Take advantage of your hands-on experience. Make sure that you spend a lot of time during your first year in college taking chemistry labs, studying the material, and doing the lab work. Take a few courses at the university level that are actually integrated into the curriculum, so that you aren’t totally detached from the subject matter, but it’s also okay to find a course that is completely optional.
Work through a biology course in inorganic chemistry organic chemistry or other courses in inorganic chemistry first. Then, take the organic chemistry 101 exam. If you feel like you need a little more flexibility to figure out the material for the exam, then work on the lab work on your own.
Keep your notes, and double-check them on different time frames. Some of the topics will be easy to grasp when you’re taking the exam; others will require deeper study and a bit more work. For example, you may have to figure out how to use a titration scale, if you want to know how to use the laboratory.
Organic Chemistry 101 quiz is basically an attempt to teach you chemistry by asking you to apply what you’ve learned to new situations. It’s also an attempt to teach you chemistry. Each time you fail, you make progress toward learning more about chemistry. It’s a very effective approach.
There is a fine line between learning and teaching, so that people with experience often set out to teach chemistry courses to people who haven’t had any exposure to the subject matter. These folks will often make a generalized statement about something and assume that you’ll automatically know what it means. The reality is that you need to understand the details to apply the information to real-world situations.
If you take a chemistry course, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to do well in your chemistry exam. You can study the material and have a pretty solid foundation in your subject, but if you don’t take the time to learn the subject thoroughly, you won’t be able to apply it properly. Doing the exam is one thing, but doing the lab work with the material is something else entirely.
Look for some practice tests online. Go to some of the discussion boards in the chemistry discussion groups in your local area. Find a web site that has quizzes from teachers and students who have taken a lot of practice tests. There are plenty of places to find online quizzes that aren’t very hard.
Don’t study from a specific chemistry textbook. Instead, look for exercises and guides that can help you learn chemistry concepts by using examples. This kind of approach is the best way to go because you don’t have to memorize all the information.
Most of the time, it doesn’t matter how much you study, you still need to have some practical knowledge to apply the concepts. For example, if you aren’t familiar with the word “magnet” on its own, then ask an experienced person. Once you learn some of the terms and concepts, you can add them to your chemistry textbook.
Try to keep up with your science skills. Make sure that you are doing things like taking chemistry labs, following directions, and doing experiments. This is an easy way to expand your knowledge and get the most benefit out of your education.
You’ll always be learning as long as you put your effort into it. Organized study is vital to improving your skills, but it’s equally important to follow the tips above. so that you don’t run yourself right out of practice.
