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Biology Student Survival Tips |
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2. Long Term (this can fade too if you don’t practice, rehearse)LTM has links to olfactory pathways and basic emotional pathways. Storing LTM involves numerous areas of cerebral cortex. Memorized facts stored without context will fade quickly! You’ll also be vulnerable to "silly" mistakes when your memory is less than perfect. |
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If you are struggling
in any of your classes, you might want to check out the following videos.
You can follow the links to the individual YouTube videos below, or find
them all at this link: http://www.samford.edu/how-to-study/
The first video examines common mistaken beliefs students often possess that undermine their learning. The video tries to correct those misconceptions with accurate beliefs about learning.
The second video introduces a simple but powerful theory of memory, Levels of Processing, that can help students improve their study.
The third video operationalizes the concept of level of processing into four principles that students can use to develop effective study strategies.
The fourth video applies the principles of deep processing to common study situations, including note taking and highlighting while reading.
This video addresses what students should and should not do when they earn a bad grade on an exam. |
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The following is an excerpt from an article on learning and teaching strategies. The authors are experienced teachers of chemistry but they offer advice applicable to any subject. Learning
and Teaching Strategies
<
begin quote >
The first learning strategy is to take notes by hand, even if the class notes are provided. Preferably no later than the evening of the class day, rewrite your notes, by hand, amplifying their content. During the rewriting stage, it is important that you not just recopy your notes, but rather both condense and extend them where appropriate, paraphrasing them so that you make the meaning your own. The question of whether taking notes on a laptop or by hand is more effective is a contentious one. We think taking notes by hand works best, largely because it is difficult to type in chemical structures, graphs and equations on a computer. It is now well established that active engagement in the process is imperative for learning to occur. When students take their own notes, they are engaged, in real time, and their minds focus on the task. For kinesthetic learners (those who learn best when moving, activating large or small muscles), the movement involved in taking notes facilitates learning. The
process of paraphrasing and rewriting the notes shortly after a lecture
helps to transfer information from short-term to long-term memory.
Missed
classes provide the second learning strategy. If you must miss a
class, rather than simply download the notes from a Web page, get the notes
from a fellow student. This strategy is another way into group discussion
and learning.
A third strategy makes the best use of a course’s textbook. Most students do their homework in solitude (or as much of that as a residence hall room allows) by trying to follow text examples of similar problems. But often the text examples are not exploited for the learning opportunities they provide. First do the obvious; study the text and lecture information relevant to the problems. But then treat the examples in the text and in lecture notes as if they were homework problems¬ work out the example before looking at the answer, and compare your approach to the text’s, not just your answer. There are often several ways to do a problem, but try to understand the text’s method. If the homework answers provided do not include a way of working out each problem, the instructors should be encouraged (that’s putting it mildly) to provide complete solutions. The ability to work a problem without using a model is the essential skill tested by all exams (which is obvious to instructors, but not to most students). This approach to homework focuses on methods rather than final answers. Furthermore, exploring alternative methods will help you to learn to be an agile, flexible thinker. Study groups are important in learning, but it seems to work best to alternate group work with individual effort. First, you should try to do a homework problem or prepare for an exam on your own. Then, the collective wisdom of a study group can be enlisted. Three to six fellow students who have each done their best to digest and absorb difficult material are powerful resources for each other. Social constructivist learning theorists have shown that meaningful learning results from small study groups with two crucial features: discussion and problem-solving activities. Several websites provide excellent tips on forming and running successful study groups. But finally, you must return to solving the problem set or facing the exam preparation on your own. Not all instructors are comfortable with homework done in groups, but our experience is that groups are very effective. Do-it-yourself is the primary principle of active learning, though groups can help resolve the occasional blind spot. Some social dynamics may limit group value- for instance, passive personalities are likely to merely listen. Groups
can also be useful study aids if students make up practice quizzes and
tests for each other, thereby thinking from the teacher’s perspective.
One of us (Hoffmann) tells his students: “The only way you will get into
my mind about the exam is… to try to get into my mind. That means to do
what I do, and make up an exam.”
Another
way to enter the tester’s mind is by teaching the material, one student
to another.
Finally, we encourage students to set attainable goals. If you are spinning your wheels and studying does not lead to learning, the process can share some symptoms with depression- feeling unable to act, for instance. For this reason, it is important to tackle small, achievable tasks. In
working problems and taking tests, move slowly, from simple problems to
more complicated, integrative ones. Success, self-achieved, builds confidence,
and so is a very powerful motivator.
It is important for students to realize that everyone learns differently; an attainable goal for one student may be trivial for another. It is most relevant to develop the learning skills necessary to perform more cognitively demanding tasks. < end quote > You
can find the full article online at
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The Minority International Research Training grant to CBU supports undergraduate biology students who are selected to join summer research projects in Brazil and Uganda. The application deadline is 17 Dec. |
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Follow the links to find the information you need
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Dr.
Eisen, Director,
Pre-professional
Health Programs, CBU, will guide you through the application process.
This service is available to CBU students and alumni who are applying to
health related professional schools. If
you are planning to apply to a health related professional program, you
need to let Dr. Eisen know. Students
should request letters of reference before the end of Spring semester of
the junior year. Contact Dr. Eisen:
email:
seisen@cbu.edu
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