Ten Tips for Success:

1. Be realistic about your time commitments. Sit down now and list the number of hours that you must spend on all of your commitments. This course will require a minimum of four hours outside of class for every hour spent in class. Write down your schedule and be certain that you have sufficient time to spend on class preparation, study and review.
2. Attend class and ask questions. Although all of the material on the exams will be found in the textbook, we will elaborate on important information in class and you will have opportunities to ask questions about topics that you have difficulty understanding. Remember: The only stupid question is the one that you didn’t ask.
3. Attend lab and complete lab assignments. Anatomy is a three-dimensional, hands-on course. You cannot understand a three-dimensional structure by looking solely at two-dimensional illustrations. Also, many of the questions on your lab assignments will show up again on exams.
4. Attend ALL scheduled labs and lectures. You paid for the instruction. Don’t throw away your money by failing to attend class.
5. Pay attention to study sheets. I will give you study questions before each exam to help you review and focus your attention on material you will need to know for the exams. These questions should enhance your chances of success on the exams.
6. Attend open lab sessions. The lab will be open for additional study at certain times during the week. Try to take advantage of these open lab periods to review the lab material on a regular basis.
7. Make friends among your classmates and form study groups. Many times someone nearer your own level of expertise can explain something in ways that make sense to you when the material is unfamiliar. Also, the more you discuss new information, the more you will learn and remember.
8. Read every assignment BEFORE class. You will find that lectures are easier to follow and understand and lab time is utilized more efficiently if you read all lecture and lab reading assignments before the class for which they are scheduled.
9. Review regularly and often. Set up a strict schedule for reviewing both the material covered during the last class period and that covered previously. Studies have shown that significant amounts of new information are forgotten if not reviewed within a few hours of the time that it was first introduced. The material should be reviewed again a day or two later and at least once before the unit exam. Then each unit of material should be reviewed weekly until the final exam.
10. Take responsibility for your own performance. If you study diligently and review on a regular basis, you will not need to cram for exams. If you have several exams to take in a few days’ time and don’t have sufficient time to study for them, one of two problems exists. Either you failed to be realistic about your time commitments or you failed to review regularly and often, or both.