A&P II Help ..

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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What do you do when you study the notes, read the book, but still fail the test? My current A&P teacher is horrible. All of the students at my school try to avoid him. I did the first time, but I wasn't able to this time. He has also been on probation several times in the past for failing so many students.

I passed his first test, barely. So for the second test I decided to study with the notes he gave us along with the book. This time I did worse than I did the first time. It's like his questions come from left field, like...I'm confused. I'm not even sure how to study for his tests now. I'm starting to get so discouraged. I did so well in A&P I, yet I'm having so much trouble in A&P II.

Does anyone have any advice for me as far as dealing with a bad professor, along with any sites I can use to help me study? Or ANY type of study materials for that matter. Anything would be greatly appreciated.

Specializes in ICU.

Are the questions coming from the book or his lecture? That is what I would decide. A&P II is still pretty much where is everything located as far as the systems go. I took it last semester and there was a little critical thinking in there but mostly it was the blood flows through the heart this way, blood types are this and that, this how the digestive system works. We delved a little bit into disease, but not that much. Maybe if I could understand what exactly you are studying, I could help.

I am taking Advanced Human Physiology right now and it is mostly complex stuff and I feel like I am going crazy in that class sometimes. I woke up the other morning citing the different synapses that occur in the brain. I was seriously dreaming about it. I was so nervous for this past test, thought I bombed, and got an A. Don't ask me how. But I also had the same professor for 102 and I know exactly how she tests. If you need some help, pm me and maybe I can answer your questions.

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Are the questions coming from the book or his lecture? That is what I would decide. A&P II is still pretty much where is everything located as far as the systems go. I took it last semester and there was a little critical thinking in there but mostly it was the blood flows through the heart this way, blood types are this and that, this how the digestive system works. We delved a little bit into disease, but not that much. Maybe if I could understand what exactly you are studying, I could help.

I am taking Advanced Human Physiology right now and it is mostly complex stuff and I feel like I am going crazy in that class sometimes. I woke up the other morning citing the different synapses that occur in the brain. I was seriously dreaming about it. I was so nervous for this past test, thought I bombed, and got an A. Don't ask me how. But I also had the same professor for 102 and I know exactly how she tests. If you need some help, pm me and maybe I can answer your questions.

That's the question I want to know. It doesn't seem as though the questions are coming from either source. But, what I do know is he focuses alot on systems. So he wants to know the ins and outs of the way the blood flows, etc. I wish I could have taken the same professor. I would definitely not have this problem. Good job for doing so well! I will definitely PM you if I have any questions because you obviously know what you're doing.

Thanks!

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Update: Today, a bunch of students from this class got together. Come to find out, everybody failed the second test. No one passed-Remind you, this is a class of over 100 students. There were a couple people who made mid 90s on the first test, and they all made in the 60s on the second test. It makes me feel a little better to know I'm not the only one who studied my butt off and didn't do so well, but this is beyond ridiculous. The bad part is that I have to take this same professor for patho this summer. I was also able to speak to a couple of his current patho students now and guess what, they're failing as well. This really concerns me.

I went to his office earlier this week after he posted test grades, and there was a line out of his door down the hall. He still hasn't given much info on how to study better for his tests. As of today, I have started something new: recording lectures. I'm going to listen to them a couple times a day, read notes/book, and watch videos for the visual aspect of it. Hopefully I'll be able to do alot better on this next upcoming test. This is really stressing me out. Ugh. Semester please hurry and be over ...... :dead:

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I really liked Marion Diamond's lectures on youtube as well. I doubt that there's any single resource out there quite as good as that one, and it's free!

I also had a difficult time and a difficult prof in A&P II. In my case, it was mostly a matter of learning that the prof was ONLY interested in us learning things exactly as he said them. So for me that meant taking careful notes and studying exactly what he said would be on the exam. Ir sounds like in your case your prof is a bit less helpful. The key is to figure out exactly what sorts of things he is looking for and study those until you know them inside out. If he likes you to label diagrams, be sure to know exactly what and where all the structures are. If only likes multiple choice questions, don't waste time studying the diagrams.

One thing I've found VERY helpful is to write things out. If you need to learn a chart of information, copy it out yourself. Then study it, then try to write it out again from memory. The more physically involved you are with the material, the better you'll learn it. Recite things out loud. Recite them while walking. Touch structures on your own body when possible.

I found that writing things out helped a TON for A&P I, but not for this class. For the last two tests I made tons of flash cards, and they didn't help me at all. I just think it's the testing style of the professor that makes it so hard. So this time I'm not even going to waste my time writing it out. I have started recording my lectures, so hopefully that works out better.

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Hey! You are NOT alone. I am actually going through the exact same thing right now. I had an easy professor for A&P I and ended up with a B+ without doing a thing. This semester I have a professor who was teaching med school last year and is now attempting to teach undergrad. His tests are TERRIBLE. I study 10 hours a day for that class and still do awful on the tests. His class literally makes me feel stupid. I decided to go to all of his office hours and pray that I get on his favorites list, so maybe he will curve my grade at the end. I am really stressed because my school has a policy that you are not eligible for nursing school if you have any C- or below in any science course, so I am keeping my fingers crossed. But trust me you are not alone on this.

I worked hard in AP I and passed with an A. It sucks to have a bad professor huh? :/ Most of the time you don't realize you have a good professor until it's too late. Good luck though! :)

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I just posted a similar help post. It's too bad we aren't all on the same body system, we could study on googlechat/video.

That said - I've put together a list of physiology sites and I'm going to double my study time. I'm also writing my own essays on the topics I need to study. The research alone to get everything in the right oder is going to help. There is a sticky on this forum that has someones note from their A&P classes. I am so glad I found them. Very easy to understand.

STICK WITH IT. Sucky professor or not you can do this. Don't give in to the panic. (Easier said than done, I might have just written that for myself, probably, but hey if it helps you WIN!) Earlier today when I got my last test grade back I just relaxed into it. I decided that the failed test is a way to figure out how this professor tests and to learn from it.

:)

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Just curious if you can post one of the tests you've taken here? Like scan it and upload the PDF or something. It would be really interesting AND we could give more specific pointers on what this professor is looking for.

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Okay, I'm gonna give you the golden nugget of studying. These are the strategies I used to ace AP1 and 2, and TRUST me, my AP class was extremely difficult, myself and one other girl passed with an A, the rest were Cs and below.

Anyways:

Study smarter, not harder. Although I'm sure watching videos and recording lectures will help, they wont help as much as just reading the material. What I did was take one day to go through and read a whole chapter, just reading it. Don't stress about what you don't know, the first reading is just to EXPOSE your brain to the information, because it will all be foreign! Make sure you take a break after every hour of reading to relax your mind. Take a walk, take a short nap, etc., then come back prepared and re- amped to read some more fun stuff!

Next day, go through the chapter and actually READ TO LEARN. This is the part where you need to know what your reading. Don't move on until you fully grasp the concepts. This is where videos will come in handy. But like I said earlier, take 10-15 minute break every hour of reading. My goal was to get through a chapter a week because thats how our schedule was based, so it might be different for you.

NEXT, after going through the whole chapter twice (first time just reading, second getting to actually know the concepts), i would read through that chapter like i was cheating on the test. I would skim though, like I was 'stealing' the important info that i knew was important! This will take one hour total. After all this, you should be good to go. Some people make flashcards for vocabw which helps also!

I know how hard it is to have a teacher only do tests and nothing else, just push through and study like your life depends on it. One more thing: enjoy yourself. Love what you're learning like theres no tomorrow and get totally motivated to read. All the information that you need is in that book!

Good luck, let us know how you do next test.

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Specializes in MedSurg, Tele, ER, ICU, Float.
Okay I'm gonna give you the golden nugget of studying. These are the strategies I used to ace AP1 and 2, and TRUST me, my AP class was extremely difficult, myself and one other girl passed with an A, the rest were Cs and below. Anyways: Study smarter, not harder. Although I'm sure watching videos and recording lectures will help, they wont help as much as just reading the material. What I did was take one day to go through and read a whole chapter, just reading it. Don't stress about what you don't know, the first reading is just to EXPOSE your brain to the information, because it will all be foreign! Make sure you take a break after every hour of reading to relax your mind. Take a walk, take a short nap, etc., then come back prepared and re- amped to read some more fun stuff! Next day, go through the chapter and actually READ TO LEARN. This is the part where you need to know what your reading. Don't move on until you fully grasp the concepts. This is where videos will come in handy. But like I said earlier, take 10-15 minute break every hour of reading. My goal was to get through a chapter a week because thats how our schedule was based, so it might be different for you. NEXT, after going through the whole chapter twice (first time just reading, second getting to actually know the concepts), i would read through that chapter like i was cheating on the test. I would skim though, like I was 'stealing' the important info that i knew was important! This will take one hour total. After all this, you should be good to go. Some people make flashcards for vocabw which helps also! I know how hard it is to have a teacher only do tests and nothing else, just push through and study like your life depends on it. One more thing: enjoy yourself. Love what you're learning like theres no tomorrow and get totally motivated to read. All the information that you need is in that book! Good luck, let us know how you do next test.[/quote']

I've always heard the quote "study smarter not harder" never grasped it. I'm in a similar situation as the poster and I really appreciate your tip.

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Does your school have tutoring or student assistance? My school has a learning center that tutors. They are all familiar with the professors and teaching styles. Really helped me get back on track with microbiology. I was studying and taking notes but not in an effective way. After one appt with my tutor/mentor I'm finding that the new way of note takin she showed me is helping me with recall and understanding like nothing else I've done!

Find someone to help you.

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Update: I've been so busy with school lately I've barely had time to get on here and respond. I'm officially done with all assignments/tests for this week and spring break is next week so I finally get a break.

I took another test in A&P today and I can actually say I feel pretty confident about it. Like I stated before I started recording lectures, which was something new to me. I noticed that a lot of the questions on the tests (well this test) actually came from what he said verbally during class. So after listening to lectures over and over and writing down almost everything he said, I know for a fact I did way better on this test that I've done on the others.

But then I had to ask myself, did he purposely make this test easier since everyone failed the last one, or did recording lectures really work for me? We haven't got any grades back yet. I should know in the next day or two and will definitely give an update. I think I will ask some of the other students how well they did on this test. If the majority of the class still failed (like we normally do), then recording lectures worked for me.

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