Study Tips for Biology

Study Tips for Biology

     Here at Coe College, there are so many pre-medicine and nursing students. To be able to graduate in these fields, a lot of biology is usually taken. Our freshman year, for example, most of us have to take Cellular and Molecular Biology (the weed out class). We all struggle in that class, so here are a few study tips that helped me to struggle a little less.

     Biology is best defined as the study of living organisms. Given that there’s such a wide range of living organisms from bacteria/microscopic organisms to the biggest of animals, it can be an extremely hard subject. It’s all more or less just memorization; however, it is a lot to memorize in a short amount of time. Our brains are extremely powerful, but every brain is different, and there are so many ways to learn. Simply memorizing things to get things done isn’t going to work because to actually instill information it needs to be rehearsed in the brain more than once.

That being said, I took and studied notes before class; then when I got to class I recorded the lecture as well as revised my notes. The key to revising was to add and highlight things that my professor elaborated on/ emphasized the most. I did it for every chapter before the exam (each exam was every three chapters). Then, while studying for the exam I made a flow chart to show how each topic was connected so that I could easily make those connections during the test.

Homework really does help, because it gives you the chance to practice everything you’re learning. Also, having a friend to study with so that you can all compare notes and teach each other will help with rehearsal and keeping everything in your brain. I cannot stress this next point enough: TALK TO YOUR PROFESSOR. I couldn’t go to SI Sessions because I had work so often; and I needed money to come up with half of my tuition. If you’re in my shoes, then communicate that with your professor and schedule a set meeting time every week to go over material. It actually helped me.

I hope that these study tips work for you like they did for me; and if you have any other tips then leave them in the comments!