Micro Frustrations

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Hi Everyone,

I'm hoping students and nurses who have taken Micro in the past can offer some suggestions as to how to study for such a dense subject. I have a first time professor this semester and her teaching style basically makes the class self taught. She reads right off the power point slides which are verbatum what the book says and she doesn't offer a study guide. I'm okay with not receiving a study guide, I know instructors don't have to make them, but for a subject so dense I would at least think we would get some guidance on which areas to focus on. I studied hard for our first exam and didn't do well so I made sure to study extremely hard for our last exam and I did okay. However, I'm not grasping the material. I've been to office hours and asked the same exact question: Where am I missing the connection? She literally told me "I don't know, read the book more I guess" or "form a study group". Though I appreciate the suggestions they just aren't helpful in giving me context when I have questions about differentiating between all the different topics we are learning about. I have also tried study buddies (others in the class are equally confused), rereading chapters, rewritting my notes and watching videos. I show up to every lecture, ask questions and participate in lab. It is a dense topic! Did anyone have a similar experience? Are there special studying techniques for micro that I am missing?

I really appreciate the input everyone! :laugh:

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Is there a review at the end of your chapter? Have you checked the publisher's site to see if there are any additional tools? Do you recognize patterns in her test questions?

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My best advice is to think about how her first test went and how the questions were worded. Teachers usually have a pattern when it comes to how they formulate their exams. Also quizlet. Lots of quizlet.

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It has been said that the only way you truly understand a topic is when you have to teach it. Try preparing for exams by pretending you have to actually teach the material to others. If you can perform a mock lecture that includes all the test material, you will have mastered it.

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Does your school have a tutoring center? If so definitely take advantage of that. Perhaps a student tutor is there who has successfully passed the class and can give you some suggestions.

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Hi Jen! Sorry I am so late to reply. I have been in micro land! We recently took another exam (which I did a bit better at) and I used the publishers site for study help. The SLOs and videos helped me a bit. Thanks for the suggestion!

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Hi Jen! Sorry I am so late to reply. I have been in micro land! We recently took another exam (which I did a bit better at) and I used the publishers site for study help. The SLOs and videos helped me a bit. Thanks for the suggestion!

I'm so glad it helped!

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