[Silver-Midnight]

Hi. I know this is more of a general thing but it still applied I think, and if there is a better place to post this please let me know. I apologize for the inconvenience. This semester is the first semester that I've had two Chemistry classes together (as in I'm taking them at the same time). And in all honesty, I feel as though I'm struggling in both. The classes that I'm taking are Biochemistry and Quantitative Analysis. I just don't feel prepared for either, and/or that I don't know what I'm doing. And sometimes I don't even know how to prepare. I especially feel this way in Quantitative Analysis Lab, in which case I get nervous and end up making mistakes in some cases. Is there any kind of way to study for both of these classes, or rather how should I study for both of these classes? Normally, I study by reading my notes, reading the chapter, reading over the chapter summary (if there is one) and the parts that I highlighted, and looking at/reviewing examples. Is there anything I can do?

Thanks! 

[Babcock_Hall]

I am a great believer in doing homework problems.  In addition, there are a couple of biochemistry guides in paperback that help students see the forest, not just the trees.  One is PDQ biochemistry and the other is Basic Concepts in Biochemistry.

[Silver-Midnight]

Well, I just got a Study Supplement for Biochem that goes with my book. Do you have any advice for Quant/Analytical Chemistry?

[Babcock_Hall]

Not much.  I would say that some students don't recognize that when one reacts a strong acid with a weak base, that it is really just a limiting reagent problem, which they have seen before.  So, I would look for patterns.  Along those same lines but with respect to biochemistry, one can get a good deal of mileage out of LeChatelier's principle, again something that they have already seen.

[Arkcon]

I can understand feeling unprepared for Biochemistry -- for me, it was unlike any science course to date.  Basically, however, its all about memorizing pathways, and learning a bit about how they fit together.  But mostly memorizing pathways.

[Silver-Midnight]

I can understand feeling unprepared for Biochemistry -- for me, it was unlike any science course to date.  Basically, however, its all about memorizing pathways, and learning a bit about how they fit together.  But mostly memorizing pathways.

I think that was something my professor actually said.


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My main issue with Quant Lab is that this lab is teaching us(or trying to anyway) to multi-task in lab(or lab setting). And this is first time I've really had to multi-task to the level that happens in this lab (like making a dilution, heating something on a hot plate, weighing something on a balance, making a solution all at the same time), and my brain just isn't wrapping around it and isn't able to do it. I'm so used to "Okay, do A, do B, do C, and etc." that I can't do what I need to do for this lab, and then I'll get nervous that I'll make a mistake and get chastised, then because of that I do make a mistake, and it becomes one endless cycle.

[Babcock_Hall]

Biochemistry should be about learning the metabolic logic of the pathways and the chemical logic of the coenzymes.  I am not saying that there should be no memorization, only that if one approaches learning it by rote, one is missing a great deal.