<p>I'm facing a dilemma here... My biology professor (class of 350 students) is so incoherent and talks so quickly that I can't understand a word that he says. He also has no control over the class and they are all loud and noisy. I can't concentrate when I'm in the lecture, and even if I could, he jumps from concept to concept so quickly that I can't even begin to comprehend any of what he is teaching. He'll also start talking about lymphocytes and cyclohexane and the structures of molecules that none of us are familiar with. Seriously, this is INTRO to biology... not some advanced class where we have this huge repertoire of biological knowledge... The thing is, attendance is not taken. I feel like it is a waste of my time to go, and in fact, it is actually stressing me out and making me frustrated. In the same token, he says that the exams are solely based on lecture material, not from the book... BUT, when I look in the book, he is reading almost directly from them! I am so afraid that if I stop going I'll miss something important, but in the same token, when I DO go, I'm concentrating so hard on just trying to write down everything he says so that I can look it up later and see what the hell he was talking about that I'm missing the other half of what he is saying!</p>
<p>Uggghhhhh.... What would you do? Any advice?</p>
<p>Read the chapter(s) and take good notes before going to the class. Then go to the class and see if his lecture matches up with the information and notes that you've all ready worked on. You may be able to follow the lecture better if you've read the material ahead of time. Sit towards the front of the lecture room where people are more likely to be pay attention and not talk throughout the lecture. Definitely take advantage of the office hours to go over anything that you're not sure about. You might even think about starting a Bio study group and meet once a week so a few of you can discuss the material together (maybe use Facebook to start a study group with a few kids in the class).</p>
<p>Another idea is that if you can sit where the professor does most of lecturing from you can also use recording device and replay lecture to review concepts talked about and try to organize them in your notes in more of a structure you're comfortable.</p>
<p>If you feel that this really isn't the professor for you then you might want to try to switch sections to another professor during drop/add timeframe.</p>
<p>Read the chapter and maybe a little of the next before going to class. With something like Biology, I don't see how the exams could just be based on lectures. That's a subject that is pretty standard, so if you read the book and do any practices quizzes or exercises, then I think you'll be fine not going to class if you're really not getting anything from it.</p>
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He'll also start talking about lymphocytes and cyclohexane and the structures of molecules that none of us are familiar with
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<p>Tangents are how I came fascinated with biology... ;) </p>
<p>But really, is he talking about lymphocytes at an advanced level, or just to explain a mechanism to prove his point? Because the basics of the immune system (such as T-cell selection, etc., the biochemistry of antibody creation) do fall under intro to biology. </p>
<p>The funny thing is that honors biology courses may be better for you, due to the smaller class size and more attentive teachers...</p>
<p>I agree that tangents and little interesting tidbits of information ARE fascinating, but he talks about them on an advanced level, as if you'd need a solid understanding of the subject matter already.</p>
<p>I was just looking over my notes -- and I can write alarmingly fast (I've had people actually comment on it and ask how the hell I learned how to do that) though my writing is horrible -- and in my notes I actually see that A) half the words were spelled wrong, e.g. "makes" was written as "maks" and "muscle" was written as "musl" unintentionally, B) half the words are incomplete, e.g. "phospholipid" became "phosp" and "protein" became "prote," and C) I don't understand WHY any of these thing happen. For example, today he was talking about cholesterol and I managed to scribble "transport lipoprotein, HMG-COA reductase pathway, sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 and 2," and I haven't a clue what any of that means. Not only do I not know what half of those things are, but I also don't know how they relate to one another or what role they play in anything. I'll look it up later, but I'm sure he listed quite a few things after that that I couldn't get down because I was so effing confused about the HMG COA reductase....</p>
<p>You're confusing me. On one hand, you seem to be saying that what is happening in lecture is too hard and/or too fast for you, and that you don't understand. On the other hand, you also seem to be saying that what is happening in lecture is exactly what is in the book.</p>
<p>If what's happening in lecture is boring because literally nothing happens besides what you have already mastered from the book (and you should be showing up having already mastered everything that's in the reading), then maybe you have a justification for cutting. If what's happening is boring because it's too hard, then you don't need to cut, you need to improve your performance.</p>
<p>When you say "...but he talks about them on an advanced level, as if you'd need a solid understanding of the subject matter already," it sounds as if you don't recognize that you are already supposed to have a solid understanding of what's in the book before you show up to the lecture. I could be wrong: I'm not really following you. But it worries me.</p>
<p>To be fair, cyclohexane and lymphocytes are pretty basic things...</p>
<p>Anyway, another option is to drop the class, use ratemyprofessor or word of mouth to see if there is a GOOD biology teacher (there probably is) and just take that class. Going through an entire semester with a terrible teacher is an awful experience, trust me.</p>
<p>There are two ways of learning in college. First, attending a lecture and making sure you spend several hours organizing what you have learned through study groups, research, self-study, etc. Second, self-studying before lectures so using the lecture time to organize your understanding.</p>
<p>You mentioned about not going to class and self-studying the topic. Well, that could be an option, but if I were you, I'd rather self-study in advance to the lectures. The more hours you spend for the prep., the better your understandings will grow.</p>
<p>In these situations, I pay better attention when I go over the material ahead of time. I know how frustrating it is when the professor isn't the best lecturer; one of my professors has a thick greek accent.</p>
<p>as has been mentioned... sit towards the front. Read the chapter before you go. If it's coming right from the book, you can follow the lecture.</p>
<p>On another note, I can't believe your professor doesn't have a quiet lecture hall. The few classes I had in a lecture hall were very quiet. Sometimes people talked with their neighbor, but overall, quite quiet.</p>
<p>Just go to class.
At least you'll have a idea about the progress. Last year,I hated my physics I and I hardly went to class..the consequence was a disaster..I only got A-.</p>
<p>study from both the book and the lecture until you take the first exam. If the first exam covered what the book covered, stop showing up. Also, if you're really worried, drop the class and make up for it over the summer.</p>
<p>Oh, I couldn't figure out whether you really thought that A was really a disaster or not. (I think I'm borderline autistic ... I'm not really good at detecting sarcasm online.)</p>
<p>I'm surprised no one has mentioned this already.</p>
<p>Go to class until you have your first exam. Then you'll see whether exam material really is from lecture or whether it draws more from the book, like you say. If, based on that exam, you find that the material can be studied from the book, then skip lecture. On the other hand, if it turns out that the exam draws heavily on things mentioned in lecture that are not in the book, keep going to class.</p>
<p>If you go to a top school 4.0s are truly exceptional, no? 3.67 doesn't sound like a lot of damage to an average. Considering some top schools' averages run at 3.2, never mind 3.5...</p>