Anatomy and Physiology

cee cee g · Jun 12, 2013

I'm also taking A&P II this summer and develop. psy. class online. For a&p I and now for a&p II I must say that "YOU TUBE" is keeping me afloat. Just type in the chapter that you are in and either lecture or lab afterwards and you get a zillion options. The lectures by "MR FORD"S CLASS" were the best for me in a&p I. But there are others that I like too. BTW, I made an A in a&p I and right now I have a 95% average in part II. I wish you the best and good luck.

righteousjenn · Jun 12, 2013

When studying for the lab portion, always try to study IN lab. Do extra lab hours if you can..... Studying pictures is a lot harder and a lot more stressful than picking up a bone and feeling it and putting a name to it. I got a B in anatomy, but had almost 100% on lab tests, it was the lecture exams that brought me down.

Destin293 · Jun 13, 2013

YouTube is always a great resource for understanding topics that your book or professor may not be able to explain in a way that it makes sense to you -- just type in a search and look through the videos until you find one that helps you understand the material. For lab, I LOVED purpose games (purposegames.com). I used it a lot for things like bones, veins, arteries, etc. It helps with repetition so you can learn to identify where things are and what they look like -- that way when you get to your tests, it's easier to recall. I also would read the book and hand write notes while studying -- if I was taking notes from the book, I made sure they were word for word (I would even re-write my class notes). For whatever reason, handwriting the notes helped me better than typing, highlighting, or simply reading the book and just reviewing the notes. I would also verbally repeat parts of the book or notes (without looking at the book or notes) while studying in order to commit it to memory. The big trick is to actually retain the information, not just memorize. Most exams will consist of just a couple topics with several different questions regarding the topic. If you can get the main point of the topics you're learning, you can easily answer dozens of questions.

An A may not be completely impossible. Lab usually counts less than lecture and if it was only 1 test, you may have more opportunity to bring up the grades. I did poorly on my first lecture exam and still ended up with an A in the class, so you never know!!

LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN · Jun 13, 2013

I took A & P I a couple semesters ago in a the short summer session and it was INSANE. For me, the lab practicals were harder than lecture. There was so much material and we covered it all. A & P II was easier, probably because I took it in a regular semester and got an A. You DO retain the information, even when you don't do well on a test you will find that later on you can name these muscles and arteries and veins etc. I wish I had taken some of the above advice and spent extra time in the lab with the models for muscles and bones and so on. Your instructor wants you to succeed, so do ALL the extra credit. For one thing, it helps you learn the material, for another thing it increases your grade points, and finally, as my A & P II professor told me, it makes the difference to the instructor when it comes to writing a letter of reference for you! I truly believe that my professor for A & P II writing me a glowing recommendation letter is because I ended up with 1040 points out of a possible 1050, doing all the extra credit. That letter, even though references were not required in our application package to the RN program, is what set my application over and above some others and got me into the program. You can do it!

CyndleT319 · Jun 13, 2013

I found for me that I'm a serious hands-on learner! The labs were not as hard on me as the lecture quizzes but I did end up making high B's in a&p 1 and 2 because of situational issues... I loved those classes though!

Some things that I did to help me with the bones was play online games! Theres a website where you can go an play games to label the bones, characteristics, etc. This really helped me when I got to a&p 2 and had to learn distinct features of things. It's called purposegames.com.

There's also a lot to be said about actually holding the models that you're most likely going to be tested on as well. Try getting those little sticky page markers and writing down the names of each thing and then putting them on the actual models. That's another thing I did that helped a lot. Also, printing out pictures, putting them in those protective plastic sleeve things and labeling them with dry erase markers helped me!

There are tons of ways to study to improve your grades. Ask your teacher for help too if you're just having a horrid time. Try to find ways of studying that are best for YOU. If you're a hands on learner like me, try the things I said.. but if not, it may do better to watch videos online, etc.

Good luck!

findingme02 · Jun 13, 2013

What's the name of the game you can play online? I'm thinking that could be quite helpful!

haileyjewell · Jun 13, 2013

I'm taking A&P 2 and microbiology online this summer. The thing that helps me the most is reading and re-reading the chapters. Also I'm not sure if your teacher gives you notes that give you an idea of what's on the tests but that helps me a ton as well.

CyndleT319 · Jun 13, 2013

Here's one, but if you go to purposegames.com and type, for instance "thoracic bones" (thoracic bones) or "skull bones" ( Skull Bones Side), etc into the search bar you can because some of the quizzes, like this one, aren't very specific. Here's an example anyway.

Bones of the Body

bagface · Jun 13, 2013

I agree with pp that you tube is helpful. I would take pictures of the bones and go home and immediately put words to them, do flash cards, etc. With muscles I had a coloring book (this also helped me a lot throughout the semester).

Anatomy Arcade I used this site too for fun in my down time. Not the greatest but.. a good start point. Also, form a study group and quiz each other. You can do this!!

Georgia peach RN · Jun 13, 2013

Great advice here, I only have one thing to add but it will not help you since you did well with the lectures - I would record my professor's lectures and listen to them over and over.(this was my weak spot) Lab was really easy for me because I am very hands on.

Any way I want to say to you never feel that your being homeschooled is a place of weakness. You had the advantage of being an only student that is except for maybe your siblings. You probably mastered more that you realized.

CyndleT319 · Jun 13, 2013

Great advice here, I only have one thing to add but it will not help you since you did well with the lectures - I would record my professor's lectures and listen to them over and over.(this was my weak spot) Lab was really easy for me because I am very hands on.
Any way I want to say to you never feel that your being homeschooled is a place of weakness. You had the advantage of being an only student that is except for maybe your siblings. You probably mastered more that you realized.

Amen! I was homeschooled and I'm proud of it! You have been given many wonderful opportunities and are blessed to have the ability to do something many people don't have the freedom to do.