General Biology Hub

20. AVAILABLE HELP

If you are having difficulty with the course, try to analyze your situation.

"Obstacles are those frightful
things you see when you
take your eyes off the goal."
-- Henry Ford

1. DEDICATION. Are you doing something wrong? Is a lack of dedication the reason why your exam grades are not as good as you'd hoped? Have you missed any lectures?

Do NOT go to your instructor and expect that he or she will complete your lecture notes for you.

"Whether you think
that you can, or that you can't
you are usually right."
-- Henry Ford

2. STUDY TIME. How often do you study? Is a lack of study time the reason why your exam grades are not as good as you'd hoped? Remember, a big mistake many students make is underestimating the amount of time required for this course. As a "rule-of-thumb" you need to study at least 2-3 hours per credit hour per week outside of the class.

"Don't say you don't have enough time
You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to
Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa,
Leonardi da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein."
-- H. Jackson Brown

Remember -- even part-time students are full-time in the classes they are enrolled. There are no part-time classes!

3. EXPECTATIONS. Another mistake students often make is expecting that the course is going to be easy, and that most students will be given the grades of A or B in the course just for attending the class. Well, in college you are not given the grades. In college you must earn the grades. You earn your grades by showing that you have learned something. If you want a certain grade in a college course, click here to see what you must do to earn that grade , or you can read about it in the Syllabus.

A means EXCELLENT

B means GOOD (ABOVE AVERAGE)

C means AVERAGE

D means PASSING (BELOW AVERAGE)

F means FAILURE (NOT PASSING)

If you do poorly on the first exam there is plenty of time to recover. One bad exam will not necessarily give you an F in the course. But remember, two or three bad exams will make it challenging to just pass.

"The man who views the world at 50
the same as he did at 20
has wasted 30 years of his life."
-- Muhammed Ali

4. HELPING YOURSELF. If your exam grades are not up to your expectations, and it is NOT due to lack of dedication or lack of study time, you may want to get assistance and studying advice early in the semester.

• Make sure you use the learning tools on Dr. Nilsson's CyberOffice, or other on-line sources of information.
• Participate in study groups or get a tutor. Both of these plans can work wonders. (Biology tutors may or may not be available.)
• Be active and ask questions in class. Remember, as a "rule of thumb" if you have a problem there are many more students with the same problem -- but too shy to say anything. You or your study group may also ask questions after the class meeting. However, if you ask something that is of interest to the whole class your instructor may ask you or the group to bring up the question in class.

"Nothing great was
ever achieved without enthusiasm."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

5. ASKING FOR HELP. If everything else fails, make an appointment for a longer discussion with your instructor. Realize that if a student asks for help - for the first time - just before the final exam, then there is little that the instructor, or anyone, can do. This is far too late...especially when a student needs a 95% on the final exam just to get a C in the course. DON'T PUT YOURSELF INTO A HIGH PRESSURE SITUATION FOR THE FINAL EXAM.

Try not to get a a slow or bad start in this course. It only makes for a very long and increasingly difficult semester.

"The world stands aside
to let anyone pass who knows where he is going."
-- David Starr Jordan

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This is it! I hope these "Tips" for Biology Success will be of help to you.
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