A&P I is not going well

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I'm currently taking A&P I, and it is not going well. My professor doesn't teach us. She told us the first day that she wasn't going to. For the first test, we had to do everything on our own, and I got a 67 (the class average). We have another test on Monday...for this one, she went over the notes for the most part, but still, most of what we've done is on our own. I'm really worried about not being able to get a C (the required grade for progression). What can I do? Lab isn't much better because it's so much material! For Thursday (our first practical), we have to know the skull, the axial skeleton, and about 20 tissues...college is great EXCEPT for A&P. And what sucks more is that this professor apparently used to be really good. It's just that this semester she's trying a "new method."

Yeah, it is terrible. We haven't gone to the department in groups or anything.

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I'd try doing that.

What does the prof do while everyone talks, Facebooks, etc?

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Specializes in N/A.

Sorry this is happening to you. I'm in kind of the same situation. Our Prof rambles about a lot of stuff, half the class period is done by then and we end up behind. We had the same issues as you on our first test....In talking around others in other classes also had the same issue. 30 people in our class failed the first test! I ended up with a 69 only because we had an extra credit quiz a few weeks before the first exam. What am I doing to rectify this situation for myself? Switching profs is out of the question..there were waiting lists to get into lecture and lab. My school has a site set up that has recorded lectures by another professor. I listen to those with each chapter now... at least once! I read (like you it doesn't soak in with just reading) I don't know what book you are using but with ours (Marieb 8th ed) we have an online companion area we can go do puzzles, labeling, quizes, etc... Does your prof lecture at all? If so does she have any problems with you recording her lectures? I'm doing that starting Tuesday. We also Do you have a anatomy and physiology coloring book? That has been helpful for me.

Also....as suggested...talk to the department head...you paid good money for a teacher who teaches..not one who is using you for a test subject. I had issues with my math class and kept going up the chain of command until I got the results I needed for my education.

Good luck! Keep us posted!

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She has lectured 3 times in a 4 week period. So no, she doesn't really lecture. As I said, we spend time on case studies or other group work, and she just gives us the stuff and expects us to know what to do.

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Specializes in student; help!.
I'm an auditory learner...so lecture is good for me. Too bad my prof doesn't really do that. I can't learn by just reading.

So find some lectures online. Go to itunes and there are LOTS of A&P lectures available for free. It sucks that you have to be a guinea pig for this new method, but you're stuck so you might as well suck it up and teach yourself. Listen to lectures. Download the video ones and watch them. Get the anatomy coloring book and WORK IT. Make flash cards. Start a study group. You're an adult in an adult educational system and no one is going to hold your hand. More's the pity, since it sounds like the prof is phoning it in, but like it or not, that's how it works.

Last but not least, come HERE and ask tons of questions. Tons. I can't tell you how much help I've gotten here. Worth every penny and then some (Brian, don't raise the price! :no:).

You can do this. It sounds like you have to do this. So buckle down and do it. Then flip her the bird when you get your A. :chuckle

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I do have a coloring book, and I use it, but still. I never thought about listening to lectures on iTunes or anything...my book came with a CD that has activities and will read notes aloud, and once we get into the systems, I'll use it. Now though we're still doing cells and stuff.

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Specializes in student; help!.

There's a fantastic podcast from St Scholastica, right here in little old Duluth. Get his stuff. There are videos from the UC system, maybe San Diego? Cizadlo (St Scholastica) also does pathphys and I highly recommend listening to those as well, because it ties all the A&P stuff together. I know there are a ton of great cellular sites, so sniff around the links page for those.

And talk to the Dean. If the class AVERAGE was 67, something is fishy. She won't be using this method next semester unless the grades come waaay up. And! She'll have to grade on a curve. So you may do better than you suspect, at least in this situation. But the really cool thing about college is that you have to be in charge of your education. You get to decide how much you can and should learn. So go to the study help center. Use the intertubes to find videos and audio lectures. Milk this site for all it's worth. Go! Rah rah rah! Get an A in spite of this prof, not because of her, because that's the grade that will get you ahead. When you have to work for it, you retain it. If it's handed to you, it goes in the circular file like a receipt from McDonald's.

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The average was indeed a 67 on the first test.

She probably won't be teaching next semester, or at least not as much. The only reason we have her is that the third A&P prof is on sabbatical right now, and she'll be back next semester.

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The average was indeed a 67 on the first test.

She probably won't be teaching next semester, or at least not as much. The only reason we have her is that the third A&P prof is on sabbatical right now, and she'll be back next semester.

That's a shame because she doesn't really care whether you learn a thing or not--she is just filling in. I don't know what kind of questions she gives on tests but in my A&P some of our test questions were worth up to ten points. We never had multiple choice--we had to know the material thoroughly--but we had a Prof. that was good at what she did.

I say this Prof. is taking the easy way out and I would get a group together and go to the Dean NOW--I would no way sit in a class that I paid good money for and not get a lecture out of it. You guys get together and call her out on this. These teachers are not GODS you know.

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I and a bunch of other students have talked to older students who had her last fall or spring, and they all said that she was a really good teacher. They said her lectures were thorough, and she was really helpful, and they it shocks them that she's being so terrible now.

I guess a bunch of us should talk to someone higher up. We've tried talking to her, and asking her to teach, and she's just ignored it.

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This is what she posted on the course blog:

You can write questions regarding RAT #1. The average for the class was a 67, which is the same or slightly higher than the typical average for the first exam. If you scored poorly on the first RAT, you may want to set up an appointment with me.
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I and a bunch of other students have talked to older students who had her last fall or spring, and they all said that she was a really good teacher. They said her lectures were thorough, and she was really helpful, and they it shocks them that she's being so terrible now.

I guess a bunch of us should talk to someone higher up. We've tried talking to her, and asking her to teach, and she's just ignored it.

Well if you guys don't go to the Dean which I would do in a New York minute then..... maybe you could ask 1 of the students from last fall or spring that you talked to if they would give you ALL of their lecture notes from this bozo--then make copies for all of you guys. At least you would know how she thinks. But really I would do that as a last resort.

If she lectured last spring then she has a lecture outline already written up--get to the Dean--I bet she starts lecturing once you point out how the Spring semester got lectures out of her.

You need to understand this material--you still have A&P2 to get through.:banghead:

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