Strategies for studying
Before reading the advice and strategies below, please read the previous page of the unique challenges posed in an Organic Chemistry course.
1)Try to understand as opposed to memorizing the material. You probably can get by memorizing the material in the beginning of the course. But as the complexity and volume of material increases with each exam, the memorization strategy will quickly become less and less effective.
2)Knowing/understanding the material is only the first step. You must know and be able to apply your knowledge of the material to solve problems. This requires actively testing your understanding of the material. Thus, active study methods such as flash-cards, teaching others, reorganizing your notes, and doing problems are particularly effective. In contrast, passive study methods such as reading the notes, reading the book, reading the answer keys, and listening to lectures are much less effective.
3) Focus on how to solve problems and not the answers. A common mistake that students make is over reliance on the answer key. They work on problems (homework or practice exams), and when they have problems with a question, they look at the answer key. The answer “makes sense” so they move on thinking that they “did” the problem. But, they did not do the problem. They only understood the answer key. Therefore, when they get to the same type of question on the exam, and they are not able to do the problem (because there is not an attached answer key.)*
So, when you come to a practice problem that you cannot do: 1) look at the key and then 2) draw out a strategy or series of instructions that will give you the answer, and 3) test your strategy or series of instructions on other problems. This website specifically tries to address this problem by providing students with a set of systematic instructions on how to do problems.
Another way to understand this problem of focusing on the answers is the following antidote. One instructor told me that when students asked whether the real exam would be just like the practice exam (or homework) he would say, “Yes, the exam will have the same questions just with different answers.” The instructor’s response had an element of sarcasm but there is a kernel of truth in his response. You need to focus on HOW to get the answers and not on the answers themselves (because on the exam the answers will be different).
4) You must recalibrate how well you need to know the material for an exam and when you can stop studying. One of the most common things I hear from students after exams was, “I thought I knew the material, but I did not do well on the exam.” A lot of students simply chalk this up as a bad test day or that they are not good at taking tests. That might be true but more likely the problem is in your approach to studying for the class. Most student’s intuition about how to study and how much to study has been trained over years of taking tests. But this intuition can lead you astray in Organic Chemistry because this course is not like other science courses.
5) Study for the class like you would for a foreign language class and not a science class. For example, it is not enough to read the text and attend lectures in a foreign language course. You need to practice applying the things you learned using active studying methods. You make flash cards. You go to language lab. You practice and practice. The same is true for organic chemistry. It is not enough to simply understand the textbook and the lecture. You need to learn to do problems and to keep practicing by doing more problems. Also, many of the same study methods that work well for foreign language courses will be effective in this class.
6) Do not fall behind. The class is cumulative. The material on the first exam is essential for doing well for the rest of the course. It is like learning the basic grammar rules and vocabulary at the beginning of a foreign language course. If you are shaky on the basics of the course then the rest of the course will seem… well… like a foreign language.
7) Do not be afraid to ask for help. I am probably the most under utilized resource in the course. I meet with many more students after each exam than before. Yet, I can do very little for students after the exam other than survey the carnage and tell them what they should have done. On the other hand, if you come before the exam, I can help you do better.
8) Think of this course as training you to study more efficiently and to develop problem solving skills for your future career. One under appreciated aspect of this course is that it trains students how to learn and study more efficiently, which is particularly important for students interested in a career in the health fields. Many of you are training to be doctors, physician assistants, dentists, and veterinarians. These are disciplines that require students to adsorb mountains of information in a short time. They also require students to draw on all of this data and often conflicting information to make complex decisions. For example, rarely do patients display only the textbook symptoms. Usually, the doctor has to piece together data, draw on their knowledge, and filter out irrelevant factors to recognize a familiar pattern and make a proper diagnosis. These same problem solving skills are also required for Organic Chemistry. So yes, you will probably not use most of the material that you learn in this course in the future. However, maybe the course will help you develop strategies for solving complex problems, recognizing patterns, and developing more efficient and effective study skills.