I am taking AP2 this semester and I'm really struggling. I've never struggled this much with a class before. We have taken 2 exams and I have a 72%, I need an 80% for a B. We have 3 more exams in the next 7 weeks so I do have time to redeem myself. I just feel like I do not have enough time to do homework and it's affecting how well I retain information.
I did take 1 big step to help myself, I changed my work schedule. I was working all day long on M, W, F with school T, TH. I now work F, Sa, Su with school on T, TH. I feel that will give me 4 days in a row and hopefully the consistent repetition will help me remember better.
Does anyone have any tips to help me study more efficiently? I am NOT going to repeat this class. I am very determined to work my butt off these next 7 weeks and get through. :uhoh21:
I am a little concerned about Pharmacology in the summer (10 weeks). I dont know if to be worried, nervous, excited, or just overwhelmed by this class!!! From the horror stories I hear... its going to be tough. I just also want to retain this important information that I HAVE TO LEARN & RETAIN. Anyway, just venting i plan on doing everyything that I can to pass with flying colors though! Anyone that is done with Pharm? Any tips are appreciated. =)
What works best for you? Are you a visual learner, auditory learner, kinesthetic learner? Do you need to see it to remember it, hear it, touch it? When you know that work to that strength. What works for others may not work for you. I loathe flash cards and they don't help me at all. For me, it's association. For example, ADH stimulates cells in the distal convoluted tubule and collecting duct. Focus on the "D" in ADH. Use it to remember Distal and Duct. I know this one is truly silly, but per my text, the electroyles of greatest importance to cellular functions: sodium, sulfate, potassium, phosphate, calcium, choloride, hydrogen, magnesium, bicarbonate. To remember I took the first letter of each electrolyte and made up the following: Some Say... Pooh Pooh! Community College! HMBug!! Or for those substances reabsorbed by tubular reabsorption the first letter of each substance makes up "UCLA succs ppw" (I think of the w as two u's.) If you're familiar with Fleetwood Mac's song Tusk played by the USC marching band (showing my age here) you'll be able to remember it. I put a link below to two version of it so you'll know what I mean. The second youtube is rough, but you'll never forget tubular rabsorption again. And notice on the first link one of the first images you see is of a tuba. Tuba...tubular reabsorption. Get it? Hee hee. I know sounds silly, but it works for me. I got 110 on my water, electrolyte, and acid-base balace exam. (He graded on the curve and I was the top score.) Hang in there, do whatever it takes to kick it's butt...You CAN do it!
Sher10 - I am a visual learner, I think. I have no problems remembering anatomy. I can literally see the page in the book in my mind. I have problems remember the physiology, the big picture concepts. I am trying to focus my study on those things primarily. Another issue I have is we always have enormous homework assignments before exams. I've decided that some of my homework may not get done before this exam. I need to be studying. I'm not going to sacrifice my 200 point exam on a 10 or 15 point homework assignment.
My exam is Tuesday at 1pm and I have a study schedule up to that point. I work F,Sa, Su from 10am - 8:30pm. But, I'm bringing my printed out lecture slides to work with me to read on breaks and slow times. When I get home I am working on rereading the chapter. Monday I plan to study for 8-10 hours, broken up into 1.5 hour intervals. Tuesday I'll be up early reviewing anatomy and concepts that may still be a tad fuzzy.
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...............
Irishowl -- if you can see the page in your mind, then, yeah, you're most likely visual. Try to learn to use it to your advantage. DON'T use a highlighter when you originally read the chapter if you're visual. That draws the eye too much and you'll end up remembering useless crap like "the," "an" and other articles and "filler" words. Use a colored pen, probably blue or green, first (red kind of acts like a highlighter). When you go back and re-read, you can focus on those underlined parts. At that point, highlight the key words or phrases. If it's a definition and the key word is already in bold, just highlight the definition. That you've seen, i.e. read, everything you'll be tested on gives you an advantage as a visual learner. Trust that it's in your head, confidence is key in almost all situations.
Also, many or maybe even most people have a secondary learning type. You might want to try to figure what that is if you have one. Sher10 mentioned mnemonic devices and a few different ways those have come in handy. Mnemonic devices are awesome learning strategies, especially for straight memorization, because they often incorporate more than just one type of cue -- visual/auditory being most common. Basically, a learning strategy that makes sense to you, will work best for you.
This is a website where you can download lectures from A&P at Cochise College. They can help when you need to try to understand a difficult topic. Sometimes seeing and hearing another explanation can help. Be sure you download a format where you can see and hear the lecture.
Try checking out the website for your textbook and see if there is a companion site for your book. Sometimes there are really helpful graphics and other resources that can help cement tough stuff.
I've also used Barron's Anatomy and Physiology The Easy Way...(as if)...but it is written on a less challenging level than the text and if I am having trouble grasping a concept, I may read it there first to get a basic understanding and then switch up to the text.
If you're struggling with a physiology concept, try Googling it and see if you can find anything helpful.
You have to use EVERY advantage to whip up on this monster called A&P!
Today is the big day! Respiratory AP exam with urinary anatomy thrown in for fun! I spent about 7 hours yesterday studying and I'll probably get another 3 in this morning before I head in to school. I don't know if I feel confident but I feel ok. My professor gives exams that have several differant portions. There is a practical portion, a power point identify portion, a multiple choice portion, fill in the blank and short essays. I plan to go very slowly and focus on 1 thing at a time. It's very easy to get distracted in that room with people changing stations every 40 seconds, the powerpoint slide changing every 40 seconds.
RnBound0510
321 Posts
I am a little concerned about Pharmacology in the summer (10 weeks). I dont know if to be worried, nervous, excited, or just overwhelmed by this class!!! From the horror stories I hear... its going to be tough. I just also want to retain this important information that I HAVE TO LEARN & RETAIN. Anyway, just venting
i plan on doing everyything that I can to pass with flying colors though! Anyone that is done with Pharm? Any tips are appreciated. =)