Some Thoughts and Observations About Mastering Bio. 1407
Bio. 1407 is the second half of a two semester sequence intended specifically for life science and health professions majors. (If you have NEVER taken first semester college biology at HCC or anywhere else, read no farther. Head to the nearest registrar's office ASAP and drop this course while you still can get most of your tuition refunded. Goodbye, and be sure in the future to check your college's catalog for any necessary prerequisites in order to register for a particular course.) Now, for you who are still here, I also teach the first semester of this sequence, a course called Bio. 1406. I have a separate section concerning that course on my homepage at my Learning Web site - the same homepage that got you here. Under Bio. 1406, you will see a link to "Some Thoughts and Observations About Mastering Bio. 1406", the companion piece to this writing. Whether you are new to me as a teacher, or you are one of my returning alumni from a previous Bio. 1406 or Bio. 2420 semester, I want you to go to that document and read or re-read it carefully and thoroughly before you continue reading this page. Go ahead, I'll be here when you get back!
INTERMISSION
Welcome back! Much of what you just read you have probably already found out through your own experience in first semester college biology, or in microbiology, or in anatomy and physiology, but it is very worthwhile to see it written down for the very few of my Bio. 1407 students who come in thinking that college biology is going to be easy. The difference in the attitudes of my Bio. 1406 and Bio. 1407 students is very noticeable to me on the first day of class. My Bio. 1407 students look to me like combat veterans, as well they should. You second semester folks have no illusions about what this semester is going to be like. It will be hard work!! Any science course is hard work! However, you have some powerful assets on your side that you may not appreciate. You have gone through the introductory material in Bio. 1406. You know some of the vast introductory vocabulary of biology. You know about the basic organization of matter and how elements or compounds bond. You know the basic building blocks and macromolecules of life, and the fundamental plans and parts of living cells. You know the chemical energetics of cells and the ways that ATP is made and used. You've learned the basics of genetics, and of the synthesis of DNA, RNA and protein. All this is introductory, and is, at last, out of your way. Now you get to the good stuff. This semester we get to do some real biology! At last, you will come to understand where all that introductory material fits in and why you had to learn it. Use your hard earned Bio. 1406 knowledge base to the maximum in order to master Bio. 1407!
Another thing I see in my Bio. 1407 students' eyes on the first day of class is a keen interest in the subject. Sure, I have lots of interested and highly motivated students in my Bio. 1406 classes, and I'm thankful for them! But many of the others I see in Bio. 1406 are there only to fulfill a science requirement. I try my hardest during the semester to build a real interest in the subject for those people, and I feel that I'm successful in most instances. But almost all of you Bio. 1407 students are here precisely because you saw something marvelous about this subject during your first semester, or at some other point in your life, and came back to take the second half because you really wanted to. That attitude is one that will almost certainly lead to a course being fun and full of learning adventure! So here's my second and my biggest piece of advice about mastering General Biology 1407 - keep that positive attitude of fun and keep your high level of interest, the attributes that got you through Bio. 1406. These are some of your most important assets, not only in class but also in life itself. I will attempt to nourish your enjoyment and your interest in biology throughout the semester, as we build a sense of community in our classroom. Remember, biology is really neat stuff, and studying really neat stuff usually leads to success in a course!
A third point that will help you to master General Biology 1407 is a huge and healthy helping of reality. I'd like you to try a little experiment right now. Go get your Campbell and Reese 7th edition text, Volume I, you know, the "peacock book". (I sure hope you didn't sell it - you'll need it for Bio. 1407!) Now, get Volume II. If you don't have it, go and buy it - you'll also need that this semester! Place Volume I and Volume II side by side. Do you notice anything interesting? Quantitatively, Volume I covers pages 1 to about 435 or so. Volume II covers pages 435 to 1250 or so. That's right, twice the written material!! In Bio. 1406, we cover 20 chapters in 15 weeks. In Bio. 1407, we cover 30 chapters in the same amount of time. We cut the Bio. 1406 students a break on the volume of material they are responsible for, because they need a break! They are beginners! So where does the "hammer" fall? On the Bio. 1407 student, who is better prepared to deal with it! That means you!!! That means that you had better hit the ground running as hard as you can in this course. You have no time to waste, right from Day One! You have another full semester of hundreds of new vocabulary words, and new facts, and new concepts to master and you cannot do that overnight. YOU MUST NOT FALL BEHIND!!! I shudder to remember the fate of Bio. 1407 students from past semesters who thought I was kidding about this. This is the real deal, folks. I have no time in this course to slow down more than just a little bit, now and then. Also, those students who have had me in other courses can attest to the fact that I don't play games in class when I test. I really truly do expect each of my students to master the material in the class time allotted. From me, the grade of "A" goes to the most excellent students in the class, not to the least poor ones. I can thus assure you that if you earn a high grade in my biology class, you can go anywhere else thoroughly prepared for anything they will throw at you, because you will have an excellent, broad based understanding of the subject matter.
So how do you do well in my class? Well, by doing the same things you read about earlier in my "Mastering Bio. 1406" thoughts and observations, on the Bio. 1406 webpage. Attend all my Bio. 1407 classes, both lecture and lab. I've got exam Topic Sheets and other materials on the Learning Web for you too. I've got the Campbell website http://www.pearsoncustom.com/tx/hcc_biology/, (then click on the Campbell Biology Companion link), for you to use actively. Do a minimum of 3 hours of ACTIVE practice with the material for each class hour you spend with me, and do it DAILY, not just before the exams. Realize that I CANNOT teach you everything you need to know for the exams. You must learn it yourself, on your own, or in study groups. That will be the way of your life in the wide world from now on. You had best get used to it here in a practice environment like HCC, rather than trying to master it for the first time in the workplace, when your livelihood will depend on it. Some of my senior students who have already spent some time in the workforce know exactly what I mean. After all, why do you think they call what we do here a "DISCIPLINE"?
To Life!! See you in class!!
