<p>I went to the Bio Sci 2A seminar last Friday and Professor O'Dowd was talking about how studying with flashcards and reviewing notes was ineffective for really learning the concepts in Bio 93.</p>
<p>That's how I usually study, and I studied like that in AP Bio.</p>
<p>Are flashcards and note reviewing really not a good thing to do?</p>
<p>How should I study for the class to make sure I learn the concepts and not simply memorize the material?</p>
<p>Bio 93…hahahahahahahaha, have fun sir…I’ll get some useful post in here by tomorrow from my friends, but yeah, I’m not taking it…</p>
<p>i usually read the section that the prof is gonna go over before the lecture, but idk if it works-i mean we havent had a test or anything yet, so its hard to tell. if it makes any difference i already know what to expect during the lecture-and i feel confident hahaa</p>
<p>Biology is all memorizing. What did you THINK it was? There’s no math in biology, you don’t analyze anything or need independent thought, so what’s left besides memorization? If you can’t tough out 93, you won’t survive bio; even if you tough it out, you still might not survive. or you may survive, maybe even have a high GPA, but hate yourself and your major. Instead I recommend engineering or physical sciences (math/chem/physics/geo) since they’re far less memorization based.</p>
<p>Also, use EEE.uci.edu’s class websites section to look at previous class tests.</p>
<p>^ On the contrary bio 97, genetics, required more thinking and problem solving. Can’t memorize your way out of that one. In genetics there IS math and probability in there as well as hypothetical situations (If ___ happens, what would be the result? If ____ occurred, why did this happen? etc) that you have to figure out. Just fyi. </p>
<p>93 on the other hand is, yes, all memorizing. Flash cards and note reviewing is always helpful. I think professor O’Dowd was just trying to emphasize that it’s a lot of material to know so you have to be active when you study, rather than just flipping through the text. It might help to get with a friend and quiz each other or teach each other. Honestly I never did that but I got a low B in that class so that might have made a big difference. That, and well…not procrastinating of course.</p>
<p>I’m a 4th year with 1 class away from graduation but decided to switch to chem. 97 and 98 were the only classes that had any sort of problem solving whatsoever, and for 98 it was only the first half. Everything else was pure memorization. Starting with 98 2nd half, to 99, physiology, cell, development, then electives like cancer genetics, micro, signal transduction, immuno, all memorization.</p>
<p>genetics, biochem 1st half, and advanced biochem are the only quantitative classes in biology that are usually taken since the computational class got cancelled.</p>
<p>like you said, 93 is pure memorization, but it’s at least not the most annoying form of memorization since its interesting. Just read the book like a novel and look up things you don’t understand. Now development felt like slow torture.</p>
<p>@LastThreeYears: I have no problem with memorizing the material. I’m only asking if there’s a more effective way because the professors have said time and time again that they don’t recommend just simply memorizing the material.</p>
<p>From your post you seem a bit arrogant, but maybe it’s just because it’s the internet. I love Bio and have no intention of switching my major.</p>
<p>There’s truly no better way of memorizing. I wish I could help you but you can’t give help in bio the way you can on physics or chemistry. All I can say is, if you think you can pass, you can stop reading the book, otherwise you can keep going.</p>
<p>Not arrogant, just don’t want people repeating my mistakes. How am I arrogant when I’m just against bio?</p>
<p>It’s all about your wording. There’s helping people nicely and there’s helping people with a snappy attitude… that’s all I’ll say. :p</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I read this over like 20 times and was like… huh!!! Why does hating bio 93 automatically equate to hating the major. </p>
<p>Just cause you’re not good or skilled doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it or because you are good at something mean you should do it. Einstein struggled with math but he still was a brilliant theoretical physicist and my guess is he loved it.</p>
<p>Being in a lecture seems to be everything you based the biology major around. But I’d say you should keep the major anyways because…</p>
<p>It’s not the same in practice, ie in the field, in the lab, and at times you need to stick it through the whole way to get yourself out there into the field and into the lab. At this moment you won’t hate your life or your major then if the root of this hate is memorization… With that said… there’s hundreds of 199 courses out there…</p>
<p>i agree. do some real bio research before you decide for sure, but be warned, don’t do it too late otherwise you might be trapped in bio.</p>
<p>heres a sample of what i did: go in, fix samples in methanol, section them, blot with antibody, wash, blot with fluorescent molecule attached to antibody that is against first antibody, microscope, take photo, record results, repeat. over and over again.</p>
<p>bio 199 has no creative design work. all of it is just analyzing what already exists; doing so requires what i did above, or something similar. if you want to do creative work, switch to chemistry or electrical engineering, those require real thinking.</p>
<p>and the reason i say bio 93 is an indicator of future success is, bio lecture is all the same, there’s 2 quantitative classes, the rest are just useless memorization that doesn’t prepare you for any job. your best bet is to look at future required classes and see if you want to continue. many biology students gave up on memorization and switched to chemistry or electrical engineering. 5 of my friends did, i was stupid enough to keep going in bio, now they’ve got contracts for jobs and i’m stuck with a worthless degree.</p>
<p>einstein did not struggle with math. he was good enough at math to create a theory using differential geometry, one of the hardest fields of math there is. if i was good enough to use differential geometry to create a new physical theory, even the toughest engineering math would be a joke.</p>
<p>“bio 199 has no creative design work. all of it is just analyzing what already exists; doing so requires what i did above, or something similar. if you want to do creative work, switch to chemistry or electrical engineering, those require real thinking.”</p>
<p>The conclusion that bio 199 has no creative design work does not imply biology does not require real thinking. </p>
<p>For instance my lab is working on a novel gene/protein of the family FNDC3 and to discover it’s mechanism of action and interaction with developing cells you have to be able to think and be creative. No existing literature is extensively available on this matter, only a few papers here and there and papers dealing with similar but not quite proteins. Different tests and procedures are required for fully analyzing this protein. You just went SOL in your lab.</p>
<p>You fail to explain how this degree worthless when biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies offer some of the best jobs out there.
See Fortune 500 list:
<a href=“http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2010/pay/[/url]”>http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2010/pay/</a></p>
<p>Bio 93 is definitely not an indicator of future success because it’s first quarter and well, stuff happens. You’re only a freshman once. Getting a 0.5 GPA in your first quarter doesn’t really mean you should drop out of college or switch majors.</p>
<p>I mean seriously the bio curve is so generous. Do better than half the class you get a B. I mean come on not all 400 students in lecture are genius at UCI, you can do better than half the class.</p>
<p>Oh wow that Einstein thing was a myth… my bad. Alright next example, most people either suck at general chemistry or suck at organic chemistry which are like the two first classes here… But they still major in chemistry.</p>
<p>So like you can hate biology for what it’s worth and still become a great botanist or zoologist. (comparing bio 93 and 94) This example works… just trust.</p>
<p>it reflects your learning style and learning ability. and even if you get a high grade, it doesn’t really mean anything - how much did you seriously learn from 93? that c. elegans is a good model organism and dynenin is a transport protein, that’s all i remember and i got an A. how does that help you when finding a job? it doesn’t. compare that to physics 7C. what do you learn? real world examples applied to real world situations that will definitely help you on a job and maybe even real life. a simple example is, calculating how high you have to climb to burn off even 1 calorie, showing that the best way to lose weight is by eating less and that excercise is a secondary factor, even with the body’s inefficiency factored in. </p>
<p>both are introductory classes, one’s useful, the other’s not. you also saw right here that there’s biology in physics, but there’s little physics in biology.</p>
<p>“help you on a job and maybe even real life.”</p>
<p>Let’s be straight here. Unless you’re a professor of ____/senior researcher/research associate you’ll almost never need to model anything using all the techniques you learned in class for your job… almost ever. 1 course and a few equations or facts or details will take you a long way. </p>
<p>Engineers I know look at calculus and say lol, i forgot all that, never use it. Business track people, really don’t care about supply and demand learned in econ 20b. etc etc.</p>
<p>so i just got f***** by Busciglio’s bio midterm today. I dont know who the hell said his tests were easy.</p>
<p>Not sure if any of you actually took O’Dowd’s class, but simple memorization will have you struggling in her class. Most of her quiz and test questions requires you to apply what you “memorized” from lectures and notes to problems. Many questions involve problems that aren’t explicitly covered in class. I will say that you will probably learn a lot from her and might recommend her class if you are a bio major. I’d look for something else if you just need to fill a bio course to meet general ed requirements.</p>
<p>ckwik thats what happened in busciglio’s class this year-perhaps they used a common test or something?</p>
<p>KMA howd u do??? omg…that test… was horrible…grades are out though!</p>