Biol 189 @ Ccsn

pepperoni · Sep 29, 2008

I have to reply to this....

I took my Bio189 at CSN and it was THE HARDEST CLASS I have EVER taken. There were 45 people on the first day of class, not even enough desks for everybody, and on the day of the final... I was 1 OF 8 students remaining! I don't think this thread is talking about my teacher cause everyone is saying "he", and my professor was female. I studied my BUTT off and squeaked by with a C. No joke. I studied and studied and studied and when the test came, I felt like I was on another planet reading a foreign language... she literally encouraged students to drop, and was out to put a C on your transcript no matter what. I could not, for the life of me, score higher than a 67% on the exams... every exam... 67, 67, 67... if I hadn't had lab (25% of your overall grade) with another instructor, I would have failed for sure. I would go to her office for questions on my exams, and she would only say, "Well you should have known that." It was awful...

StayingOnThePath · Feb 13, 2010

Hello everyone,

I just moved to Vegas and am taking a Biol189 course at CSN (or CCSN, whatever it's called). I just started off the semester on a bad note - I got a C on my first test. I'm extremely concerned at this point. Should I be?

The class average seems to be low (45/100 according to the online scores), but everyone seems to be brighter (smarter) than me. Also, I have only one course, which is online. So apparently, something isn't clicking when it comes to myself learning the concepts required to do well on the test. I did have to take the TEAS exam in the 2nd week of classes (because I wanted to get it out of the way - and for the record, i did well), but i'm not going to make excuses about it effecting my studying for this test because I did have 2 more weeks to prepare for this test. So, what happened to the 25% that I didn't understand.....

Looking back on it, I do listen to my recorder directly after lecture, and I do read the textbook religiously. Doing these things did help make me feel confident, but positive results don't show up. This would mean that I would have to start using every single tool at my disposal to raise my grade - probably something I should've done before I took my first test.

Has anyone had a slow start to the semester, to ultimately overcome this and get an A grade in Biol189?

If so, how did you do it? Are there any tips to having a stress free semester?

Also, if there are any tutors out there.....(especially at CSN), I wouldn't mind getting in contact with you to start up a session A.S.A.P. Please leave a first name and day of availability and then i'll sign up right away.

Time is of the essence, folks, time is of the essence.

God Speed.

Kchaffin, ASN, RN · May 22, 2011

Hello everyone,
I just moved to Vegas and am taking a Biol189 course at CSN (or CCSN, whatever it's called). I just started off the semester on a bad note - I got a C on my first test. I'm extremely concerned at this point. Should I be?
The class average seems to be low (45/100 according to the online scores), but everyone seems to be brighter (smarter) than me. Also, I have only one course, which is online. So apparently, something isn't clicking when it comes to myself learning the concepts required to do well on the test. I did have to take the TEAS exam in the 2nd week of classes (because I wanted to get it out of the way - and for the record, i did well), but i'm not going to make excuses about it effecting my studying for this test because I did have 2 more weeks to prepare for this test. So, what happened to the 25% that I didn't understand.....
Looking back on it, I do listen to my recorder directly after lecture, and I do read the textbook religiously. Doing these things did help make me feel confident, but positive results don't show up. This would mean that I would have to start using every single tool at my disposal to raise my grade - probably something I should've done before I took my first test.
Has anyone had a slow start to the semester, to ultimately overcome this and get an A grade in Biol189?
If so, how did you do it? Are there any tips to having a stress free semester?
Also, if there are any tutors out there.....(especially at CSN), I wouldn't mind getting in contact with you to start up a session A.S.A.P. Please leave a first name and day of availability and then i'll sign up right away.
Time is of the essence, folks, time is of the essence.
God Speed.

Hey how did you end up doing? I for one found this class tough and the lectures were pretty useless since my lec prof joked around alot and told soooo many personal stories..great guy but geez! The final I got 92/115 and a solid B in Lab when all is said and done I got the C I needed to move on :yeah:but I bombed the 1st 2 tests 63, 58, 81, and 72. Wish it could have been a B *sigh* What are you taking next? I am thinking of attending UNLV/NSC in the fall for the rest of my prereq's they seem to have more slots open. Sounds like you and I are on the same path, we should stay in touch. It would be great to talk to someone that understands lol. :lol2:

anakin322 · May 23, 2011

Maybe it was just me, but I really felt that both A & P courses were far harder than 189. 189 was simply an overview of biology, with very little detail. At least that's how my professor taught it. All of his tests were based mostly on his lecture, so if you paid attention and wrote good notes you could do fine. A&P, however, was MUCH more detailed and required much more studying. A lot of people seem to think that A&P is simply memorizing material, but I found there to be much more application and depth to A&P than 189. Not trying to scare anybody but want to prepare everyone who really struggles in 189 to have to work probably 2-3 times harder in A&P.

Of course it strongly depends on the professor too, but remember that when you enter the nursing program they are going to expect you to fully understand physiology, because from the first semester of nursing school on they are going to teach you pathophysiology. In order to understand what happens when things go wrong with the body, you have to have a firm understanding of how they work when everything is normal. There is no period of refresher in the nursing program. Thus, if you have a super "hard" A&P professor, you will probably be in better shape once you enter the actualy nursing program, although you have to study and work extremely hard in his class. I've even heard some people say if you can get past 2 semesters with this professor, the nursing program will seem simple compared to his class.

Cupcake89121 · May 24, 2011

Hate to tell you this guys but if you are seriously struggling that badly with your Bio pre-reqs then you are going to have a heck of a time once you get into nursing classes. I just finished my 1st semester in the RN program and it wasn't impossible, but definitely tougher than I thought it would be. When I took the final I think about half of the students that were present the first day of NURS 101 were there taking the exam with me.

It is extremely important that you have a basic working knowledge in all of your Biology courses b/c everything you learn in nursing school is based upon this information. Good luck!

THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN · May 26, 2011

hey guess what i took bio 189 at csn and got a C....i took ap1 and 2 at csn and got A-'s both times! it was not easy but once i understood the method of how things work in the college level sciences it was actually enjoyable! too bad i figured things out when i was already in the middle of 189 and had failed two exams :/