Dr. Diane O'Dowd
Developmental and Cell Biology
“You don’t really understand something until you can explain it to your grandmother.”
Albert Einstein
The exams in Bio 93 are a source of anxiety for many students. While all of Bio 93 students were successful in high school, the exam questions from this university course require strong critical thinking skills. Studying cannot be merely re-reading lecture notes and highlighting the textbook. Instead, we recommend students study in ways that take no more time but will require focus and energy.
We’ve previously discussed the best way to take notes in lecture. But regardless of how you took notes, the best first step you can take to do well on the next exam is to create a lecture summary within 24 hours of each lecture. A good lecture summary requires that you re-read your lecture notes, choose the main points and sub-points, and reorganize your material onto a fresh page. Don’t forget to draw figures! You should be able to do this in about an hour. Some samples from Lecture 8:
two page version:
one page version:
Once you have made lecture summaries, you have generated a clear list of things you need to understand. In Bio 93, “understanding” exists at four levels:
Knowledge: Simple memorization of word definitions (hydrophilic) and lists (3 parts of a plasma membrane). There will be NO questions this basic on a Bio 93 exam, but this is the first step toward deeper understanding. Can’t be skipped.
Comprehension: Clear understanding of lecture concepts and how they relate to each other. Comprehension means understanding the difference between concepts that seem similar and are used in related ways: such as polar, hydrophilic, and ionic. It’s knowing how to compare ATP use in sodium pumps and motor proteins and cell division. About half of the exam questions will be at this level.
Application: the ability to apply this information to new situations. You may have memorized how many Na+ and K+ ions are moved by the sodium-potassium pump, but can you predict what will happen to the membrane potential if the pump runs more quickly? If pyruvate transfer into the mitochondria is blocked, how will this affect cellular metabolism? About 40% of the exam will be at this level.
Analysis: the ability to take data and arrive at conclusions. Analysis requires the student to understand the material and also understand how an experimental result supports or disproves it. Exams always have 1 or 2 questions that require you to read a figure or fill in a table with expected results.
As you can see, re-reading your lecture notes isn’t going to get you much past basic knowledge. We encourage deeper study techniques to get you to comprehension:
Then, once you have the “basics” memorized, study in ways that will improve your application and analysis skills:
The final stage of studying is one that will take you from being merely competent to being excellent. Students can misinterpret the instruction to “teach each other” in two different ways. Some students are too reticent to explain concepts to other students, feeling like they need to have mastered the material first. Others take “teach each other” as an excuse to get together with their five best friends and have a party with their notes on top of the pizza boxes. Neither extreme is appropriate.
What we mean by “teach” is to find one or two people who are at a similar level to you, and willing to work hard with their cell phones put away and their laptops closed. Take turns asking each other the questions from the back of the book chapter, and from the “Concept Check” inserts in the text. The “teacher” is not allowed to look up the answer in the book, but must use their notes and discussion with the group to commit to a best choice.
The benefit to “teach” is not that you make your friends smarter by sharing your great wisdom, but that trying to explain something without your book or notes is the very best way to expose what you do not understand. It’s at this point that you go look up the answer. Some sample “teach” activities (all occur with your notes and book closed):
The final message we want to leave you with is this: Effective studying requires you to struggle to organize, summarize, connect and explain the material. If it isn’t hard and uncomfortable, then you aren’t learning enough. Think of learning biology like learning how to play the piano. Figure out the basics, push your limits, and practice, practice, practice.
Prefer to learn this information by audio? The screencast recording of this workshop is here.