How To Study Biochemistry
Biochemistry is an essential subject for students of medical, dental, nursing, pharma students, and for those attending exams like USMLE, MCAT.
It is a difficult subject and quite complex to study. But one can study it well by adopting the following tips.
So here are a few tips from my personal experience on how to study biochemistry.
During my graduation, I was taught human and clinical biochemistry.
It was my favorite subject as it is interesting and also quite challenging to master.
But if you start liking it, it will be one of your favorites as it deals with our own body physiology at the molecular level.
The Biochemistry course, as you might have noticed, will have the following.
Leeds University Delights Of Chemistry Library
The Delights of Chemistry Library, on the University of Leeds website, consists of photo libraries, GIFs, animations, videos, experiments, and demonstrations meant to help students and teachers in high school with the teaching and learning of the subject.
This site is managed by the School of Chemistry at Leeds University in the UK.
Make Your Own Flashcards
Another way to quiz yourself is to make flashcards that you can use for practice written tests.
First, read the term on the front side. Encourage yourself to write out the definition or details of that term. Compare your written answer with whats on the back of the card.
This can be extra helpful when prepping for an entrance exam like the GRE, though there are a growing number of schools that dont require GRE scores for admission.
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Teach It To Your Friends Your Neighbors And Even Small Furry Animals
OK, your neighbors dog may not be able to help you much, but this is one of the best uses your time if you have an OChem study group. Rather than just reviewing problems or helping each other guess the answers to reactions, take the basic concepts youve learned and pretend to teach each other how they work. Not only will it help you to hear it over and over again, when you explain something to someone else, it cements it in your own brain and exposes any missing pieces. Remember to ABE: Always. Be. Explaining.
Remembering Vs Recognizing The Material
In addition to the time commitment we need to look at how you study! Reading and rereading the book or your notes, listening to Khans academy videos, is not studying! It is, what cognitive scientists call a passive learning or a review, if you like. This way you are not actually engaging in any active learning but merely are exposing yourself to the information flow. Think about it as learning a skill, any skill, say, playing piano. If you read and reread your Piano for the beginners book over a few times and maybe push a button or two from time to time, youre never going to actually master the instrument. If you watch some videos about skateboarding tricks but never do anything more involved than riding in a straight line, youre never going to be able to do those tricks.
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Know When To Call It A Day
Yes, you really can get too much of a good thing. Although your studies are important, they shouldnt be the only thing in your life. Its also important to have a social life, get plenty of exercise, and take care of your non-school responsibilities.
Studies show that too much time with your nose in the books can elevate your stress level, which can have a negative effect on your school performance and your personal relationships.
Too much studying may also keep you from getting enough exercise. This could lower your bone density or increase your percentage of body fat.
Determine Areas Of Confusion
If you come across topics, concepts, or chemistry problems that seem confusing to you, take action! Dont hesitate. First, look it up online. There are a lot of great videos on that can help you figure things out. Next, bring it to your study group. Discuss it with the group and see if your peers can clear things up for you and help you understand. Finally, talk to your professor about it. Most professors are happy to help when students come to their office hours.
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The 5 Easiest Ap Exams To Self
Once you’ve decided to self-study for an AP, you’ll need to choose an exam that’s right for you. With dozens of potential choices, it might seem overwhelming.
I can demystify the choice for you. First, I’ll give you four important factors to consider when you make your choice. Then, I’ll list the five easiest APs to self-study for. After that, I’ll touch on some other solid self-study choices before wrapping up with a few AP exams you should not try to study for on your own.
Chemistry Is Just Too Hard I Dont Understand It
How often have you thought Chemistry is too hard? I cant tell you how many college students have told me different versions of this exact same thing. Many students think that they cant comprehend it, or that their brains just dont work that way. This is NOT true. Some people might understand it more naturally or have more math experience. However, You can understand Chemistry as good as anyone if you put in the work and make use of these study tips.
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A Word About Chemistry Lab
If you can do lab work, that’s fantastic, because the hands-on learning will reinforce the concepts. However, labs take time, so most likely you’ll miss this segment. Keep in mind labs are required for some situations. For example, you have to document lab work for AP chemistry and many online courses. If you are doing labs, check how long they take to perform before getting starting. Some labs take less than an hour start-to-finish, while others might take hours, days or weeks. Pick short exercises, whenever possible. Supplement book learning with videos, which are readily available online.
Studying Chemistry In Houston
Texas is famous all over the country for its love of football. A lot of colleges and universities have excellent football programs. What about chemistry programs?? In the Houston area, you’ll be able to find centers of higher education that have chemistry majors for you to study.
Rice University is one of the most reputable universities in the country. In conjunction with the astronomy program, you can take Chemical Physics, which can be a very difficult yet rewarding opportunity.
The University of Houston also has a chemistry program for students wanting to live and study in Houston.
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Edx Chemistry Courses Portal
This is a portal that connects users to free chemistry courses from some of the most respected institutions across the world.
These courses span quantum mechanics, chemical equations, chemical equilibrium, atomic structure, tips for learning chemistry, and more.
Some of the free courses that you can access through this website include a Harvard University item entitled University Chemistry: Molecular Foundations and Global Frontiers, a University of Tokyo course entitled Basic Analytical Chemistry, and another from Davidson Medical Centre entitled Drug Discovery and Medical Chemistry. There are more courses like that linked to this website.
Tips For Mastering Chemistry
Instead of randomly diving in and expecting success in the end. Plan and record your progress and stick to it. Here is how to do it:
Divide your time
Chemistry courses are notorious for a lot of reading and re-reading to fully grasp a subject. If you have a textbook, identify the chapters you have to cover and the time available until your next quiz or lecture. For example, if you have to study three chapters in the next two days and each chapter is two hours, finish the first two chapters today and save yourself the last chapter for tomorrow. Whatever the length of reading or studying, make notes so you can track your progress. Stay organized with a calendar or planner so you can better plan out your course.
Get help early
If you feel like youre falling behind, try to regain immediately as most chemistry courses move quickly. You may not be able to double the work, but its easier to catch up earlier in a chemistry course than to fall behind and save it for the end. Dont wait to ask for help. Take advantage of study groups, tutoring, your professors office hours, TA review sessions and other resources earlier rather than later.
Follow healthy habits
Dont miss your labs
Use the internet to expand boundaries
Try to understand instead of memorizing
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Keep Up With Reading And Studying
Physics is one of those subjects where falling behind gets you in trouble. This is because its generally a series of linked principles that build upon each other. As a subject, physics is more interlinked than most disciplines. In history, if you miss a few lessons, you might not learn about a certain war. In physics, youre lost for the rest of the course.
Take the time to keep up with assigned readings, practice problems, and homework as the content builds on itself. If you dont, youre setting yourself up for trouble!
Make Your Own Study Sheet
Condensing your most important notes onto one page is an excellent way to keep priority information at your fingertips. The more you look over this sheet and read it aloud, the better that youll know the material.
Furthermore, the act of typing or writing out the information will help you memorize the details. Using different colors or lettering styles can help you picture the information later.
Just like flashcards, a study sheet is portable. You can pull it out of your bag whenever you have a spare minute.
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Factor : How Full Is Your Class Schedule
You’ll need to consider your class schedule when choosing an AP test to self-study for. There are a few AP exams that might overlap with your high school coursework, even if you aren’t in that particular AP class. These subjects are as follows:
- Biology: If you are in an honors biology class, you might consider self-studying for AP Biology because you will only need to supplement what you are learning in class with some additional competencies necessary for the exam.
- US History: You’ll learn a lot of the AP test material in an honors AP US History classyou just need to push yourself to learn some of the extra information and do dedicated AP test prep. This is what I did, and I got a 5 on APUSH without a crazy amount of outside studying.
- English: If you are a particularly strong student in English, you might consider self-studying for one or both of the English AP exams while you’re in an honors English class . This could be a little trickier because it’s very important to be able to get feedback from a knowledgeable person on any practice essays you’re writing, but if you have a supportive teacher or mentor, it can definitely work.
How To Learn Chemistry
I talked with many people that have studied chemistry, like myself, and everyone seems to have learnt this science very similarly.
There is a way of reasoning and thinking about chemistry which is common in chemical education.
Chemistry is an empirical science, so it is based on explaining observations, and taking what you extract from those observations to extrapolate and make predictions about other phenomena.
You can explain extremely simple chemistry questions, such as differentiating organic and inorganic compounds, to very complex scenarios with this same methodology.
This way of reasoning is, in my opinion, the best way to tackle chemistry problems. This goes from a kid learning basic science to a professional chemistry PhD working on ground-breaking research.
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Study For Understanding Not Just For The Test
Cramming the night before a big test usually involves trying to memorize information long enough to be able to regurgitate it the next morning. Although that might help you get a decent grade or your test, it wont help you really learn the material.
Within a day or two, youll have forgotten most of what you studied. Youll have missed the goal of your classes: mastery of the subject matter.
Instead, commit yourself to long-term learning by studying throughout the semester.
Acs Chemistry For Life Site
The American Chemical Society exists to support scientific inquiry in the area of chemistry by giving grants for lab equipment, promoting chemistry competitions and other activities , hosting conferences, and more.
One major way that the ACS carries on with their support for the learning of chemistry is through their Chemistry For Life sub-site.
Chemistry For Life is a section of the societys website where they provide teaching and learning resources for teachers and students respectively. These resources are categorized into those for high school students, those for undergraduates, as well as those for graduate and postgraduate students.
On Chemistry For Life, you can also find links to information about various chemistry-related activities .
They also have a store where you can buy fun items that help the learning of the subject such as a periodic table or scroll pen.
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Take Advantage Of Study Tips From Vptl:
- has useful quick tips on exam taking, note taking, study strategies, etc. that might help you to think about how you want to organize your study time more efficiently.
- For instance, when you read through the chapter or lecture notes, constantly ask and answer questions for yourself as you go. This website has a couple good strategies for doing this that might help you dig deeper into the reading and help you see relationships between new concepts. It might also help you structure your reading or lecture notes in a more useful way.
- You can also set up a personal Academic coaching session with Adina Glickman, to think about more specific study strategies for you.
Categorize The Basic Molecules
You should know the basic molecules in biochemistry, if you want to be expert in it.
Biochemistry deals with only a limited number of biomolecules in humans.
These include carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, nucleic acids, and their metabolites with corresponding enzymes.
So if one is clear with biomolecules synthesis, metabolism, and excretion, the study of biochemistry will be complete.
Hence, it important for you to know the basic molecule, their structure, and physiology in the body for an easier approach to learning biochemistry.
Besides, these basic molecules are formed in different pathways. So these pathways will be less confusing if you understand their role and function in the body.
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Go To Class Every Single Class
Go to lecture and lab every single time! Many college professors expect you to be an adult and never take attendance. This may seem to be an obvious study tip, but go to class anyway! Attendance matters because if you dont go to lecture and lab, you will get behind and your grades will drop. Dont ever miss unless you absolutely have to. If you do miss, email your professor and let him or her know! Get notes from other students. You might even be able to attend a lecture or lab from another professor.
How To Study Physics: 5 Killer Strategies
Physics is a tough subject that requires an open mind and the right approach. Here are our 5 favorite strategies for studying physics.
Physics has a reputation for being tough. Its less memorization-based than many other technical subjects, and requires critical thinking to link concepts into a unified vision. To succeed in physics, youll need some effective study strategies.
Here at Brainscape, weve got a few tips to share on how to study physics. These are based on the experience our team has studying and teaching physics, as well as our conversations with students and professors. If you need more help, check out our flashcard sets for AP Physics and Physics 101.
Otherwise, read on for our favorite tips for learning and mastering physics!
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Why Should You Learn Chemistry
There are a number of reasons why you should learn chemistry.
- Chemistry teaches you how to think logically and how to solve problems.
- Basic knowledge of chemistry helps you understand and read product labels. Reading product labels is necessary to ensure that items do not contain unhealthy ingredients.
- Chemistry helps you understand news about technological breakthroughs, environmental pollution, and product recalls.
- A knowledge of chemistry can help keep you protected. Youll know which household chemicals you can use safely and which are harmful to mix.
How To Self Learn Chemistry: The Complete Guide
Chemistry is important in our daily life because everything around us is composed of atoms and molecules. It has helped in producing products that have transformed our lifestyle. Without chemistry, our lives would be drab and uninteresting. The subject is easy when you learn the right way.
You can self learn chemistry by reading a variety of chemistry books. The best chemistry books will help you understand the periodic table, chemical reactions, and chemical formulas. Additionally, you can learn the basic and advanced concepts of chemistry by taking online courses.
If you want to know how to self learn chemistry and the online resources for learning chemistry, read on.
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