Microbiology

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Hello

I'm taking microbiology lecture and microbiology lab for the summer. I'm doing well in the lab but not the lecture. The lecture class meets once a week and the only thing we do in the class is take the test. Their is 4 test and two lecture quiz. I failed my first test in microbiology lecture. I need to pass this class so I can apply for the nursing program. Any ideas on how I can pass this class?

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Well by how much did you fail. Why? Are you doing the readings? How much time do you spend studying and how? I also recommend that you speak to your instructor for feedback.

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I study alot ( or try too). I'm just not understanding the material.

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Micro is all memorization. Are you making flash cards? Creating mnemonic devices? Studying each day instead of cramming is key.

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I used Kaun Academy there are so many resources on there!

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No note cards. There are about 5 to 6 chapters on each test

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Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

You have couple options. You say you are studying "a lot". So either you are literally studying as much as you possibly can to which that means you are simply incapable of passing. Or two you are NOT studying as much as is needed for you to pass the class. This can only be determined by you. Rarely are people studying as much as is possible thus that may be your solution. If you are studying as much as you are capable of and failing then you may need to find a different major as microbiology IS a requirement to attend nursing school.

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All I can suggest is youtube if you don't understand lecture. Micro was easy for me because I had a couple of good profs, but A&P2 sucked because the prof was not very good. In class I took notes on key things she tried to explain, than went home and youtube'd a prof who was better at explaining it. The big thing with doing this is zero in on YOUR prof's points. The youtube prof may have a different priority as far as grading goes, and while he or she may be better than your prof they aren't the ones making your test.

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Specializes in Critical Care and ED.

I concur. YouTube is an amazing resource. I've gotten straight A's all through grad school because of YouTube. There is so much content on there and I find I learn so much better when seeing visuals rather than just reading a book. Quizlet is also useful for gauging whether you've grasped the concepts. If I find I'm not doing well on those tests then I go back and study the things that keep popping up.

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Specializes in Psychiatry/Mental Health.

I agree with the comment on Quizlet! I got a B+ in Micro, and probably would have gotten an A-/A had it not been for "trick" questions (e.g., answer is "none of the above" although "none of the above" isn't one of the multiple choice responses, or spending 30 seconds on a topic and then it ends up being 1/3 or the exam.) I also could have benefited from more time studying for this class. If you happen to have a straight-forward professor, you can usually count on paying closer attention to what topics they spend the most time on in lecture.

For me, it was all about repetition and creating a way of studying that was conducive to my learning style. I figured out how the professor tested and built my study materials around that. We needed to know 7 key categories: pathogen, morphology, where it's found, symptoms, virulence factors, treatment, other notable info. This wasn't something that was communicated to us, I had to figure it out and write my notes in that method, even though the lecture and hand outs weren't structured that way. I would read the text the night before or morning of lecture, make tables for each pathogen in my notes and leave room to add more info if needed. Then, I studied my tables every day, made flash cards and quizlet sets (the games on that site help because they force you to remember, fast!) The only thing I regret is that I didn't have more time to rewrite the tables out for better memorization.

I'm more of a thinker and my memory isn't as great as I'd like it to be, so I have to focus on mnemonics. Another technique that helped me A LOT was explaining things (or pretending to) to someone who had very little knowledge of what I was talking about. Studying with a live person helped, because the subject always asked questions (sometimes I had to look up the info). I.e., I explained lyme disease to my mom as an illness caused by a bacteria transmitted through a tick, which we call an insect vector (even though its not an insect). She asked me the symptoms and treatment, of course, but then proceeded to ask me if there are any other bacterial insect vectors and if there are viral ones also.

If you learn better from hearing info., record yourself reciting info and play it back in the shower, while you're cooking, driving, working out, etc. When you think you are getting it, change up where and when you study to make sure it's "locked in". Supposedly, this forms new neural connections, making it faster and easier to retrieve the info from your memory!

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That was a good observation!

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I earned an A in microbiology. Our professor gave us study guide questions for lecture in which she would answer these during lecture class time. I strictly studied these questions diligently before tests and aced the tests every time. I don't know what I would do without these study guide questions!

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