Scored low on Exam

Veganmom · Feb 19, 2010

I used the online resources from my A&P book, coloring books, and flashcards to learn A&P. I had two different professors for A&P and found that neither of their lecture styles worked for me. It forced me to learn to the material on my own, which is probably good preparation for nursing school. Don't let one exam defeat you. You can do this.

Hobbes02 · Feb 19, 2010

I wrote as quickly as I could in class while the instructor talks. I also record his lectures.
I come home and listen to the whole lecture again and rewrite my notes and anything that I may have missed.
I then put all the info onto index cards and then begin to study. I also study everyday.

Really, you did all this and you still didn't do well? This is what I do and it is what I was going to suggest. The only thing I do differently is that I don't take notes during the lecture. I write down the main ideas sequentially, and next to each idea, I mark the time in minutes from my recorder. By doing this I can easily skip to a section if I need to without trying to figure out where in the lecture it is. I don't see how anyone can possibly learn and understand anything when they're trying to write 90mph to get every word that comes out of the prof's mouth. My teacher goes fast and I laugh when I watch people try to get everything while I sit there writing down a word or 2 every few minutes. I don't do any real note taking until I get it home and go through it. Our lectures are 50 minutes long and it usually takes me about 2 hours to go through them. I also write my notes directly on note cards so I don't have to write them twice. If this isn't working for you then maybe your teacher isn't explaining things well or is missing things that end up on the tests.. How did everyone else do on the exam?

As for the low grade, I wouldn't stress about it too much. I took Microbiology over the intersession and I nearly failed the second exam with a 65. I've never gotten a D on a test before! Anyway, I did really well on all the other exams and I still finished the class with an A. Don't worry about one low grade, just try and make sure it's the only one. Good Luck!

Sand_Dollar, BSN · Feb 19, 2010

Now that the first exam is over, can you glean information from the teacher's test style? I mean, did he get his questions/answers straight out of the book, additional text material or were they from his lectures...that sort of thing. I would look over the test to see how he made it, then you will know where to focus your time for the next one. I always write down how my teacher does the exams so it takes a bit of the edge off for the following ones.

Good luck!

mangopeach · Feb 19, 2010

I used the online resources from my A&P book, coloring books, and flashcards to learn A&P. I had two different professors for A&P and found that neither of their lecture styles worked for me. It forced me to learn to the material on my own, which is probably good preparation for nursing school. Don't let one exam defeat you. You can do this.

Much of what I do comes from the online resources that came with my textbook. This is one book that I truly did not mind spending the big bucks for. All the extras are truly worth it! :yeah: All the labeling activities, puzzles, recordings and tutorials help me big time.

I don't take notes in class either. I read the chapter before class, so that when the prof is lecturing, I'm already somewhat familiar with what he's saying and his lecture just helps to clarify some of the terms and explain some things in a bit more depth.

I'm more of a visual learner so I have to see how things work, just reading and listening to lectures would never work for me so thats why I love all the extra stuff that came with my text. They have truly been a life saver for me.

my4helpers · Feb 19, 2010

It's hard for me to understand how a normal A&P class works. Like I have said in some other posts, our class is not a true A&P class, but rather a simpler form of A&P that does not go in great detail. This is what our college requires for it's nursing program which I am applying to. I also just found another nursing program in the area (hospital based Assoc. degree) that requires the A&P 1&2, but this class that I am in (Function & Structure and it's only 1 semester...not 2) will transfer so I will never have to take A&P. The books that we use are called Anatomy & Physiology the unity of form and function by Saladin 5th edition and the Lab Manual for A&P by Eric Wise 5th edition. So being that this class is only one semester, we will not be learning near as much. I see some of you use A&P coloring books and flash cards. Is this for learning the different body parts? If so, I really do not think that I need this because we are not going that in depth with the body parts and muscles. In fact, we just had our first lab/practical last week and I received an A. It's just the lecture part giving me trouble because I am not use to his way of teaching. I am not sure how the whole class did, but I know a few others received 2 C's and a B and I got a D. I think my biggest problem is, the prof. talks for 1hr 40min and I am not sure what is and what's not important, so I try and memorize EVERYTHING he says. Last semester when I took bio., the prof. used slides. Each chapter had rouhgly 50 slides. We were then tested over 4-5 chapters at a time and I would basically memorize about 300 slides. I would transfer them all to index cards and memorize several hundred for each test. It worked and I came out with an A, but I just can't get the hang of learning material this way.

Veganmom, I think I would have trouble learning on my own, because I would want to learn absolutely everything. I have a hard time seeing the important information.

Hobbes02, yes, I put all this hard work into it and still did not do well. The low grade is not so much bothering me since this was only our first test, but it was knowing all the steps that I went through and it didn't turn out. I have no clue what to do differently.

Sand_Dollar, honestly he really does not use the book and to be honest I do not feel comfortable using it either. A lot of times when he gives us definitions he will say that the book says this or that, but I want you to use his own definition to put it into simpler form basically. So if I were to study straight from the book I still might get answers wrong because he strictly goes off his notes. I know a few questions on the test, he never went over and some other said the same thing as well. I mean when a prof. teaches for over an hour, how does he remember exactly what was said when he makes up the exam?? He may think he taught it, but he didn't.

mangopeach, I know I am not much of a visual learner. I mean when he goes to drawing atoms and molecules on the board, that does nothing for me! LOL!! I would actually need to read what is going on with them.

PhoenixTech, LPN · Feb 19, 2010

it's hard for me to understand how a normal a&p class works. like i have said in some other posts, our class is not a true a&p class, but rather a simpler form of a&p that does not go in great detail. this is what our college requires for it's nursing program which i am applying to. i also just found another nursing program in the area (hospital based assoc. degree) that requires the a&p 1&2, but this class that i am in (function & structure and it's only 1 semester...not 2) will transfer so i will never have to take a&p.
i see some of you use a&p coloring books and flash cards. is this for learning the different body parts? if so, i really do not think that i need this because we are not going that in depth with the body parts and muscles. .
sand_dollar, honestly he really does not use the book and to be honest i do not feel comfortable using it either. a lot of times when he gives us definitions he will say that the book says this or that, but i want you to use his own definition to put it into simpler form basically. so if i were to study straight from the book i still might get answers wrong because he strictly goes off his notes. i know a few questions on the test, he never went over and some other said the same thing as well. i mean when a prof. teaches for over an hour, how does he remember exactly what was said when he makes up the exam?? he may think he taught it, but he didn't.

that's the value of reading the book, for those questions he didn't lecture about but are in the course material. like another poster said, i read the chapter before the professor goes over it. that way when the prof. lectures on it i can ask questions about the material that i didn't understand in the book. also, its like re enforcement because i've already read the material.

how is it that you don't need to know the different body parts for a profession that treats the body? :confused: do they cover it with your nursing courses?

anyway, you might want to try a tutor because if you did that much prep and got a d, you'll have a rough time in nursing school.

good luck to you :)

my4helpers · Feb 19, 2010

That's the value of reading the book, for those questions he didn't lecture about but are in the course material. Like another poster said, I read the chapter before the professor goes over it. That way when the prof. lectures on it I can ask questions about the material that I didn't understand in the book. Also, its like re enforcement because I've already read the material.
How is it that you don't need to know the different body parts for a profession that treats the body? Do they cover it with your nursing courses?
Anyway, you might want to try a tutor because if you did that much prep and got a D, you'll have a rough time in Nursing School.
Good luck to you :)

We do need to know the body parts, but the course will not be as in depth as the A&P classes that most students take. This class is only 5 credit hours unlike A&P being a total of 8 credit hours. This is just what our CC requires.

Sand_Dollar, BSN · Feb 20, 2010

I used Saladin, but it was for AP1&2 and we went through it cover to cover! Have you checked out the extras off the publisher's website? I found them very helpful for me (maybe he's getting some questions off the study tests - my teacher used a few). No power points I assume either, or I would ask him for a copy.

When I took classes years ago, before laptops and general use of the internet, classes were strictly by note taking with a few slides. I just remember making headlines and mostly point form. Be sure to read the book ahead of time....its going to be extra work, but what if you took notes from the text and then just added where the prof expands on a concept?

I highly recommend a book called 'Effective Study Silly' by James Semones. I read this a few times and have applied many of the concepts and attribute much of my success to it.

It sounds like you have a poor prof and it very likely is going to be a rough.

I wish you the best of luck - I wish I could help more.

~SD