Study tips for microbiology?

[katerlene]

So I'm halfway through my microbiology course, and I am by no means a stellar A+ student. I have a tough time with school and getting motivated, as I am feeling like I've hit a rut in life and its definitely affecting my studies. I just wanted some advice on how I could improve my study habits, whats worked for other students when taking a microbiology course, and in general, how I can work towards getting at least a B in the course! I've taken an anatomy course in the summer (6 weeks, big mistake) and received a really bad looked upon 'C' in the course And then took physiology last fall and got a 'B', which I was happy about, but I BARELY scraped by with that grade. As most nursing programs here in California require at least a 2.5 gpa in the three sciences, this is my last course to really pull my head out of my butt and work towards getting another 'B' on my transcript. BUT, microbiology just isn't interesting to me as physiology was! I'm really struggling.

We have weekly lab quizzes, and I usually get 8/10s on those. We've had 5 so far. We also had our first lecture exam, and I received a 71/100 Most of the exam was on bergey's manual, and I'm no good at memorizing all of the weird genuses and species names, not to mention all of the diseases and origins etc. So that one was a big toughie for me... We also had our midterms. The lab practical I thought was fairly easy, yet I made little mistakes here and there that cost me my grade, like mistaking the acid fast stain with the gram stain. It was a 42/50, so roughly 84%. The lab lecture exam however... was a disappointment. My score was a 64.5/85, 75%. I definitely cannot afford to get a C in the course, or else I'm doomed and won't be able to apply into any nursing programs.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I do know that I get major test anxiety. Whenever I study at home, I drill myself over and over and know the answers really well. But when it comes to the test, I just completely blank, lose all confidence in myself, and end up tanking my score. The lecture exams are a mix of multiple choice and short answers. Our professor is extremely picky, one word missing and he docks off a point, etc. But the trouble with the multiple choice that I have is that he makes A. A and B, B. C and D C. C only D. None of the above; questions like those stump me all of the time, and they make me second guess too!

I'm not much of a social person, so its hard for me to form a study group with my classmates. Our class runs as a night class from 5:30pm to 10:15pm, two days a week, so its extremely long and tedious. The second lecture exam is this coming Monday, 3/28/16, so I'd very much like to get a much higher score this time around, at least 80% :) So, I'm still hopeful, but also a bit scared to get another low score.

Does anyone have any advice? Thank you in advance! I know from other students that nursing school is extremely tough and if I'm having a difficult time in the pre-requisites that I shouldn't even bother applying.... And though that may be very discouraging, i don't want to quit and say that I didn't at least try for it. So, this is me trying and hopefully pushing through.

[KThurmond]

I haven't taken microbiology yet but I have read on here before to take pics in the lab to help study.

[Banana nut, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Studying for micro is very professor dependent in my opinion. There is so much info that you are not gonna be tested on everything you study. I would suggest going to the office hours and torturing to help focus you on what you need to know. California community colleges all have free tutoring and office hours available. Also, to get into community collage nursing programs in California you pretty much need A's. Every year the scoring is getting more and more competitive.

Good luck in your journey.

[Zyprexa_Ho]

I'm also struggling with Micro. I have a high A, but the final is 1/3 of our grade. Oophf. All I can really say is study, study, study. You need to study every day like your test is tomorrow. Memorization is not my strong suit (I'm great at critical thinking questions), so I have to spend even more time with Micro than A&P2. I have a prior bachelor's degree and my micro class has been harder than even my capstone class for my bachelor's. There is so much information and so many names to memorize. I feel you there.

Something that has helped me with test anxiety is literally taking a few minutes at the very beginning of the test to breathe. My tests are online (some are proctored) and timed, so when I click the "start" button and the timer starts to tick down, I get a surge of anxiety and then I just breathe for a few minutes. After that I get to cracking. As I go I end up focusing more on the questions than my anxiety.

[Proton]

I found that my anxiety stemmed from not feeling prepared. I found that I was much more calm when I felt I knew the material well.

I am all for study groups. It has helped me to test my knowledge whenever I had to explain to someone else.

The user who mentioned office hours and tutoring was absolutely right. Sometimes the tutors have taken the course with the same professor and can help you narrow down your focus. If your professor sees you're making an effort to work on your grade maybe they would be willing to provide a study guide to the class?

I also mark allllllll over the test/exam underlining and circling to make sure I understand the question. I give myself 30 seconds to a minute depending on the time we have allotted and then I star it and move on if I have an unable to answer. I don't want to feel overwhelmed or trigger anxiety.

[Lexalina]

Hey Katerlene, I took Micro last semester. What really helped me because my instructor moved crazy fast through the material, was recording her lectures. I listened to them over and over every chance I could, in the car, while cleaning the house etc... I took notes as well and rewrote them several times. Also because creativity helps me learn I would print out some pictures from her power point and add those to my notes. The time spent making it into art helped me with recall during the tests, almost like photographic memory in a way. Hope that helps, and good luck!