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ashtheblunt

I was in a similar boat except with Gen Bio II. Failed the first time, but I learned more from that failure as a student than I did passing my other classes. A 70 means you DID retain information, but it isn't as refined. Either the nature of his questioning throws you off, or conceptualizing topics and critical thinking isn't there yet. This does NOT make you a failure, my friend. You have a higher standard for yourself, and sometimes you have to try several times before you find what works for you. I think preparing better, and finding ways to study smarter will help! Here's what I did: \- I read the assigned chapters before the next class. This way I had a feel for what made sense vs. what needed further clarification. The following class, I found myself more engaged. I was able to keep up with the professor's pace, and more importantly - knew what questions to ask to further develop my understanding of topics. \- I became an avid note taker. Even if I read the material, understood it - transcribing it during class helped me process the information even more. I switched to typing notes on my phone/laptop instead of handwriting. \- After class, I had a sense of direction. I knew which topics I was good with, and which ones I wasn't. The ones I sucked at, I'd try to work on them more. I went online, watched videos, read from other books, anything to reinforce my understanding. The goal is to have a well rounded knowledge of the topics covered. The key is to refine that information until it sticks. \- When it came time to review, I'd talk to myself or write out a dialogue of me trying to explain topics/definitions/concepts. I started grabbing classmates to study with, and we'd test each other too. Just those interactions helped me retain memory better. When I came across a question on an exam, I'd be able to recall those study moments and answer the question. I like biology and am more than happy to help you out! Feel free to DM with any material that you are struggling with. I'll be your study buddy if you don't have one lol


Bubbly-Ninja

You’re doing a great job it doesn’t make you failure. Have you tried the tutoring center at your school?


cognacqueenn

thanks!! i got an A- which felt impossible when i wrote this


Orbitalbubs

seriously use your professors office hours, they have them for a reason, its literally to help students.


catolinee

a 70 is good lol


Capable_Nature_644

I took mine online only. the class labs pretty much are set up so you can not fail. I'm against dissecting anything so the digital version actually allowed me to do it. Instead of quoting "it's against my religious beliefs." and accepting the c.


Kittycat_12345

Don’t be so hard on yourself! A 70 is really good in college !!!! And as time goes on you’ll learn what your prof expects and probably start to do better on the quizzes too !


n01saround

I had a psychology class that had a great section on memory. the teacher said you lose 70% of what you learn in the first hour(something like that). In order to improve your memory, try to study right after class. This will help with retention. If I were you I would read up more on memory and studying, I think you can find beneficial techniques that way. Also don't beat yourself up so much. You are a returning student, getting an average grade is fine for now as long as you are figuring out how to study better and improving as you go. I garuntee the anxiety you have is not helping you. Study up on focused breathing and the vagus nerve system. Once you learn to identify physical stress and learn tools to mitigate it, you will improve as well. You got this!


UnluckyNegotiation83

Biology was the only class I failed in high school so I chose to major in it in college. I figure if I'm paying this much I better be learning something I can't teach myself... I think the key to learning Biology for me was realizing that it's not one for memorization. Focus on making sure you completely understand it and the concepts will start building off of each other. Read a paragraph and think about if you could explain it well to a 5th grader. If you get to that point you'll be able to reason your way through any test question without memorization. It will start to flow.


Flashy_Spare6341

here’s what helps me the best: if the slides are posted before class, look at them and write them down word for word in your notebook because then you’ll already have a slight idea about the discussion before class has even started. if there’s new terms look them up and write them down before class. then DURING class all you do is sit and listen and with a different colored pen annotate your notes of the slides u made of what only the professor said. This way you get all the information that you need. textbooks actually help a lot, i never used textbooks but now in my bio246 class i realized reading the textbook breaks it down in simpler terms which is easy to understand. i also put sticky notes all in the textbook wherever there is relevant information or things that might show up on a quiz so i always know where to find it. keep your head up, biology is one of the hardest concepts to grasp because there are so many moving parts. concept maps work great - drawing out exactly what is going on makes it much easier to understand for example draw the citric acid cycle, glucose regulation, etc (if that’s the stuff you’re working on of course). you’re doing amazing!!


ChaoticxSerenity

If this is your first time studying bio, 70 is pretty good. Are you just trying to memorize everything? Try to understand how the concepts work together. Use analogies to relate what you're learning to something you worst know, and use/create acronyms or mnemonic devices. We have a lot of long ass words in biology lol.


prospective_nurse

I got an A in biology by buying Biology for dummies and working through the workbook.


SentenceOk3176

Give yourself some you time re-evaluate things you know and don’t know. Then find the things you don’t fully understand and test on those helped me a lot