Attend every lecture. This will give you the best idea of how to make sense of the material and how to connect examples to important concepts. You will also need to be in lecture in order to work cooperatively with your group-members and turn in assignments completed in class. There are only thirteen lectures in this five credit class—I cannot over state the importance of attending every lecture. If you are going to miss a lecture for any reason, please contact Emily as soon as possible.
Come prepared. Complete the readings before you come to lecture and lab. You will get the most out of each lecture or laboratory exercise if you have already begun working with the material. This class will be taught in an interactive manner—coming to class prepared enables you to fully participate in class. Research suggests that being fully engaged in class activities (including asking and answering questions, and working with your peers) is the best way for students to learn.
Take notes during class. For most people, taking notes is a great way to help you understand and learn the material that you hear and see during lecture. Of course, your notes are also a great study aid. If you do not take notes, you will either have to remember everything I say, or borrow notes from a friend. If you elect the latter strategy, realize that 1) much of the learning comes from the re-wording and writing the notes during class yourself, and 2) someone else’s notes are often quite difficult to interpret.
Work with other students. Research shows that people learn best when they discuss or explain material. I suggest that you compare notes with a friend after each lecture to make sure you agree on the main points and understand how they all fit together. It is also a great idea to form a study group with a few other students in the class and to meet regularly to talk about the material. This is an entire quarter of marine biology compressed into four weeks. Working together will help you to stay on top of this material.
Ask questions. When a concept is not clear, be sure to ask questions. Please ask questions during lecture. Chances are that if you do not understand something, many others do not understand it either. If I am not asked to clarify what I am saying, I will assume that you understand everything. You can also ask questions during office hours.
Use the message board. The message board provides you a virtual way to work with other students and to ask questions. Answering others’ questions is a great way to learn the material better yourself. Additionally, you can generally get your questions answered here quickly—usually from peers, but the teaching team will check the message board periodically as well.
Hand in all your work on time. Avoid handing in assignments late. You will lose 20% per day for late work. If you know in advance that you will be unable to turn in an assignment on time, let us know immediately and we will work with you to create a more manageable solution.
Take advantage of UW resources. It is a great idea to come to office hours. You can go to the office hours of Emily or any of the TAs. This is a great time to ask questions as well as to listen to others ask questions.
There are also a number of resources on campus that can support your learning in Marine Biology. Take advantage of TA hours, and look at the list below for other UW writing resources available to you: