TA about the material (if there’s time).</p>
<p>That alone is half the battle, eatingfood. </p>
<p>OP</p>
<p>I am by no means a hard sciences major in that my senior thesis is based on process philosophy and whatnot. But, maybe, that book: “What Smart Students Know” can help you in terms of organization techniques for memorization. There is also a really nice blog by Cal Newport. Cal Newport is the only person I have seen tackle the issue of really learning nice study skills for the hard sciences as well as the higher maths. </p>
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<p>This just, like, warms my heart. I am sure that your family is very proud of you for being soo proactive during the winter time holidays.</p>
<p>Somebody just recommended Cal Newport to me earlier! His blog seems awesome, and I will definitely be using some of his techniques. I love his article “A Time Management System for Students Who Are Terrible at Time Management And Tend to Hate it More Than Slow Torture Involving Electrical Current and Sensitive Anatomy”; it made me giggle. XD Thank you!</p>
<p>I’m majoring in chemistry and neuroscience and at first, my intro bio courses were reallly frustrating because I would study my ass off, then get a 45 on the exam, and the class avg would be 60. Hang in there, because with the biological sciences, the first year is really a LOT of memorization, then it become more concept-based. It’s frustrating because it’s not like chem or physics where it’s based on math. </p>
<ol>
<li>start studying early - timing in these classes is key, because you can’t cram everything in the last week. I used to procratinate and cram so much, it just doesn’t work in intense-memorization type class</li>
<li>Flashcards are a waste of time imo because there’s literally hundreds of definitions to memorize</li>
<li>Go to every class and try to process and understand the stuff presented in lecture - don’t blow it off and say you’ll read the text later</li>
<li>Make outlines as you go along - if you cover 2 chapters a week for example, read those chapters and type up outlines - then by the end of the semester, instead of flipping through 20 chapters or so, you’ll have these outlines handy</li>
</ol>
<p>I make outlines, too, although I don’t usually end up using them to study. It’s really the process of outlining that’s helpful, since you retain so much more when you have to put the information in your own words.</p>
<p>Another thing I find immensely helpful is to read actively. That is, I always try to make connections when I’m reading the textbook. If the book gives one example, I might try to come up with another. If the book gives a sample problem, I do the sample problem and then try to make it harder by changing it slightly. I scribble questions in my notebook as I read. Sometimes, by the end of the reading, the textbook will have answered my questions. If not, I ask a TA or the professor during office hours. I do the same thing in lecture. I jot down questions that pop up during lecture and then ask the professor after class. I’m sure my professors get tired of seeing me in their office with my typed-up questions, but I feel like I understand the material so much better this way.</p>
<p>And reading the textbook before class is a really good idea too. When you read the textbook for the first time, you can just skim it to get a basic idea of what you need to learn.</p>
<p>For me, it kind of depends on the type of questions on the test that I’m studying for. I took an intro biology course where 75% of each test was multiple choice. When studying for that, I’d simply read over my notes once or twice before the test and maybe write out some of the larger concepts (that were likely to be short answer questions). I then took another intro biology course where there were NO multiple choice questions - everything was short answer, fill-in tables and such, and true/false. My studying style changed dramatically. I realized after the first two tests that reading the book was completely unnecessary, because the professors only tested us on what was taught in class, no more, no less. I started taking obsessive notes. The professors (it was team-taught) would give us these handouts, and I would type those up along with my own notes into a study guide of sorts. I wouldn’t really actually go back and read the study guide; the process of simply consolidating and reviewing the information was enough for me.</p>
<p>So, it depends on what the tests are like and what your learning style is. I’m a very verbal person, so I learn well by reading and writing. A more visual person might learn better by looking at the graphs and pictures and such. I found that as a very verbal person, it helped me a lot to look at the graphs and pictures and translate them into words.</p>
<p>This might sound weird, but I study by “teaching” the material to others. What I mean is that I make my cat sit in a room with me and listen to my long, drawn-out lectures, accompanied by my own whiteboard illustrations, textbook readings, and explanations in my own words. If you can interpret the information, and reiterate/explain it in such a way that another ‘person’ (or cat, in this case) can comprehend it, then there’s a good chance you’ll know it like the back of your own hand by the time you’re done.</p>
<p>Biology comes naturally to me, but for anatomy I would print out anatomical diagrams, and tape a paper flap over the names. I’d take a guess at the name of the structure, and check under the flap, and I’d use the same sheet probably 1-2 times per day for 1-2 weeks. It worked out well enough, I can still name all the tricky ones that seem to bother most students (structure of the heart+brain, bones of the ankles+wrists, etc)</p>