Studying tips

So this is my first time taking it and the semester is over on the 12th, I currently have a 79%. Still haven't mastered how to do well on the lab practicals, I'm still at a 69 but, I have an A in lecture. My study habits are to go over the material everyday and then utilize the online quizzes that correspond with my textbook. I also use a lot of online diagrams. It may be a bit unusual but I dont take notes, I read whats in our books. I also don't follow the power point slides that are presented to me in class because I feel they are misleading as to whats actually going to be on the test which has been the case for our first exam. I failed my first exam but after utilizing these new study habits, I've Aced my last 4 exams. I think it comes down to how your professor grades. After the first test, I could tell the exam was not made up manually and that every question was taken directly out of the textbook with the exception of bonus questions, therefore I use the textbook as my primary study guide. We have a lot of homework as well but for the most part our grades are made up of 6 Exams and 6 Practical quizzes.

Do you have Dr Hawk?

Rob95 mentioned some awesome advice! I think each class depends on the professor you are taking. Some professors will make you work incredibly hard for a good grade (which I do appreciate) and other professors give more guidance. I personally found recording the lectures to be helpful while taking notes on the PowerPoints provided. I did have a professor for my first semester who utilized more than one PowerPoint and it made notetaking difficult at times, but I learned to quickly adjust. The information in the first exam were things I had seen from other classes, but the moment I did not understand something I would read the textbook. If I was still unclear, I would show my professor my reasoning and show him where I was having the issue. This shows the professor you are willing to put in the work and helps to build a relationship.

In regards to how I actually studied, I can honestly say that it depended on the section. I will say that I did review within twenty-four hours. The first exam I did not study much for lecture. For other exams, I read over my notes/PowerPoints, used the text for extra info, listened to the recordings, and practiced with my whiteboard. Writing it down and saying it out loud helped me to remember better. My lab partner and I also studied together quite often. We helped to clear up confusing topics for each other and gave each other little shortcuts to learn something more efficiently.

In regards to lab, my professor was big on "chunking"

the models with a partner. My friends who had taken the class and gotten an A all told me to do it that way. My partner and I would essentially do five structures on a bone or five muscles at a time before adding more. We also made videos of ourselves going over all the structures for each bone and all the muscles within a certain group. For histology, we took pictures of every slide at every magnification and labeled the heck out of our images. When other students were barely getting by (we took the class over six weeks), my partner and I were doing incredibly well. I wound up getting a high A and my partner got a B.

I took these skills over to my second semester A&P class and have managed to keep an A intact all semester. I ask questions during class and try to tie information together there. I have also used YouTube videos as an extra bit of help. I might suggest also talking with a student in your class who is doing well or try to hunt down a previous student. He or she may be able to give you some awesome advice that will help you out more.

Lastly, I also want to recommend just evaluating yourself. What exactly are you not grasping? Can you try another professor? Are you cramming? Are you working too many hours or taking too many classes? Do you need to review biology and chemistry? Do you have an undiagnosed learning disability? I can come up with more questions, but I think you may get the idea. You are not alone in the struggle! Keep working hard.