Do you read all the text for science classes?

[Trenata]

I am not sure if I am going to have time to read everything I am suppose to for my micro class. Our teacher has a great system that she set up in masterinmicrobiology.com where we have to complete A LOT of assignments. This is good because our entire grade is not dependent on the exams and we earn a lot of points doing assignments, pre-labs, quizzes and a practice exam while learning at the same time. This isn't going to allow as much time to read. The professor also gives us learning objectives. I really do like that the professor has provided so much material to help us learn and is really proactive at helping the students do well. She did say it is important to read too.

I haven't taken the first exam yet, so I am not sure how important reading will be or if all this other learning material will be enough. I do have a study guide that I could read which really sums it up!

What do you all do?

[VAgirl247]

Use powerpoints as guidance. Flash cards were my best friends when it came to all the different viruses/bacteria. We had to know if they gram+ or gram-. We had to have spelling down to the correct spelling.

[coolinbysound]

I agree with those above. It depends on the class - for biology the best way to study is to use the powerpoints in class and find outlines covering the main material that is going to be tested. For chemistry and the like, it helps to do lots of practice problems.

Never read the book front to back, it is a waste of valuable study time. Skim the important information and highlight relevant facts.

[gamerchick209]

IMO....read read read read! The more you read the more "AAH HA" moments you will have and the material becomes super easy.

[vitamingirl722]

I follow study guides like a bible. In micro my professor uses Powerpoints so I follow those for the exams. In chemistry I read the examples on how to do problems from the book bc my teacher doesn't use Powerpoints and my class notes are never in depth.

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[ant2cory]

I read the text for every class I take every time. I even read the little bubbles on the side and look at charts and graphs. Personally, I want to get as much as I can out of ever course and I feel that reading the text is included in that. Yes, it is very time consuming but overall has helped me tremendously.

[ShelbyaStar]

In an ideal world, I like to read before class while taking notes. For super dense material, I make outlines. This does make everything else come easy.

In reality, it depends. This term it seems that my bio instructor will be testing out of lecture only and the book, while it's strongly recommended that we read it, is there for a base of knowledge. She said herself her recommendation is to read the chapter before class but without taking notes, just to get the big picture.

My other two classes are two psych classes that test out of the book, one of which more out of the book than lecture.

So while I'd like to get all the reading done, bio is not my priority. When I do get a chance to do an outline of the chapter before lecture it does make the material very easy, but with all the reading and note taking I absolutely HAVE to do for my other classes, I'm probably not going to have time for it anymore.