You can do well in this class! Even if this is your first biology class most of you are capable of ending up with an A or B, and learn much in the process. Hopefully some of you will develop an appreciation for cell biology/biochemistry and enjoy the class as well. That’s the good news. The bad news is that many people have a hard time in this class. Because of the requirements of the students taking the class it is taught at a serious pre-professional level—see #5, below.

 

Only rarely do students have a hard time because they have no talent for biology. Usually their troubles come from basic problems such as poor attendance, weak study habits, and inadequate background in chemistry and/or poor English skills (i.e. ability to read with comprehension, clear and concise writing skills and/or poor verbal skills). Let’s take a look at some simple things you can do to maximize your success.

 

1.      Meet the Course Prerequisites:

a.       Chemistry Prerequisites:

·        Science majors and Preprofessional majors (e.g. Premed, PreDent, PreVet, PrePharmacy, PreChiropractic, etc.):

o       Successful completion of Chem 140, 150 and 160

·        Majors that do not require Chem 140-160 (e.g. PreDental hygiene, Natural Resources, etc.): 

o       Minimum Prerequisite:  successful completion of Chem 101

o       Prerequisite:  Chem 101 and 102

b.      English Prerequisite: Successful completion of English 110; Engl 113 preferred

c.       Math Prerequisite: Successful completion of Math 097 or higher

 

2.      Attend Class Daily!  The major cause of poor performance in this course is poor attendance—missing quizzes/exams, group discussions, lectures, labs, etc. severely impacts your performance in this class! Please do not sign up for the class unless you plan to attend!

 

3.      Make Time for the Class!  This is related to the attendance problem. Not everyone who misses class is goofing off. Some people simply are trying to do too much at one time. I have had parents (both single and married!) who were working full-time while taking a full load! I admire the ambition of such students but they usually do not do well in college. I can relate to working students because I worked my way through school too, but I did not have the outside responsibilities that many of you have and never had to work more than 10-14 hours a week. Cut down your work schedule if you can. If your responsibilities don't allow that then take things slower—5 to 10 credits is plenty for a student working full-time.

 

4.      Develop Some Regular Study Habits!  Turn off your television set. Spend 12-14 quality hours per week (or more!) outside of class studying. Don't put it off until the week before the exam or a major assignment—keep up with the class by studying ~2 hours each day. This is easier said than done, but if you are serious about learning and succeeding in this class, you must make it a priority. 

 

This class will force you to develop some active learning techniques. However, it is possible to conscientiously do all of the reading and still flunk the exams—I know from experience!. I am a big fan of study groups that meet regularly. It is much easier to remember things if you have talked them over and argued about them with others. If you don't have time for a study group tell your family what you learned in school each day. If you can explain something you know it. Active learning involves the emotions! Try to find things in the lessons that excite (or disgust!) you.

 

5.      Take a Look at Your Competition! This class is a prerequisite for all medical professions and for many non-medical professions as well. If you are a pre-professional major you are competing against the best students in the country to get into professional school—the competition is fierce. It would be a disservice to you to “water down” this course and make it easy for you to get a good grade. Hence, standards will be kept quite high so you will be well prepared for future courses.

 

6.      Take Advantage of Available Resources!  Elite 4-year colleges (e.g. University of Washington) take this class very seriously and provide a great deal of outside aid for their students. In a table below I compare the outside-of-class aid given to biology students at a typical 4-year college with that available at a typical community college such as GRCC. There is a big difference. We do not have the funds or the graduate students to provide a program comparable to that at a 4-year school. If you transfer to a 4-year college you will be competing against students who have received a lot of extra help.

 

This makes it imperative that you take full advantage of the help available at GRCC. You can get a lot of help at GRCC but most students avoid doing so even when they are struggling in class. Start by talking to your instructor if you are having trouble. Make use of office hours and the help center upstairs in the Holman Library. Use E-mail to send messages to your classmates to discuss the material in this class.

 

 

Available at Most 4-Year Universities	Available at Community Colleges
1.      Weekly Discussion Sections with a teaching assistant.	Not available
2.      Regular Study Groups organized by the university (some meet 4 hours/week).	Student organized Study Groups.
3.      Several review sessions are held outside of class time before each exam.	Usually only one review session is held outside of class time before each exam.
4.      Instructor Office Hours, plus office hours of an army of graduate teaching assistants	Only instructor office hours that are often held when you are either at work or attending another class
Drop-in Tutoring: available 7 days a week with wide range of hours.	Available but on a smaller scale: See the Help Center located upstairs in GRCC's Holman Library. Phone the Help Center  to find out when a tutor is available: (253) 833-9111 ext. 2325

 

As you can see students at the 4-year schools get a lot more outside-of-class support than those at the community colleges. The extra support depends upon funding and a supply of upper division and graduate students that are not available at community colleges. You can still do very well, but if you want to be competitive with students at the 4-year universities you must do some of these things for yourself and make full use of the help available at GRCC.