How do I prepare for my upcoming Biology Test, a made a C on the last one?

Question

This question ask how to prepare for your next Biology test in the hope of making a much better grade. The answer to this question can be simple or more involved and will probably differ depending on what you are studying for (General Biology or more advanced Molecular Biology, and your education level (highschool or 4th year undergraduate).

Answer 1

My answer is going to be geared towards how to pass a very difficult exam in an advanced course (think a PhD or med school). It may sound intimating, but it will work if you actually do it. This is how I passed all of my courses with A's:

1) Ask the professor if you can record the lecture. They always say yes, but it is polite to ask first so that they can watch their language. Take notes in class.

2) Take the powerpoint that they posted online for the lecture you just attended and save it to your desktop in a file made especially for this class.

3) Start a word document and type up the lecture as you re-listen to it. All of the stopping, rewinding, and playing again means you will actually listen to the lecture over, and over, and over. Combine this with your hand-written or typed notes from class.

4) As the professor mentions a slide or something on the slide, copy and paste the slide into your word doc. If you can add arrows and/or circles for emphasis by clicking "insert shape" on the top of the word doc, that will help.

This step in and of itself will help tremendously, but if you have to take a step further:

5) As you read the corresponding textbook chapter, summarize each paragraph with a one-word sentence in another word doc. Make a vocabulary sheet as you come across important terms. Actually do the activities at the end of each chapter. Look up terms and definitions you dont understand and then add them to your notes. It helps to read the chapter that's going to be covered in lecture BEFORE the lecture, so you can actually follow along and ask questions.

6) Download an app called "Anki" or "AnkiDroid", depending on your phone type, and make yourself virtual flashcards that you can study in your downtime. Like when you're on the bus, train, or walking somewhere. Actually practice with them once a day.

7) When your test is coming up, make a summarized study sheet of all of your notes. Try to get it down to just one or two pages. This will force you to understand and decide "whats most important".

9) Relisten to the recorded lecture as you drive or are driven somewhere. Maybe while you run at the gym or around the neighborhood.

10) Get together with classmates to compare understandings on things. You might find out you misunderstood something simple that they didnt miss. Some people like study groups, others don't. I found study groups to be very effective.

11) Use mnemonics to remember things like complicated steps or chemical reactions. Think PEMDAS, DKPCOFGS (dear king phillip came over for grape soda; domain kingdom phylum class order genus species, etc.)

12) Take advantage of office hours, ask for help from the professor and their TA's.

There are many other ways to prepare, but if you give any of these a try I'm sure it will help a lot. I used to do all of these things at once, and really didn't struggle too much to keep my grades up. Good luck!

Answer 2

If you are a first year undergraduate and you are taking the Introductory Biology I/II sequence, I would ask your professor, first, how to prepare better. Then, I would just start preparing earlier, like 2 weeks before the test. After each lecture, make sure you understand the notes, concepts, and any specifics that night or at the very latest that next day. Then, if you do not undertsand something, just make sure you know how to undertsand it when yo have time and how to access the resources to understand it. Start memorizing anything that you think that will be on the test to memory if it warrants memorization (like the steps in Glycolysis). Undertsand and know the details of what is going to be on the test in "blocks." For instance if there are 4 Chapters that will be on the test, study them one at a time. When you are doing this, make sure you undertsand the overall goal, the basic concepts of both the Chapter and the test material as a whole. In this way, while you are studying for one chapter, you can also study for another chapter simultaneously, and undertsand how the material is integrated and overlaps. Finally, make sure you undertsand basic processes and the details, if needed, of these processes. Also, ask your professor or a senior student for help, if you need help understanding the material and the book, notes, or internet does not help. Good luck!