Question

I need a summary on Cell Biology please. The important points and explanations. I just finished my exams and I've been told I've not been admitted. I shall rewrite it. This will be my last chance. Please help me

Answer 1

I am sorry that you have not done well on your exams. It would be easier to help you if you came to us with specific questions than it is to design an entire course of revision for you, not knowing what level of cell biology you are at (high school, AP, college...?) and what your strengths and weaknesses are in the field.

Answer 2

College Level. Knowing the parts of the cell, how they function and the processes involved. Thank you so much in advance

Answer 3

Whole books have been written on this topic :) I'd be happy to help, but I need more information than that. What SPECIFICALLY are you having trouble with?

And when you say college-level, is this first year (i.e. basically the same stuff as in school, but in more detail) or more advanced (e.g. fancy chemical processes, unusual organelles, etc.)?

Answer 4

As Calliope says, the more info you can give us about what specifically you would like help with and what resources (books, lecture notes...?) are available to you, the better we can help you work through them.

If you are looking for online books, the NCBI has a bunch of good ones. You can browse the titles yourself at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books.

For intro level books I think you should look at:

"Molecular Biology of the Cell" by Lodish and friends - it is a superb book, the one I learned from and still consult from time to time, though a little technical in places and tough to work without some background in biology. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21475/


"The Cell" by Cooper. It places less emphasis on the molecular biology and more on the cellular organelles and their functions. And I personally think that the writing style is more accessible and appropriate for an intro book. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK9839/

Perhaps you would like to check those out and working from the tables of contents, get some ideas for where or how you should start.

Answer 5

Thank you for your help. I'll be coming from time to time for some explanations. I've found out that I have a problem of noting the important points and getting them into my head. How do I come about that (retaining topics in my memory)?

Answer 6

I have a few strategies that I use when I study. One is to look up and make a note of what the Greek/Latin words used in scientific terminology actually mean. If I know that trich- means hair, it's much easier to remember that Gastrotricha are tiny animals with a hairy (actually ciliated) belly, and Trichocysts are hair-like structures that are kept in little cysts until they're expelled.

Another strategy that I use, and this is one that takes a lot more time, is to go through point by point everything that I know I need to know for the exam. That means... if I have a list of subjects covered in the class (often teachers/professors will provide such a list at the beginning of a course so everyone will know what to read/prepare for what day), I'll go through each point and then take my notebook and write down at least short explanations of everything that was covered.

If there's just way too much information to go through it slowly enough to write things down (or if I don't have enough time), I read as much of the provided course material that I can, pray that some of it will stick in my brain, and try to keep an eye out for patterns that might help me remember things.

The only other thing that I can recommend is that if you have a list of things that you just need to memorise, use a flash card program. You can use physical cards if you prefer, but I find it goes much faster on the computer. I use a program called CueCard: you can load photos into it too, and I used it to memorise the names of a hundred or so German animals last semester. Entering all the things you need to memorise into it can take a little while, but I find that actually learning the material is way quicker than by any other method.

Answer 7

Thank you. I shall look to memorize and call up some of my friends to study. I have to get accepted this time

Answer 8

To add onto what Calliope and Blues have already said:

I find it helps me retain information when I teach it. When you force yourself to explain everything to another student, it helps you realize the gaps in your own studying. Answering questions here on OS can be a nice way to help yourself review. And if there's no one around for you to talk to, I find taking a walk outside while explaining the material 'to myself' is a nice substitute. When reading, I would also take the time to jot down a few key words (taking full notes didn't really help me though) and I would periodically (throughout the week, later in the day) review them and explain as much as I could about those concepts. I think why this works for me is because it focuses on 'active' studying - you're forcing yourself to recall the knowledge and to make those neurons connect and synapse! vs. passive studying (just reading through everything), where the stuff you learn doesn't stick.

Good luck :)

Answer 9

Thank you! I shall look into this and try to put everything into my head. I also need to practice on how to handle oral exams

Answer 10

I long ago adapted a combination of methods. First, I also created flash cards, important or major points on one side and the answer on the back side. Second, and for me key, I would parrot back the answer to the topics on the front of the cards in a matter as if I was explaining the answer to some one as if they were the student. When you can understand an important concept well enough to explain it to another person you have arrived! Each day I would review all of the cards before I would return to the study subject.

Answer 11

For the students, learn how to fish and learn not to ask for fish.