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."

Sorry to hear A&P isn't going well for you. I've learned over the last year that I don't learn in class. I learn from my studying at home. What is lectured in class is simply a review of what I studied at home. Keep in mind, A&P is only acquired knowledge. It's information to be learned and remembered. There are great coloring books that you may find helpful. If you haven't been doing so before now, read the chapter before class. I hope this will be helpful to you.

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At my school there is a 1 week window where you can drop out or transfer to another class without penalty--if she had said that at my 1st class with her--I would have dropped her class immediately and either got in with the other A&P teacher or dropped it and went to another college to get my A&P credit and then just transferred the credit over to the NS college.

I always used that 1st week to size up an instructor--depending on when the deadlines were I could get in 2 or 3 classes with them and if I didn't 't like their teaching style--I left.

I did it with English and Chemistry--took the Chem at another college and transferred.

The English teacher I dumped was the speaker at our graduation and he was even worse at that--hard to imagine.

If you can get out of this class--even if it takes you going to the Dean and telling him the teacher is not lecturing--I would do it.

I'm a full time college freshman. I can't just go to another college to take a class. I'm not like many people on this board who are part time students taking prereqs. My program is full time, and I've already conditionally been accepted into the nursing.

As I said before, we had ZERO choice in our prof, and we couldn't change anything.

And, our teacher said that she wasn't going to teach us and we would have to learn the material on our own. I don't remember her exact words, but they did include will not/won't and teach.

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Specializes in student; help!.

Even if you're a FT student, you can still take a class online. Unless your school won't accept accredited transfers, which I don't think they can do, you CAN take it elsewhere. Ask the advisor about it. I think it's your best bet, since your teacher has decided to give up the ghost.

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Specializes in LTC, M/S, CCU, ER.

And, our teacher said that she wasn't going to teach us and we would have to learn the material on our own. I don't remember her exact words, but they did include will not/won't and teach.

What do you all do in class? What does the teacher do during classtime?

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Some people talk, some people FB, some people text, some people don't go. The prof sits around.

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Specializes in LTC, M/S, CCU, ER.

Time for a letter to the dean. :(

Meanwhile, I second what others have recommended. THere are some great free lectures on iTunes U, and i recommend picking up a used copy of "Anatomy and Physiology Made Incredibly Easy". Read that first for each system, then your text, it'll help introduce the concepts to you so that you can digest what you read in the textbook more easily. Good luck!

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See, I can read stuff, but I never really retain information from it. I can read 2-3 sentences and still not remember what I just read!

Another member sent me a link for free lectures, and it seems really good. I have also posted this link on Blackboard and will let people know tonight at the study group.

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If you can't change classes,which it sounds like you can't, and people screw off during class time anyway, it sounds like it would be a good use of your time during class to make flash cards and work on any supplemental study materials you can. It would probably be too obvious to put on headphones and listen to a lecture on youtube or a podcast but do what you can with the time. I am a visual learner so reading the material does far more for me than a lecture ever would so I don't have any specific hints b/c what would work for me will not work for you.

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Specializes in NICU.

SingDanceRun Life,

I'm a pre-nursing student with a previous BA. This summer I took, A&P 1&2 w/ both labs and Microbiology lab. I know how hard it is. The best advise I can give you is to study, study study. Try to go above and beyond whats expected. Pay attention to the kinds of questions your professor asks on the exams. I know everyone says this but when you have such an insane amount of information to memorize/learn in a short amount of time you need to study some everyday. I understand what your feeling, these classes are merciless in terms of falling behind. Study key terms and concepts in your text. Make photocopies of the diagrams in your book, white out all of the anatomy terms and then practice writing them in from memory. Studying from blank pictures really helped me this summer. Let me know if theres anything else. I hope that helps.

Good Luck,

MDCupcake

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If you literally have a professor sitting and literally not doing anything, why not record this and take it to the dean (assuming the dean will care)? Small recorder, video setting on camera hidden, etc......YOUR tuition pays for this and if a prof sits at her desk twiddling her thumbs while students are on Facebook you are wasting your money and time as is every other student that is paying (and if this is a state university or community college, so are the tax payers....)

Not to mention, getting a C is the least of your worries- what your class learns (more importantly DOES NOT learn) in Anatomy I could seriously impact your success in nursing school and beyond.

I will say that I don't personally think a class avg of 67 is really all that bad, it's almost passing & for a teacher that doesn't teach and students who sit on FB all class period or don't show up IMO that's not so bad, depending on how difficult the questions are.

Crummy situation, best of luck...

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MDCupcake - As I've said before, I am not a visual learner, so studying the textbook doesn't do anything for me. Also, I studied all weekend for the test we had yesterday, and I still failed! I started preparing the day my prof posted the notes on Blackboard. I went to the study groups, read the chapters, read the notes, highlighted notes, did flashcards, studied/quizzed with friends...

GrayMatter - I have made an appointment with my adviser, the dean of nursing, and will speak to her about things. Also, a 67 isn't almost passing, because in A&P, a C is the lowest passing grade, and that's a 73.

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MDCupcake - As I've said before, I am not a visual learner, so studying the textbook doesn't do anything for me. Also, I studied all weekend for the test we had yesterday, and I still failed! I started preparing the day my prof posted the notes on Blackboard. I went to the study groups, read the chapters, read the notes, highlighted notes, did flashcards, studied/quizzed with friends...

GrayMatter - I have made an appointment with my adviser, the dean of nursing, and will speak to her about things. Also, a 67 isn't almost passing, because in A&P, a C is the lowest passing grade, and that's a 73.

I can remember many times reading the material before class and not really understanding it until the lecture when the Professor took the time to flesh out the material. It can be a very complicated subject and a good lecture is vital to understanding the material. I was an A student but I don't think I would have been without a good lecture to explain the mounds of info we needed to know.

I symphasize with you and hopefully the Dean will see how thoroughly wrong it is for the teacher to do this to you. 67 is a lousy grade for a class average I think--why don't you get everyone together in that class that feels like they are getting screwed out of their tuition money (which you all are) and march into the Deans office. I know the bunch of girls I went to school with would have done it after the 1st week of class because we all had the attitude that we were paying for NS so we should have a say in things. We had a very opiniated class but we all passed the NCLEX--only 3 had to take it a 2nd time.

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