Ugg.... let me start out by saying this is by no means a slam at those of you taking more than one class..... I'm just venting here....
I am in Anatomy. Yes... it is my ONLY class. But.... I have 3 children, who I take to pre-school, dance, basketball, baby class, and art class. (not to mention things like the zoo, children's museum, etc).... I also volunteer at our hospital and teach Sunday school at church, and my husband travels 80% of the week for his job.... (and these are just "planned" activites... not including Dr. appts, things like that)
And I'm working my butt off in Anatomy. I've studied harder for this class than I did for any of my courses when I received my BS degree.... And even though I'm only taking one class.... I'm getting an A because I'm working hard for it....
I had a girl who is taking 2 courses tell me that she's getting a C/D because she is taking 2 classes at the same time. Ummmm hello.... don't most full time students take 16 credits at a time as it is??? If everyone who was taking a full course load were to get C's and D's.... imagine what the school would be going through???!!!???
Anyway... I just wanted to get that out.... I don't have any "extra" time in my week to study any harder than someone taking more than one class. I just plan and organize my time so that I can fit it in. Granted there are many times when I'm up at 1am having to study.... but I'm doing it! And it's not because it's my only class!
Ok, I feel better now! Thanks for letting me rant!!!!
I haven't taken any labs yet, but is it really necessary to spend hours upon hours in the lab in order to do well? I have kids and a job, and while I can study at home for as many hours as I need to, I simply cannot spend hours away from home in a lab. (Getting worried now.)
Well, yes....as far as the rat dissection goes, we had to know everything from the submandibular glands to the brachioscephalic artery to the medullary pyramids in the kidney... it took a while to go through and locate everything and then go through it again and remember its location.
I am only taking Anatomy (obviously, I am the OP) and the course is 3 hours. I spend at least 10 hours outside of class per week studying for the lecture and at least 2-4 hours a week in the lab. In addition to that, I spend about 5 hours a week studying the lab portion of what we have been working on as well.
So the minimum I spend studying and going to lecture/lab is 20 hours. I usually do more but, I too have kids, outside obligations, and a home and husband....It's not easy, but if you manage your time well, you will do fine.
When I was in micro and in a&P1,2 I used a lot of on line web sites with wonderful histology slides to study, and ther's all kinds of web sites with bones, real or cadaver, muscles ect.. So it's not always nessecary to spend lots of extra time in the lab.
I haven't taken any labs yet, but is it really necessary to spend hours upon hours in the lab in order to do well? I have kids and a job, and while I can study at home for as many hours as I need to, I simply cannot spend hours away from home in a lab. (Getting worried now.)
I had to spend a considerable amount of time on my Micro and both A&P lab portions. There is just not enough time to get everything down during class lab time. Our study lab is open on Saturdays, and I even went then plenty of times, sacrificing family time with my husband who works out of town each week. I plan to do it again this coming Saturday morning because I have my last lab test next week. We dissected not only ONE but TWO fetal pigs (bless their little piggy hearts)...one for the circulatory system and the second for the digestive organs, urinary and reproductive organs (you work with a boy and a girl pig). We also dissected a pig heart on its own. Its all very envolved and only the students who go out of their way will get A's. In addition we also have to identify numerous tissues and significant structures under the microscope. Only a small portion has been from pictures in our lab book. They say these are 4 credit hour classes but it is more like double :uhoh21: It was the same in my micro class...I spent many Mondays in the open lab working on stuff, and trust me it's NOT because there is something wrong with me....it's just that difficult to get that A in my school in the pre-nursing science classes! Its been only a handful of students each semester who walk out of these classes with competitive grades. Our school has a nursing program....so it's very tough, they rank 6th in the State. Our teachers pride themselves with producing only the very best and the nursing school loves their own bred. Maybe there are 'easier" micro and A&p classes out there but it's definitely not so at our college.
The Chemistry classes were different, everything was accomplished in class lab time and I was ablel to study for the lab tests by just reviewing the procedures and results at my leisure. Sometimes half the battle is to make it past uncooperative or downright rude lab partners....I was physically pushed out of the way the other day in my A&P lab, 4 or 5 people "working" on one pig and ALL want to be FIRST!!!!!! You can imagine the rest!!!! I can't learn that way, I need some quiet time!!!! I met with my teacher this morning, on my day off, Luckily my teacher had study lab tutor duty and I had great success and should now do just fine with the little piggy. BTW the "pusher" is no A student....it's horrible what you have to deal with at times.
Well, yes....as far as the rat dissection goes, we had to know everything from the submandibular glands to the brachioscephalic artery to the medullary pyramids in the kidney... it took a while to go through and locate everything and then go through it again and remember its location.
I am only taking Anatomy (obviously, I am the OP) and the course is 3 hours. I spend at least 10 hours outside of class per week studying for the lecture and at least 2-4 hours a week in the lab. In addition to that, I spend about 5 hours a week studying the lab portion of what we have been working on as well.
So the minimum I spend studying and going to lecture/lab is 20 hours. I usually do more but, I too have kids, outside obligations, and a home and husband....It's not easy, but if you manage your time well, you will do fine.
Take care and good luck!
I can only imagine what it is like to identify rat parts....it's difficult enough on our little piggys.
I haven't taken any labs yet, but is it really necessary to spend hours upon hours in the lab in order to do well? I have kids and a job, and while I can study at home for as many hours as I need to, I simply cannot spend hours away from home in a lab. (Getting worried now.)
For certain units...yes. We had human cadavers and our instructor made tests where each question tested probably 3-4 things at a time. Parts could be pinned from within other organs, from different sides etc... You had to know your anatomy inside out to do be able to name the part, names of the cells that make up the part and the function, and then he'd additonally ask things like name 2 hormones that are secreted and their function etc... If you don't have cadavers then, I think you could come it and take really good close up pictures of the bones and models and take them home to study. For microsope work and cadavers though, you really need to get in there for the extra time. All depends on how hard your instructor is and the types of materials available at your school.
There are good websites to study from for histology and bones.
WEll, in my class it's like this...he'll go over things once in class...then you better get to the bio study lab and study HIS slides for the histology parts of the lab tests...Internet stuff won't get you what you need to know, I tried it and even though there is tons of stuff out there it hasn't proven very useful in my classes, particular if it gets into the nitty gritty of things. He is not a "just scratch the surface" kind of guy.
WEll, in my class it's like this...he'll go over things once in class...then you better get to the bio study lab and study HIS slides for the histology parts of the lab tests...Internet stuff won't get you what you need to know, I tried it and even though there is tons of stuff out there it hasn't proven very useful in my classes, particular if it gets into the nitty gritty of things. He is not a "just scratch the surface" kind of guy.
the websites helped me as a study tool, however I still needed to go to the lab, especially the bones there is no way to see all the fossas, fissures etc, on a one dimensional computer screen you have to pick the bones up and manipulate them. Samething with the muscles we are using cats and a cadaver just no way to see those on a website or in a book.
I do a lot of study for AP thru out the day and have set times to do certain things. my class is a fri/sat class I always stay after on Saturdays sometimes on Fridays if someone is watching my kids. I occasionally would go into the lab on tuesdays after my chem class. Other then that I did all my work at home, on average I would say I would do about 2-3 hours extra a week in lab.
the websites helped me as a study tool, however I still needed to go to the lab, especially the bones there is no way to see all the fossas, fissures etc, on a one dimensional computer screen you have to pick the bones up and manipulate them. Samething with the muscles we are using cats and a cadaver just no way to see those on a website or in a book.
I do a lot of study for AP thru out the day and have set times to do certain things. my class is a fri/sat class I always stay after on Saturdays sometimes on Fridays if someone is watching my kids. I occasionally would go into the lab on tuesdays after my chem class. Other then that I did all my work at home, on average I would say I would do about 2-3 hours extra a week in lab.
You are so right about those bones....it's a comlplete different story if you don't get to physically handle them. Pictures and the actual 3 dimensional structures are like two different worlds....the same with the pigs, it's one thing on a picture but if you see it in real you go .....What the h....
I spend at least 2 to 3 hours outside the class lab, too.
But we must be doing something right or we wouldn't be as successful as we are. Good luck to you, the semester is almost over....one more week,3 more tests!
WEll, in my class it's like this...he'll go over things once in class...then you better get to the bio study lab and study HIS slides for the histology parts of the lab tests...Internet stuff won't get you what you need to know, I tried it and even though there is tons of stuff out there it hasn't proven very useful in my classes, particular if it gets into the nitty gritty of things. He is not a "just scratch the surface" kind of guy.
Hey, I agree with you about getting into the lab, but for someone who just can't get enough time in there, these things will help. My instructor is one of the A&P national exit exam founders and writers. No way you will pass his class without knowing your stuff.
I spend at least 2 to 3 hours outside the class lab, too.
2-3 hours a day? A week? A semester?
If I know this is what I need to do, I will factor it in when scheduling the classes and make sure I can work my schedule around extra lab time. Well I'm not going to be doing A&P for about another year anyway, given my current life situation.
luvmy3kids
675 Posts
Well, yes....as far as the rat dissection goes, we had to know everything from the submandibular glands to the brachioscephalic artery to the medullary pyramids in the kidney... it took a while to go through and locate everything and then go through it again and remember its location.
I am only taking Anatomy (obviously, I am the OP) and the course is 3 hours. I spend at least 10 hours outside of class per week studying for the lecture and at least 2-4 hours a week in the lab. In addition to that, I spend about 5 hours a week studying the lab portion of what we have been working on as well.
So the minimum I spend studying and going to lecture/lab is 20 hours. I usually do more but, I too have kids, outside obligations, and a home and husband....It's not easy, but if you manage your time well, you will do fine.
Take care and good luck!