Cell biology and Genetics - course module Cell biology 1

Tools for learning and studying

Develop your learning skills

• Efficient learning skills are vital for success in studies.
• Everybody can always improve their learning skills. Having good learning skills and knowing how to use different learning tools ensures that you can make the most of your studies and have time to relax and enjoy life outside of the class room.
• Consider your typical week of studies - how do you spend your time at the university? What kind of learning activitities do you feel give you most insights and understanding?

Plan your learning activities

• The courses come with schedules that usually allow for free planning for part of the week. Note that most courses you take in your studies are full time. Even if the scheduled hours do not fill more than half of the weekly work hours, it is expected that you work a full week with your studies every week. Work gives results, and work takes time (this concept is called "time on task").
• Prepare for learning activities - for discussions and lectures. Most often you can spend fifteen minutes every day on rapidly eyeing the content of tomorro's learning activitites. This activates the synapses in your brain in anticipation.

Learn to use text books and informations sources efficiently

• Learn to use your text books in the right way. For example with Alberts, learn to use the index and the glossary
• Advanced text books usually employ a method and a plan - and the plan is usually not so that you should read everything continuously from page 1 to 1000.
• Read the introduction to the book, read the beginning and end of the designated chapters.
• Many books have good illustrations that give you the big picture. Spend some time just eyeing through the book.
• Use bookmarks to mark the most important parts of the book. Find a nice cafe and sit down with the book.
• Use your teachers - ask them questions, that's what they are for. Ask them "Why is that?" whenever possible.

Learning for the future

• Learning for the future includes the memorization of important facts, understanding and using different concepts and plain hard work towards developing insights. These will not always come easily, but they are the best things you can get from learning.
• Short-cut approaches to learning can include long detailed lists supplied by teachers to memorize by heart. This kind of studies can lead to superficial learning with less insights won. Such learning approaches can be directed to "exam survival" instead of long term learning and understanding. What seemingly makes learning easier ("since the teachers tell us exactly what we should learn") also ensures that the knowledge rapidly dissipates from the cortex. Easy come, easy go.
• An excellent way of learning may be the use of self-study quizzes during the course. The principle is "study-try to recall-study a bit more-try to recall" etc.
• Construct your own check-lists if you like them (which is a very good way of learning), and make diagrams.
• Use the word "Why?" when you think about life and cell biology. For example, "Why must the cell cycle be well-regulated?", or "What would happen if the Golgi apparatus is not fully functional?"

Make learning an enjoyable activity

• Many like to study in groups.
• Try to vary your study settings (combine library-coffee shop-subway-home looking at the same material).
• Work together with your course mates and be generous with your own skills and knowledge.
• Teaching and explaining to others is an excellent way of learning even more.
• Make up self-study questions and exchange these with a course mate - on paper, email or with a text message.
• Get somebody to examine your knowledge with the help of the self-study questions before the final exam.
• Make sure that learning is and stays fun. Turn the discussions into a picnic.