A&P Lecture vs. Lab

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For me, lecture is the easier part of A&P because I'm very much an auditory learner. I got a C on the first lecture exam, and a C on the first practical...and of course, a C is what I need to pass the class.

I have another lecture exam this week, and a lab practical a week from Thursday. Generally, I would block off the weekend to study hardcore for the practical, but I'm going on a retreat, and no homework is allowed. How should I balance this?

What about you?

Which do you like better, and what is easier for you?

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If you are currently flirting with a C average, I would spend this whole week working on your lecture exam studying. If this part is easier for you, you should use that part of A&P to keep your average up as high as possible, along with your understanding of the subject. I would start studying for the lab practical as soon as the lecture test ended. I would spend as much time Thur and Fri in open lab as possible and again once I returned from the retreat.

Also, if I were on the edge this early in the term, I would consider skipping a weekend away. There will always be more weekends away, but a failure in A&P will put you at least 1 term further away from your goal.

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Oh, and as for which is easier for me, etc. At my school Anatomy and Physiology are separate courses. We have anatomy first with both lab and lecture exams. My lecture prof was terrible, and my lab prof was excellent, so lab was much easier for me. We were fortunate to have several cadavers to study and this really helped with visualization. This term in Physiology, my lab prof is a bit flighty while my lecture prof is much more detailed. I am currently studying for my lecture final and feel like I've learned SO much this quarter. Physiology was much easier for me than anatomy - probably because I am very logical and find it easier to learn things when I can reason through then as opposed to memorization.

That said, I am pleased with my anatomy grade - I worked hard to earn it. And, barring a HUGE disaster on the final tomorrow, I am positioned to have earned the grade I want for physiology as well. It's a lot of work though. I spend at least 2 hours a day on these courses and much more the 4-5 days before an exam.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

No weekend to study? Welcome to my world!

I work 3-4 12-hour night shifts every Friday-Monday, with an hour commute. During the week I am going to school full time (during the day) taking AP1, Chem1, Psychology, and Ethics.

Essentially I disappear Friday night and reappear on Monday night with very little, if any study time. Every week.

I enjoy both lecture and lab, but thus far after 10 chapters I have a better grade in lab. I have a greater than 100% in lab, and a 97% in lecture overall at this point. The lower lecture grade is attributed to a group of questions I got wrong about skeletal tissues, but I knew going into that exam my understanding was incomplete. I simply didn't have enough physical time to prepare as fully as I would have liked.

For me, the best way to learn the material is perpetual repetition. In any available moment that I have, I'll look over the material and re-read a section I am less familiar with. Then I will attempt to repeat (verbally and/or written) the material that I know, in addition to the new material. Eventually I will cover everything that I need to.

Once I am mostly comfortable with the material, my study then shifts to creating multiple ways to recall the data within each set. This eliminates getting answers incorrect on exams that you just "know" the answer to, but for whatever reason cannot remember. This almost never happens to me because of my study methods. Answers I get wrong are mostly attributed to inadequate study depth in a particular area.

When I can take a blank piece of paper with the chapter name written on it, and recall 90%+ of the summarized information in that chapter using only memory, I know I've covered that material adequately for an A. I can then walk into a test with a very high confidence level on my performance.

After I reach this level I'll refocus my time into my other classes to balance my grades, but any extra time is devoted back into A&P in an attempt to fully master the material. Additional time at this point has severe diminishing returns as any additional studying will only cause my grade to shift from 90% in an approach towards 100%.

Uh oh, I just gave away (part of) my secret formula!

The above will work to nearly guarantee a grade (your grade will scale directly with your ability to do the full chapter regurgitation described above!) provided you have adequate time. Since I have inadequate time I use other study methods to cover the material as quickly as possible.

For example, I learned 90% of what I needed to know about the epidermis and dermis at the microscopic level in less than an hour. Additional study raised that percentage. That test was over a month ago and I can still recall 90% of what I need to know with no review. Liberal use of memorization techniques and a full understanding of the material helps tremendously. Can Lucy Get a Sponge Bath? (Get it?) This was further solidified reading over someone's notes they posted here on AN. "Boys Suck. Girls Like Cats." I personally like mine better, probably because I'm male, but it's irrelevant because what is important is that I have multiple ways to access this information in my brain. I doubt I'll be forgetting the layers of epidermis anytime soon.

There's more to it than that, but this is nearly exactly what I've done to earn my A+ so far with not having any weekends to study.

All of this is in additional to the normal stuff you should already be doing at a post-secondary level of education: pre-reading chapters before class, bringing a list of questions to class and asking the ones that don't get covered, never missing class for any reason, sit at the front, pay attention, and don't try to cram.

Other important, but often overlooked factors in your ability to learn quickly are your health and diet! Please take care of yourself. Eat a complete, healthy meal on class days and drink lots of water. This is even more important on test days so that you may go into the exam focused and full of energy.

Try to stay active. If you have a more active lifestyle (for example, everyday I go to work I take between 12000-19000 steps) this will require less effort, but if you live a sedentary life then I highly advise a lifestyle change. (Of course, I'm not a physician so please consult yours before doing anything potentially dangerous.) I've been at various levels of physical fitness in my life, and in my experience it is closely linked with academic performance.

If you're over 20% overweight without a legit, medical reason in my opinion you need to change something. Eat a better diet, exercise, and watch your grades soar! (Yes, exercise sucks and is hard, but developing diabetes and spending the last 30 years of your life in a hospital sucks more.)

Hope this helps!

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If you are currently flirting with a C average, I would spend this whole week working on your lecture exam studying. If this part is easier for you, you should use that part of A&P to keep your average up as high as possible, along with your understanding of the subject. I would start studying for the lab practical as soon as the lecture test ended. I would spend as much time Thur and Fri in open lab as possible and again once I returned from the retreat.

Also, if I were on the edge this early in the term, I would consider skipping a weekend away. There will always be more weekends away, but a failure in A&P will put you at least 1 term further away from your goal.

It isn't early in the term...we're already halfway through the semester! In my class, there are 4 lecture exams, and 3 lab practicals. Our second lecture exam (the one on Friday) was supposed to be on the 5th, but my prof is terrible at getting through material on schedule, and we had spring break last week, so it was moved.

Also, there probably won't be another weekend away. I wanted to go on retreat so badly last semester, but I couldn't. I'm not gonna miss it this semester.

And no worries about me failing. I absolutely cannot afford that! This is my second time around in A&P I and if I don't pass it, then I have to change my major (school rule -- you can't take a course more than twice in the nursing program)...so I'll pass.

I feel confident that I'll do much better on the next 3 lecture exams than I did on the first because I've actually read all of the chapters for this upcoming test (not just skimmed like I did last time) and will do that for subsequent exams.

But I can definitely focus on the lecture exam this week, and focus on lab after retreat.

FYI - I'm a 19 year old freshman at a 4 year school with a direct entry nursing program...so I'm balancing out prereqs (A&P) along with core courses (history, English, philosophy, and religion) and trying having a normal, college life and experience!

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It isn't early in the term...we're already halfway through the semester! In my class, there are 4 lecture exams, and 3 lab practicals. Our second lecture exam (the one on Friday) was supposed to be on the 5th, but my prof is terrible at getting through material on schedule, and we had spring break last week, so it was moved.

Also, there probably won't be another weekend away. I wanted to go on retreat so badly last semester, but I couldn't. I'm not gonna miss it this semester.

And no worries about me failing. I absolutely cannot afford that! This is my second time around in A&P I and if I don't pass it, then I have to change my major (school rule -- you can't take a course more than twice in the nursing program)...so I'll pass.

I feel confident that I'll do much better on the next 3 lecture exams than I did on the first because I've actually read all of the chapters for this upcoming test (not just skimmed like I did last time) and will do that for subsequent exams.

But I can definitely focus on the lecture exam this week, and focus on lab after retreat.

FYI - I'm a 19 year old freshman at a 4 year school with a direct entry nursing program...so I'm balancing out prereqs (A&P) along with core courses (history, English, philosophy, and religion) and trying having a normal, college life and experience!

I don't want to come across sounding like your mother, but this probably will. This class isn't just about whether you delay your goal of becoming a nurse by a term, but whether you have to rethink your goal entirely (and either abandon it or change schools). That means that here and now this class needs to be the most important thing in your life. Sure whatever this retreat is is probably a wonderful experience. But, is a weekend retreat worth the potential hit to your grade in anatomy? There is always going to be something more fun than studying. But, anatomy and by extension the other classes that will be part of your nursing curriculum are not courses that can be skimmed and successfully learned. I would be concerned that you have taken this class once already and are still on the cusp with a C on your first exams. Get yourself a tutor, get yourself a study group, attend open lab as much as possible, etc. Professors want you to succeed and if they see you making extraordinary effort, they will give you extraordinary help in most instances - and will often give you the benefit of the doubt if you need it. But, they are not as likely to do so for a student who doesn't go the extra mile. You have loads of time for a normal college experience, but only a very short window to pass this class to continue your chosen path. You cannot cram for anatomy. There is too much information. Unless you have a photographic memory, you really do have to put the time and effort into this subject in order to succeed.

Sure, once you're a nurse, if you work in OB you probably will never again remember the cranial nerves or if you become a NICU nurse, you likely won't have to remember which hormones regulate ovulation. However, you will need all of that for several years to come and just getting by in anatomy will make the rest of your nursing education more difficult.

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My lab professor is a much better teacher than my lecture professor and she's funny and engaging so she makes lab very interesting. I don't have a preference for one over the other as far as the material. Just that the different teaching styles makes going to lab a lot more interesting.

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Yeah...this is my ONLY YEAR (out of my 4 in college) that I'll be able to have even a relatively normal college life. My nursing program is the only one like it in the country, and basically, after your first year (especially in years 2 and 3), you are a student who is expected to behave as a professional. We spend all our time at the hospital's school of nursing and can forget about having actual lives.

Yes...I have a C currently...but a C is what I need. A weekend away is absolutely worth it! I realize that this class is everything...believe me!

The class average for the first test was a D, and for the first practical, a C. I'm doing fine compared to my classmates.

The first time I took this class was last semester, and I withdrew. My professor wasn't even a professor. She gave us notes on Blackboard and expected us to learn them, then tested us on things that weren't even in the notes (and by the way, she said that she would test exclusively from the notes). During class, we did case studies that were extremely hard, and she wouldn't even answer the most basic questions about them. Needless to say...I didn't learn crap. About 1/4 of the class withdrew and is retaking it this semester. About 1/10 of the class withdrew and is no longer doing nursing. So yeah...don't judge me having a C after "taking this course" once already.

I don't need a tutor either. The first test in a class is always the one that people do the worst on. I now know what to expect and can do better. Also, as I said, I didn't really, truly read the chapters for that...I skimmed them. For this upcoming test, I have actually read the entirety of all the chapters. As for lab...I'm not a visual person, so no matter how much I work on it, I can't see myself getting anything better than a C which is okay because lab and lecture aren't separate classes, they are one so you can do extremely poorly in one as long as you do fine in the other.

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I would skip the retreat and study.

I wanna go to your school! You only need a C in Anatomy? I cant imagine trying to figure out the rest of what you are missing when you get into the Nursing program.

I dont doubt your story about how hard the class and Im very familiar with the mystery exams you had in your first class. Ive been there and still managed to pull an A while literally 75% of the rest of the class dropped. 10 people were left at my final exam in Micro. I must have spent 30 hours a week studying for that one class.

I hope you are right about just needing the C, I would hate to see you regret this later.

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Specializes in Neuroscience.

Lecture all the way. The lecture portion is mostly physiology, and lab anatomy (duh), so I like it better. Also physiology is apparently more important since in my class (A&P2) we have 5 exams to the 3 lab exams, and 5 lecture are worth way more points. Same thing last semester as well - I had 6 lecture, 3 lab. I don't particularly like lab due to the way it's set up at my school and end up with B/C's on the exams, which is fine, because I end up with A's on my lectures exams/quizzes/projects, thus end with an A in the class.

IA with Anne though. It's kind of sad that your school only requires a C in what is basically the foundation of nursing or that you only personally aim for a C and think it's alright just because your classmates are getting D's. Eh. I can't imagine just skimming through anatomy, I must study min. 20 hours a week just for this class. It's killer, I give up a lot of fun free time (and I'm 22 so I know what it feels like to currently be young and want to do other things), but it's so worth it in the end, and in about 6 weeks I will be done, done, done!

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Be very mindful of the I only need a C.

On my school's website, it will tell you that you need Cs in your pre-reqs to be considered. But when you talk to advisors and people that applied with Cs, no one is getting in with Cs. Things may be different at your school, I don't know but I know a lot of nursing programs say this in their brochures and on their websites. They will give you the minimum GPA and minimum grade to be considered but in reality, no one is getting in with the minimum. Its competitive everywhere so you really want to do more than just the minimum to give yourself the best shot of getting in.

Good luck and have fun on your trip! I wish I could get away right now. I have dreams of a week in Florida in the summer, I hope I get the chance to get away. I really need a break myself.

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No way am I skipping the retreat!

As I've stated before, I go to a 4 year college with a direct entry program. As long as you get a C in your prereqs in the first year, you move onto nursing in the second...most schools I know of only require a C.

I don't have time to study that much for one class...I'm taking 5, and working part time!

I'm also not aiming for a C. I'm saying that it's acceptable that that's my average after my FIRST test and FIRST practical. I'm aiming for a B so I don't ruin my GPA.

And can we please get back to my question(s):

1) How should I balance my studying for lecture and lab in this situation?

2) Which do you prefer? Lab or lecture?

I'm tired of people ragging on me for what I'm doing (or not doing). It's my class, and it's my life...and doesn't help me answer my question. Please do not reply to this again unless you are going to answer one or both of my questions!

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