Although not all universities split their first year of biology the same way, I believe the separation created by my school should be similar to the separation on how you tackle these courses. Unfortunately, the amount of detail I can give regarding this class isn't much; many details from 2004 are very hazy, but I did take Cellular Biology (second year continuation of the course) last year. Due to the similarities of courses I will combine them here.
Physiological Basis of Life
Text: Don't remember... Too long ago.
As you discover quickly in undergrad, higher level in education usually means a more specific study and intense workload of a previous course. This course is really predominately Biology 12 with a university difficulty disguise. This course is mostly the study of tissues and cells. I completely forgotten how the labs were in regards to this course, but I don't recall any difficulty regarding them. It was one of the few classes I did ok in during my first year of taking random courses.
My course description read: The course focuses on the structure and functions of macromolecules, storage of information and replication of DNA as well as the role of DNA in protein synthesis and inheritance are described and related to the functions of whole organisms. Transport mechanisms, basic metabolism and hormonal and nervous regulation of function are explored with examples.
How I Did
B+
BIOL 200: Cellular Biology
Textbook: unsure because I never bought it...
Almost everything holds the same here. The topics are quite similar but go in far greater detail regarding the actual processes that take place within the cell and how it may affect the organism. As I took this course in a college, it came with a lab component. My professor was amazing and was really lab focused. My professor was also well known for all his material coming straight from his slides, which is why I never bought the textbook.
How I Did
A-
How to Do Well
Combination of logic skills and memorization would of been my key to success... If I had only knew then what I know now.
There are two types of memorization:
1) Straight memorization of all the facts
2) Memorization of basic ideas and overall picture
I find organismal biology to be more along the lines of the second type and this is even more apparent in Cell Bio. Too often I see classmates struggle, memorizing every single detail and situation. I find that, as you learn the basic overall concepts, the details come easier. I've been told this is a similar mistake many students make in Organic Chemistry. Once I feel I have a good overall understanding of the material, I like to quiz myself with material by comparing affects that would happen if changes were made and how this would affect the cell. These courses were heave on powerpoint presentations and because of this I never bought a textbook (not 100% sure if I did for first year). This is a good example on not wasting your time with material that isn't needed. BUT, always make sure he's not a professor to pull a fast one and place material on the exam just because "it's testable."
I wish I could say more but I can't think of anything right now. I'll add more as I think of it. Also, I will be posting another personal update soon.
While writing this I listened to Rob Zombie and Skrillex
Showing posts with label First Year Undergrad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label First Year Undergrad. Show all posts
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Calculus II (First Year Calculus, Part Two!)
Single Variable Calculus, Second Semester:
Text: Calculus of a Single Variable, 9th Ed.
Why did I divide calculus into two parts? Because, in my mind they are very different and this will help emphasize that point. The first semester is almost solely memorization of rules; meanwhile, second semester is predominately problem solving and learning strategies. In first semester you look at a question, see it wants you to differentiate/integrate, and then you try to decide which rule(s) to use. Example: Differentiate "blank" over "blank". "Oh, okay it's a quotient. Use the quotient rule." In second semester you learn a few rules and shortcuts; but for the most part, you're mostly using the strategies in second semester with the rules from first semester. The proecedure that seems correct may lead you to an unfortunate dead end. The questions usually result in a stronger problem solving and pre-calculus background than the first semester.
Some people find second semester ridiculously easier, while others find it much harder. I just found it different.
Although material and stylistically I found the two calculus' different, I still attacked them the same way.
How I Did
A
How to Do Well
Yet again PatrickJMT, and Maple (or Wolfram) were used. Yet again, lots of practice is encouraged for problem set style course. Math is always practice, practice, practice. Rinse. Repeat.
I guess what I'm getting at is although I didn't use a different strategy for this course from Calculus I, you may. You may find it easier or harder. As always: work hard, play hard and get plenty of rest.
While writing this post I was listening to the wind blowing cos its just darn to nice out and peaceful.
PS. I'm too lazy to proof read this one so good luck understanding me
Text: Calculus of a Single Variable, 9th Ed.
Why did I divide calculus into two parts? Because, in my mind they are very different and this will help emphasize that point. The first semester is almost solely memorization of rules; meanwhile, second semester is predominately problem solving and learning strategies. In first semester you look at a question, see it wants you to differentiate/integrate, and then you try to decide which rule(s) to use. Example: Differentiate "blank" over "blank". "Oh, okay it's a quotient. Use the quotient rule." In second semester you learn a few rules and shortcuts; but for the most part, you're mostly using the strategies in second semester with the rules from first semester. The proecedure that seems correct may lead you to an unfortunate dead end. The questions usually result in a stronger problem solving and pre-calculus background than the first semester.
Some people find second semester ridiculously easier, while others find it much harder. I just found it different.
Although material and stylistically I found the two calculus' different, I still attacked them the same way.
How I Did
A
How to Do Well
Yet again PatrickJMT, and Maple (or Wolfram) were used. Yet again, lots of practice is encouraged for problem set style course. Math is always practice, practice, practice. Rinse. Repeat.
I guess what I'm getting at is although I didn't use a different strategy for this course from Calculus I, you may. You may find it easier or harder. As always: work hard, play hard and get plenty of rest.
While writing this post I was listening to the wind blowing cos its just darn to nice out and peaceful.
PS. I'm too lazy to proof read this one so good luck understanding me
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Calculus I (First Year, First Semester Calculus)
Calculus. Most students dread this course more than any other (with the possible exceptions of English and Organic Chemistry). It is a lot of work and not everyone has taken pre-calculus, or something similar, in High School. In my case, it is also a prime example of how your favourite, find-most-interesting, or easiest course may not be your strongest mark (see my debate on "bird courses" in my first post). This was my strongest mark... but definitely not the easiest course.
Single Variable Calculus:
Text: Calculus of a Single Variable, 9th Ed.
Coming fresh out of High School, a lot of these topics can be completely new and alien (ex: limits, derivatives, integrals). If you are typically weak at Math you may want to consider taking a pre-calculus course first. These courses will introduce you slowly to the ideas and concepts that calculus is built on and is a good baby step between Math 12 and Calculus I.
A lot of universities and colleges are starting to offer calculus courses that are topic specific. For example, in addition to regular calculus, UBC offers a calculus course specifically for life sciences and for business students. I highly recommend taking one of these if you are eligible. Having course material that is more relevant can decrease the difficulty in learning new topics.
I worked hard at this class and physics in my first semester, because I knew these were the "tough ones." There is one great thing about math; there is only one right answer. Calculus will be easier if you have a good mix of logic and conceptualization (specially for second semester).
I ended up with 98.7% in the course. To be honest though, I went into the exam with 92% but my professor challenged us to a bet: if any of us beat our class mark in the exam, the exam would become 100% of our grade. I would of ended up with an A+ regardless, but I wouldn't have been the top mark in the school that semester if it weren't for my pretty exam.
How I Did
First semester: A+ (my highest mark in percentile)
How to Do Well
I said it before: PatrickJMT is amazing for math. In fact, there are a lot of good sources on the internet for helping you. Many of my classmates used the online Wolfram, while I used a copy of Maple, for checking over answers. Heed my warning: do not use these programs as a crutch. Getting the right answer on an assignment will not help you on the test if you cannot replicate the problem solving on your own. I saw many classmates beat me in assignments only to be destroyed by the unit tests.Just like physics, this course is almost purely problem sets. The only exception to this would be memorizing rules and possibly theorems/derivations. After each section was completed I would attempt 1-4 problems to see if I understood the concepts. When it came to a few days before the exams I would crash the books hard. This will get boring. This will get hard. This will get frustrating. Try to break up with quick study breaks here and there. I would either eat or workout for 5-10 mins every half hour or so. With calculus you can be brilliant but do bad or slower but do well. Practice makes perfect.
I did 1-4 questions a day each weekday, plus ~100 before my three unit tests, plus ~200 before the exam. This adds up to a lot of practice. With that much practice, I'm sure you could beat my mark. :)
While writing this post I was listening to In Flames and Deadmau5
Single Variable Calculus:
Text: Calculus of a Single Variable, 9th Ed.
Coming fresh out of High School, a lot of these topics can be completely new and alien (ex: limits, derivatives, integrals). If you are typically weak at Math you may want to consider taking a pre-calculus course first. These courses will introduce you slowly to the ideas and concepts that calculus is built on and is a good baby step between Math 12 and Calculus I.
A lot of universities and colleges are starting to offer calculus courses that are topic specific. For example, in addition to regular calculus, UBC offers a calculus course specifically for life sciences and for business students. I highly recommend taking one of these if you are eligible. Having course material that is more relevant can decrease the difficulty in learning new topics.
I worked hard at this class and physics in my first semester, because I knew these were the "tough ones." There is one great thing about math; there is only one right answer. Calculus will be easier if you have a good mix of logic and conceptualization (specially for second semester).
I ended up with 98.7% in the course. To be honest though, I went into the exam with 92% but my professor challenged us to a bet: if any of us beat our class mark in the exam, the exam would become 100% of our grade. I would of ended up with an A+ regardless, but I wouldn't have been the top mark in the school that semester if it weren't for my pretty exam.
How I Did
First semester: A+ (my highest mark in percentile)
How to Do Well
I said it before: PatrickJMT is amazing for math. In fact, there are a lot of good sources on the internet for helping you. Many of my classmates used the online Wolfram, while I used a copy of Maple, for checking over answers. Heed my warning: do not use these programs as a crutch. Getting the right answer on an assignment will not help you on the test if you cannot replicate the problem solving on your own. I saw many classmates beat me in assignments only to be destroyed by the unit tests.Just like physics, this course is almost purely problem sets. The only exception to this would be memorizing rules and possibly theorems/derivations. After each section was completed I would attempt 1-4 problems to see if I understood the concepts. When it came to a few days before the exams I would crash the books hard. This will get boring. This will get hard. This will get frustrating. Try to break up with quick study breaks here and there. I would either eat or workout for 5-10 mins every half hour or so. With calculus you can be brilliant but do bad or slower but do well. Practice makes perfect.
I did 1-4 questions a day each weekday, plus ~100 before my three unit tests, plus ~200 before the exam. This adds up to a lot of practice. With that much practice, I'm sure you could beat my mark. :)
While writing this post I was listening to In Flames and Deadmau5
Saturday, 7 May 2011
First Year General Chemistry
I think next time when I write two posts in one day I will post both of them and not accidentally save as draft the second post... :P
General Chem
Text: Chemistry: The Central Science, 8th Ed.
Since my last post was about my weakest course, english, I thought I would follow up with my strongest course, chemistry. Most chemistry class are formated the same: labs, 1-2 midterms, maybe a few assignments, and a final. A lot of students dread lab courses as it means 2-3 extra hours of class time and an assignment (lab report) each week. I have to admit I'm quite the opposite. Chemistry tends to come easily to me. I have yet to experience problems with understanding the material or really getting stuck on a question. Because of all this, I knew to spend less time on understanding this course and placed most of my effort on other courses.
I don't say this to boast how awesome I am; I say this to once again show the importance of strategy in undergrad class selection. I have selected a program where I have 1-2 chemistry courses each semester. I play to my strengths while allowing me to concentrate on my weaknesses. Like most first year university courses, you will find most of the objectives to be review and expansion of their grade 11 and 12 equivelants. I did find the textbook helfpul in many ways and will discuss this later. My text named chemistry the central science because chemistry can easily be related to all the others. I continuously found the knowledge in my other courses helped me with chemistry. Some obvious examples: integrated rate laws and calculus, almost anything in cellular biology and organic chem, quantum physics and any chemistry dealing with the atoms.
How I Did
First semester: A+
Second semester: A+
How to Do Well
The reason why students have issues with lab courses is because of time management and efficiency issues. Try to complete your lab reports as soon as possible (easier said than done). Labs are usually integrated with the previous section of lecture, so it is important that both the lab and course work is as fresh as possible. I will stress again that a student excells when the teachers expectations are met or exceeded. Every proffesor or TA wants different information and style for lab reports. I try to find out right away what they are looking for. I then work increadibly hard on getting the first lab report as perfect as possible. After this, all subsequent lab reports are just minor alterations of the first with new data. I used this method even when my proffessor excluded a section for one lab. Example: lab three didn't require theory but I kept that section regardless to keep my format and to show understanding throughout the report. Another tip for labs is to approach it as a seperate course from the lecture. Although I did state previously the two are usually integrated, I did notice how my fellow students would get hung up on this idea and would get confused when they did not perfectly match.
General chemistry has a decent balance of memorization, problem sets and theoretical application, where the chapters will differ in magnitude of each. That's why a diverse strategy works best. I would preread the text the day before class, watch Freelance Teacher just before class, and then review my notes the next day. On average this would represent about 30 minutes for every hour of lecture.
Test studying would completely depend on the subject. For theoretical subjects I would make note summaries. For memorization topics flash cards and mind maps always work best. For problem sets I would practice as many problems as possible (priority for any ones given by proffesor or previous students over text book).
Overall, don't get frustrated and enjoy your time in undergrad! There will be stresses but don't let it get you down.
While writing this I was listening to Periphery!
Text: Chemistry: The Central Science, 8th Ed.
Since my last post was about my weakest course, english, I thought I would follow up with my strongest course, chemistry. Most chemistry class are formated the same: labs, 1-2 midterms, maybe a few assignments, and a final. A lot of students dread lab courses as it means 2-3 extra hours of class time and an assignment (lab report) each week. I have to admit I'm quite the opposite. Chemistry tends to come easily to me. I have yet to experience problems with understanding the material or really getting stuck on a question. Because of all this, I knew to spend less time on understanding this course and placed most of my effort on other courses.
I don't say this to boast how awesome I am; I say this to once again show the importance of strategy in undergrad class selection. I have selected a program where I have 1-2 chemistry courses each semester. I play to my strengths while allowing me to concentrate on my weaknesses. Like most first year university courses, you will find most of the objectives to be review and expansion of their grade 11 and 12 equivelants. I did find the textbook helfpul in many ways and will discuss this later. My text named chemistry the central science because chemistry can easily be related to all the others. I continuously found the knowledge in my other courses helped me with chemistry. Some obvious examples: integrated rate laws and calculus, almost anything in cellular biology and organic chem, quantum physics and any chemistry dealing with the atoms.
How I Did
First semester: A+
Second semester: A+
How to Do Well
The reason why students have issues with lab courses is because of time management and efficiency issues. Try to complete your lab reports as soon as possible (easier said than done). Labs are usually integrated with the previous section of lecture, so it is important that both the lab and course work is as fresh as possible. I will stress again that a student excells when the teachers expectations are met or exceeded. Every proffesor or TA wants different information and style for lab reports. I try to find out right away what they are looking for. I then work increadibly hard on getting the first lab report as perfect as possible. After this, all subsequent lab reports are just minor alterations of the first with new data. I used this method even when my proffessor excluded a section for one lab. Example: lab three didn't require theory but I kept that section regardless to keep my format and to show understanding throughout the report. Another tip for labs is to approach it as a seperate course from the lecture. Although I did state previously the two are usually integrated, I did notice how my fellow students would get hung up on this idea and would get confused when they did not perfectly match.
General chemistry has a decent balance of memorization, problem sets and theoretical application, where the chapters will differ in magnitude of each. That's why a diverse strategy works best. I would preread the text the day before class, watch Freelance Teacher just before class, and then review my notes the next day. On average this would represent about 30 minutes for every hour of lecture.
Test studying would completely depend on the subject. For theoretical subjects I would make note summaries. For memorization topics flash cards and mind maps always work best. For problem sets I would practice as many problems as possible (priority for any ones given by proffesor or previous students over text book).
Overall, don't get frustrated and enjoy your time in undergrad! There will be stresses but don't let it get you down.
While writing this I was listening to Periphery!
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
First Year English
This will be short. As most have gathered by my awesome sentences, writing is not my strength. Not too sure why: I like to read, I am artistic (musically), and love to argue logically. Luckily I'm done English courses forever (except written section in MCAT). I have completed one semester of University Writing and one semester of Literature.University Writing
I took this course in 2005, so please keep that in mind. I ended up with a B in the course with a teacher known for being an easy marker. This course is basically English 12 on steroids. The course is to teach good writing skills, according to your professor (keep this in mind for later). Usually the prerequisite for other English courses and mandatory for most programs. Mostly work on technique and how to properly source materials.
Literature
This class is nothing but reading and writing about reading. Material will usually consist of short stories, poems, plays and a novel(s). I somehow tricked a teacher, who is famous for low grades, into giving me an A-.
How I Changed My Approach:
I'm going to give the big secrets off the bat:
* go to class
* listen to the teacher
* read the material
* get at least two people to edit your writing
* the big one: finish the assignment around a week earlier, visit your teacher during and get her to edit it by asking "am I on the right track" or "is there anywhere I can improve"
English is a subjective course, which means you're as good as your teacher thinks you are. You improve your chances of success when you are arguing the point your audience already believes. By taking these steps you will ensure that your essay is clear, concise and mostly what your instructor is looking for. A lot of schools have free writing centres so please use all the tools available.
This won't teach you how to write well, but it will show you how to do well in a course that is difficult for most science based premeds.
Oh PS: take in whatever you can on how to write well for the MCAT
Monday, 4 April 2011
Update and First Year Courses Review
Hello random people who stumble on to this website,
I want to apologize for starting of the blog with a long pause between posts. I do plan this to be semi-weekly but last week was my wife's birthday. Due to my super busy schedule with school, work, music and volunteering, I made it a week of small events instead of one large one and that took most of my time.
To give everyone (or anyone?) an idea of what my plans are for this blog in the next few weeks.... I plan to start off with giving an analysis of and how to strategize for the courses I have taken.
In no particular order (and not my planned order):
First Year Physics
First Year Chemistry
First year Evolution/Diversity/Genetics Biology
First year Cellular and Organismal Biology
First Year English
Calculus I
Calculus II
As I write each post I'll change these into links.
Also, I'm currently listening to Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains album The Big Eyeball in the Sky
I want to apologize for starting of the blog with a long pause between posts. I do plan this to be semi-weekly but last week was my wife's birthday. Due to my super busy schedule with school, work, music and volunteering, I made it a week of small events instead of one large one and that took most of my time.
To give everyone (or anyone?) an idea of what my plans are for this blog in the next few weeks.... I plan to start off with giving an analysis of and how to strategize for the courses I have taken.
In no particular order (and not my planned order):
First Year Physics
First Year Chemistry
First year Evolution/Diversity/Genetics Biology
First year Cellular and Organismal Biology
First Year English
Calculus I
Calculus II
As I write each post I'll change these into links.
Also, I'm currently listening to Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains album The Big Eyeball in the Sky
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