Taking A & P I again...any advice?

frnzy · Dec 15, 2009

When I took it, the lab portion was almost all memorization. Is that what you're having trouble with? For me the trick to memorization is all of those classic techniques of mnemonics and acronyms and stupid nonsense rhymes to remember something. Is this what you're having trouble with?

Ike Arumba · Dec 15, 2009

i guess it's memorization part. it's like i have all this information crammed in my brain for the lab practicals and then when it comes time for the test it all goes away. i don't get it. it happened in my lecture class too, but not as bad. idk what to do about it.

caliotter3 · Dec 15, 2009

My problem is doing the work. It takes work to read the chapter, take notes, make flashcards, devise mnemonics, and memorize anything. If a person waits until three hours before the test, then that defeats the purpose of learning the material. Start on the first day of class and devote time every day, not just a day or a few hours or a few days before the test to work at it. I think the people who study every day are the ones who find that it is easier and they get the better grades.

cecarriere · Dec 15, 2009

I had to take A&P lecture over, but Lab i passed first time around. but I know how it feels to take a class over again. But on a bright side you will be more perpared and will be familiar with the material already.

A&P lab is alot of memorization and Visual.

idk if you have tried this study tenqiue but I make flashcards for lab. hardest thing for me was learning all the muscles and its action, orgins, insterion. so flashcards where big help.also i talk and talke out loud alot,. Sticky notes, would write the the muscle and stick them on a family member and then outload say the origin and insertion and action.

idk if this will help, but what was the hardest thing for you in A&P 1 lab?

Ms. Nurse Assistant, LPN · Dec 15, 2009

do you think that you are going to get less than a C in A&P? If you get a B, I wouldn't take it over

frnzy · Dec 15, 2009

For me, I'd say it took me 4 study sessions to memorize each system. I made flash cards or studied my blanked-out lab manual (with the labels covered) at every possible moment. Preferably at least 30 minutes every day. For me, it was all about repetition. Speaking things out loud and pointing to them on my own body at the same time or making the motion of the muscle.

And the stupidest things were mnemonics and visuals and tricks I made up or learned from other classmates for things I kept getting wrong over and over, but as long as they work for you, then good. Like, I kept not being able to remember the name of the pyloric region and pyloric sphincter. So I imagined my friend "Laura" eating "pie" and whenever I looked at a picture of the stomach I visualized a triangular piece of "Pie" at the distal end of her stomach. PIE for LAURa to lICK. (When you say this outloud, the emphasized syllables sounds like pyloric. I know it's lame. But when I can't remember something, that's what I have to do. Or the difference between a supine and pronate hand. A "supine" hand is up like it's holding a bowl of SOUP. This is the only way I can learn for sure those rote memorization things.

My suggestion to you is make flash cards and start to teach it to your cat or boyfriend. Saying them outloud and writing them down a couple times is a big help to get them into permanent storage. Because you'll have 1) seen it 2) read it 3) thought it 4) said it 5) heard it 6) wrote it over and over.

jennylouwho · Dec 15, 2009

I did pretty well in lab, I got a 96%. What I would do is make note cards as soon as possible for the week's worth of material. I'd look at those note cards multiple times per day. I'd walk on the treadmill for an hour and just look at note cards. When I'd be in the parking lot waiting for my daughter's preschool class to let out, I'd look at my note cards. If my kids fell asleep when I was driving home, I'd let them sleep a bit longer in the car (if I moved them, one or both would wake) and I'd go through my note cards. I didn't always get all the way through the stack, but I was continually trying to get through them. I kept them in my purse at all times - if I had a free minute, I was going to go through them. Also, before each lab exam, I went to a tutoring session (free through my college) that my lab instructor was assigned to. I didn't go for help so much as to look at the bones (or whatever we were doing that week) again so that I was confident that I knew exactly what I was looking at.

D.R.A. · Dec 15, 2009

I think that you should read the material before the class, listen during lecture time, and go over the material within 24 hrs of class and continue to do so until the exam.

As for the time consumption that making note cards takes....ITA!! I was all gonna make note cards in the beginning and decided against it real quick! Took way too much time.

Go over the review at the end of the chapters, answer the questions at the end of each section throughout the chapters. Also, our curriculum comes with a web enhancement full of multi-choice, labeling, matching, etc., exercises. Those help alot. For me it boiled down to repitition, repitition, repetition!! Get someone to quiz you, then quiz them.

I can remember days when I had a test in lab AND lecture and I always felt like I was shorting one or the other on studying.

If you made a B in lecture I think that you did pretty well. Sounds like you just need to figure out how to manage both classes at the same time. I spent time in the lab looking at histology slides before the test and looking at the bones of the skeleton before that test, etc. Without actually putting in the extra lab time on my own, I wouldn't have done nearly as well.

Good luck!

wetzoo · Dec 15, 2009

I agree with flashcards.

Except I would apply a study method with the flashcards. For example, using the leitner system( http://flashcarddb.com/leitner) or what is called 'growing groups'.

In growing groups, you would start off with 10 flashcards, and once you've mastered all 10, you add 10 more cards to that stack. Once all 20 is mastered, you add 10 more to that stack, and so on until all flashcards are learned.

I'm a visual learner and thus continually reading the chapters in an effort to retain the information will do nothing but put me to sleep, so these methods have been lifesavers for my grades in my prereqs.

CoffeeDrinkin'BJ · Dec 15, 2009

Hello!

I'm one that had to repeat A&P I twice due to unsatisfactory grades in both lecture and lab. :sniff: The trick that worked best for me? I had to review notes twice a day, everyday. I realize that more class time means more notes to study, but as you go, the first couple of notes don't seem that bad anymore! For example, let's say you need to review chapter one, section a. You go home and review the section. At night, you review it once again. Next day, you need to review chapter one, section b of your notes. You go home and review both section a and b. As you keep getting notes, you add on and on. I promise you, all this reviewing is worth it! You'll maintain most of the information and test won't seem so intimidating anymore! :idea: I wish you luck! Take my advice and review, review, review. Take care.

By the way, a B isn't so bad! You did great in lecture! Yet, if you didn't do so well in lab, take my advice about the reviewing. Rather than that, I say you're ready for A&P II! Anyways, good luck and I hope you get the grades you want and deserve. :)

CoffeeDrinkin'BJ :smilecoffeecup:

Dakovich · Dec 15, 2009

I'm with the flash card people on this. You've got to know how to study in a way that works for you, period. For me it was flash cards. Its also a skill to know how to make flash cards, I like to keep them simple. Some people will put paragraphs of information on their cards, which to me is no different than reading the book. Break the information down into small parts, and also put some general questions in there you would expect to be asked about that information. I'll be honest, I use LOTS of cards...but, they are simple and uncomplicated which makes them quick and easy to make. I then do a similar thing as stated above where I try to master a small group of the cards, then add more. I also will take the whole stack and go very quickly through them and if I can't answer the card fast, almost without having to think about it, I put those into a stack to the side I call "crap I don't know yet". The stuff I can answer fast I put in a pile I call "crap I know". The key is if I don't know it cold, it goes in the "crap I don't know pile"...no exceptions. Then I rock out that "crap I don't know yet" pile until slowly everything gets put into the "crap I know" pile. Weird, I know, but it works.

After all of this I'll go to a group study session to see if I missed anything or if possibly I've gotten something wrong in my solo studying...kind of a fact check. Also, going to your schools "skills center" (if they have one) really really helps out. The school I was going to had a science skills center staffed with a full time professor and similar students to me so it was a great place to ask questions and think outloud.

Doing this I aced AP1 and AP2, both lab and lecture. this is great and all, but I will say that I wouldn't have done as well if I hadn't studied everyday( You don't have to study much each day, maybe 15-20 minutes ). If you try and cram it all in starting a couple of days before the test you're screwed, and thats a fact.