So..science brings me down yet again

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>So I'm done with first semester freshman year, and I have an A, A-, B+, and C+ (in my ridiculously hard anthro class). I studied literally for a week straight for anthro, felt great about the final, and ended up getting a 73 on it. The TAs grade really hard for tests in that class, and I'm wondering if I should ask to see my final exam and figure out what they took off so many points for. I just called my parents and they think I should at least go ask, but I don't know if it's just a waste of time because they probably won't give me any points back anyway.</p>

<p>I really wasn't expecting to end up with this low a grade, and I kind of feel cheated since I killed myself last week studying for it. Should I let it go or should I give some grade-grubbing a try? A C+ isn't the worst grade in the world, but it's still frustrating, so I don't know..</p>

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<p>Yes, go in and take a look, especially if you felt really good about the exam and the grade was really unexpected. If this was a large class, many times graders will be rushed (especially for finals which have deadlines for grades) and will grade strictly by the key. I looked at my gen chem final freshmen year and ended up getting like 10 points back because, although I got the question wrong, I had most of the reasoning steps right. </p>

<p>One thing to note though, don't automatically assume that there must have been a mistake or you were cheated of points. Take note of what you missed and the reason. Were you just rushed for time? Careless? Forgot the concepts? Didn't understand the material well enough? Didn't study thoroughly enough? If you can pinpoint a trend or problem with your study habits, this can help you with future studying for exams/finals. Obviously, if the TA just graded wrong, then do tell the prof and get points back.</p>

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<p>I studied a whole week for my molecular biology and genetics final and was caught flatfooted when the test turned out to be a "choose all that applied" multiple choice extravaganza. It's very possible, especially if there are a lot of material of cover in detail.</p>

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<p>
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but I don't know if it's just a waste of time because they probably won't give me any points back anyway.</p>

<p>I really wasn't expecting to end up with this low a grade, and I kind of feel cheated since I killed myself last week studying for it.

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A bit of an attitude adjustment might be in order here ;)</p>

<p>First, the reason to look at your final isn't to grub for more points. It's to understand what they were looking for that you didn't do. As a frosh you are (hopefully) beginning to understand that the expectations in college are different from those in HS.</p>

<p>Second, killing yourself studying for it isn't the right approach if that's the majority of the studying you did in the class. If you've spent the semester learning the material, doing the assignments, asking yourself questions about what you're learning, etc. then finals week is a review of what you've accomplished rather than a cram session to get info into your head that will be forgotten as soon as the bluebooks are handed in.</p>

<p>Just my 2 cents worth ...</p>

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<p>When I say I killed myself studying, it's because I studied really hard, plain and simple. I had gone to see my TA a week before to get tips on how to organize my notes, etc., so for that reason I thought I was prepared. Since I am a fairly intelligent person, I am well aware that expectations in college are different from those in high school, which is why I prepared more for this exam than for any test I had in high school. I had been following along all semester and held a solid B/B+, so I am disappointed with the grade and want to know where I went wrong. Also, since there are around 150 people in the class, and the exam grades were posted in less than 2 days after it was taken, it is possible that the TAs made mistakes, but I would never outright accuse them of that.</p>

<p>Thank you for the responses - I will be going to check out the exam.</p>

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<p>such is life. My only arts course this semester I do literally nothing and get an A+. In my engineering courses I try harder and don't do as well. Arts courses are just easy (with some exceptions), so everything else is going to seem hard in comparison.</p>

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<p>mikemac: while I agree that studying for the final exam is just a review of what a student should have already learned throughout the semester, there are classes where cramming is the only way to do well. Classes which are memorization intensive such as molecular bio, anthropology, etc require that one re-memorize everything before the exam regardless of how well one understood the concepts. And I can guarantee that in 99% of the cases, those protein names, names of the facets of the bone, etc will go right out the window the second the test is in the teacher's hands. That's just the facts of life. To paraphrase Sherlock Holmes (I think. It's been a long time since I read Conan Doyle), the mind is a place to store things, things that you don't need will just clutter it up and prevent you from storing stuff that you actually need.</p>

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<p>SBR, I understand what you're saying and a lot of people get by on memorization. Still, there are other ways to approach even classes like o-chem that at first glance seem to be nothing more than exercises in memorization.
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Some of you probably still think that organic chemistry is a "memory course". You got through CHEM 2210 by memorizing every single example that Dr. Hunter or Dr. Sorensen showed in class, or that you read in the text. You probably tried to write down everything that was said in class, and you likely spent a lot of time reading and re-reading your lecture notes.</p>

<p>We don't doubt that some students have the kind of memory that can cope with the information load of introductory organic chemistry on a fact-by-fact basis, but most of you do not. We certainly didn't as undergraduates. More importantly, even if you can memorize all that stuff, I doubt whether you actually enjoy the process, or gain anything from it</p>

<p>So, how can you work smarter and perhaps enjoy organic chemistry more? You should realize that there are only TWELVE common processes in all of organic chemistry, and that all the reactions you will learn are simply combinations of these basic mechanistic building blocks. By focusing on the mechanisms of the reactions we discuss, you will see the similarities between reactions that apparently involve quite different structures</p>

<p>How</a> To Succeed in Organic Chemistry CHEM 2220

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<p>And here is a med school professor saying something pretty similar (an article well worth reading, IMHO)
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The organic chemistry course is the traditional ordeal that determines whether a college student is medical school material. It is a good choice. Organic chemistry is easy to learn if the student understands its essential principles, and almost impossible to learn if approached as a rote memory task. A few students do pass "organic" using their fantastic memories, only to have their powers finally exceeded by the demands of the introductory course in anatomy, physiology, or pathology. </p>

<p>All the techniques used to help the class generally -- giving clear learning objectives, making students use and integrate their new knowledge in lab, providing fair and timely evaluations, and forcing the students to keep up with the material by examination strategy -- are doubly helpful to the high-risk student. Combined, the student has every opportunity to understand and remember, rather then to memorize and forget. In a well-run course, the high-risk student is the one who still tries to memorize without understanding.</p>

<p>The concept map is a hierarchical, progressively differentiated, clearly integrated construction in which concepts (written inside ovals) are linked by logical connectors (arrows with words describing relationships). The more complex the map, the better relationships are displayed. Making the maps forces all students to see the discipline as an integrated body of knowledge rather than as isolated facts to be regurgitated. Typically, students who reject the technique continue to have major difficulty, while students who use the technique exhibit striking improvements.
Preventing</a> "F"'s: A Guide for Tough Basic-Sciences Teachers

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And he adds this
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In the past, students who have had difficulty with pathology have often had one or more of the following identifiable problems. </p>

<p>Memorizing rather than understanding; passive learning instead of active learning. If your incredible short-term memory got you through "Organic Chemistry", it probably won't get you through "Pathology", which is a quantum leap more material. Find some way to organize the material to suit your learning style. (Some students have a sheet for each organ, dividing up categories of disease. This is just a start.) Never read over an unfamiliar word without looking up its meaning. If your learning system is going to break down, it will break down in here. (If you're worried about your brain failing, probably it's your learning system breaking down.) With all the synonyms and concepts, word-associations won't work. Get help early.
CELL</a> INJURY AND DEATH

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<p>While I understand what you are saying mikemac, memorization is required for some courses. I took orgo too and I didn't have to memorize very much. I know the approach of rationalizing concepts so learn them, etc. However, no amount of rationalization will help you to remember that during homologous recombination, rad51 is the name of the protein which binds to single stranded DNA in order to seek out homologous sequences on the sister chromatid. Even if you understood the mechanism, protein names are pure memorization. No matter how much one wants to dodge memorization, it still plays a part in learning, just not an exclusive part.</p>

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<p>SBR, you're right that memorization is required. There's no escaping it in some courses such as o-chem. The point I was hoping to make, and maybe I didn't do a good job of it, is that there are degrees of memorization. One approach is to take a list of terms (anthro, o-chem, you name it) and treat them as essentially a foreign language. There is no rhyme or reason to the words, they're just multi-letter symbols you must learn. A better approach, both the way mentioned in the quotes I gave and what it sounds like you are doing, is to tie facts into a larger framework. No escaping the facts must be memorized, but having a structure to organize them makes the work easier AND allows you to answer test questions that are difficult or impossible to do when each item memorized has no link to anything else. </p>

<p>To you, perhaps, cramming means refreshing the facts in the framework. Its memory work, but not blind memorization. To many, though, cramming is just remembering phrases and definitions absent any understanding of the bigger picture. The text lists 4 main causes of the American Revolution and 5 for the French Revolution, yet when asked to contrast how events unfolded between the two a student who simply wants to regurgitate memorized tidbits is at a significant disadvantage.</p>

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<p>Is anthro considered a science, as in "hard science?"</p>

<p>And yes, if you really do have questions about your grade (and don't just want to grade grub), you can ask to go over your final exam with the professor/TA... But please be polite!</p>