Y'all, I was seriously dreading this class. To make it worse, we have to take TWO semesters of it! I eventually gave in and got a tutor who took it at her previous college. She told me she despises the way Dream School has A&P set up because the way she learned it was she had 1 semester of Anatomy and then 1 semester of Physiology, not combined like some colleges do.
Honestly, it isn't that bad.
I took A&P1 at the same time as Microbiology and although that was a huge stressor, a lot of the material we covered in one class was also taught in the other!
Science courses at Dream School are rigorous: we have to have an average of 75% on the quiz/exam portion of the course in order to pass. Meaning, you can have perfect attendance, get 100% on the homework assignments, but get an average of 73% on the quizzes/exams (meaning overall grade in the class is maybe an 80% or 85%!) and still fail the class. Say what!? This is meant to ensure students actually know the material because it is extremely important to not just skim through these gen eds.
Well, on the first exam, I got a 74%. Not too bad, right?
Second exam? Yeah, totally failed.
I knew I had to get help ASAP so I went to our academic counselor and got assigned a tutor who was the bomb! On the 3rd exam, I got a 100%. I saw the grade and I cried and cried because I didn't believe it!
Bottom line, do not be afraid to get help. I met with three of my nursing school friends and we all studied together and did the homework assignments together. THAT helped tremendously because if there was something one of us didn't really understand, there were three more explanations that were available.
A&P is typically at least 4cr because there is a lab portion. That means you should be spending at least 12 hours studying outside of class per week. That's a heck of a lot of A&P!
I invested in thousands of flash cards because A&P is all about memorization. Sad, but true.
Before each lecture, I printed off the PowerPoint notes my teacher provided online. Each lecture had anywhere from 20-100 slides… yep. It's a lot of material. I went through lots and lots of paper. I print my slides like this:
For the layout, I print handouts with 3 slides per page, that way there are lines next to each slide in case I need to write my own notes. (This is a PowerPoint for Statistics - I couldn't bear to open up my A&P folder during summer ;))
During the lecture, I took any notes and highlighted my PowerPoint slides as the professor went along. Also, I got permission from him to record the lecture with a mini-recorder. Then, I uploaded the recording to my iPhone and listened to the lecture again while working out! When I met with the academic counselor, she had me do an array of tests to see what kind of learner I am… turns out, I am a bodily/kinesthetic learner. All along, I thought I was more of a visual learner, which is why I wasn't doing so well on my tests. After I got this bit of info, my test scores went up dramatically because I was absorbing the material in a way that works for me. She also advised me to get a stress ball or something I can squeeze while in class and although that might seem like a distraction, doing something with my hands helped! I'll make a post about these types of learner tests in the future. :)
After the lecture, I went back through my notes just to check if there was anything I missed or had further questions about. Being a kinesthetic learner, I have a hard time reading a text book. Instead, I keep the book on hand to go back through and fill in the missing information. I also make a ton of flash cards with vocabulary I might see on future quizzes or tests. Lastly, I invested in some colorful paper that I use to draw diagrams, make charts, etc that also helped me learn.
There were a few concepts I just couldn't grasp. One of them being everything that has to do with the nervous system. My husband knows nothing about A&P so I tried to teach the material to him and found this really works. Trying to teach someone something you aren't very confident about helps you to retrace your steps, especially if they ask questions. Even if he wasn't listening very intently, I still was able to put the knowledge in my head onto paper, then speak it out loud. Ironically, I aced my nervous system test ;)
The internet is fabulous. I used countless YouTube videos, Pinterest boards, and A&P blogs to get through my first semester of A&P. When there is something you just can't understand, try a search and find someone who does understand and learn it that way.
A&P2, ready or not, here I come!
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