Failed bio test.

[biology_06er]

Sooo as the subject states I failed my bio test. was sooooo gutted aye...did NOT expect that as thought I had done OK and did not worry at all about it when I got home--then today I saw my mark (and I am too shamed to say what my mark was-the essay question that I chose was on prokaryotic replication-not that hard right?? (or so I thought and I only got half multi choice q's right...) maaaan I sooooo thought I knew what I was doing/understood everything we had learned...obviously not!! . anyway thought I'd see what 'techniques' ppl used to study---I read the textbook (and once upon a time wrote word for word onto paper until it got too time consuming)...so any tips on how to study bio effectively??...

[kotoreru]

Sorry to hear that It's probably happened to all of us at some point - it was your overconfidence that did it

Next time, start revising early. Condense notes and write practice essays. Look at past papers? Read, repeat and learn!

[Darby]

Everybody's different, but I hope you get usable advice here.

My question is about your general approach to learning -

Do you first understand the concepts, which leads to grasping the details (common in biologists), or do you have to go through a lot of the details before the bigger concepts become clear (common in chemists)?

Do you need lots of examples to "get" the material (common in physicists), or is it critical that you understand how today's material is different from other material learned earlier (common in artists)?

If you strongly lean in one of these directions, but the exam-writer leans another way (I had this problem in organic chemistry, but I didn't know it at the time), you may need to tailor your studying toward their approach, so you know the material the way they know the material.

[wannabeaditz]

i make loads of posters and stick them up around the house so where ever i look i am revising.
i find the best way to revise is doing past exam questions too so you know what kind of questions the examiners like and get used to them

[mith]

I'm getting kicked in physics rite now and I figured the reason why everyone else did so well is because they already took physics in High school or had experience with the course material in other courses.

Long story short, experience makes a difference.

[biology_06er]

Hey there...

Yeeeah I don't think I was over confident, I just thought I had understood alot of the stuff that was asked..but I guess not and didn't worry bout it afterwards cos you can't do anything about it..hmm ...all I can do now is I guess read over and over again and keep thinking I don't know the stuff (if that makes sense)....Darby, I'd say I lean towards 'chemists'---(I calculated that I need 56% in my exam to past the paper overall-obv. wld like higher though..)--this same thing/same mark happened in my first year of uni and I convinced myself I needed 70% or above to pass (and it worked so hopefully this time it will to)!--as for having posters up around the house I think there is way too much stuff in bio to be writing up and posting around-(ie condensing notes,,,the thing is the textbook is really good and it covers everything the lecturer does in class so I use to think that was fine (still do in fact, Guess It is just a matter of reading over and over and over again???

Thanks for the posts,
biology_06er

[kotoreru]

Whatever works for you

[James]

Read it, understand it, then if you fully explain it to yourself later it has stuck.

[biology_06er]

keep the suggestions coming..am interested in everyone's techniques!!