Published in our 2020-2021 issue.

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Intro STEM courses at Duke (or any university) can be overwhelming and difficult to navigate. For starters, there are so many moving parts -- lectures, lab, discussion, all with different assignments? There are also so many people. You might feel like you are just one face in the sea of tired expressions straining to figure out how to add molecules in organic chemistry at 8:30 in the morning. It’s okay. As any science major could tell you, we’ve all been there. Here’s a few tips that might help you out!

Study often...

Rather than waiting for the night before an exam to cram, cram, cram and pull an all-nighter, spread your studying out. It’s actually really helpful. When I was in Chemistry101 my first semester at Duke, I did not fully re-read my notes until days before the exam and I only did practice examples for a week beforehand. Let’s just say my first exam did not go too well...But if you don’t believe me, then trust the science. That’s right—studies have shown that you are able to remember more content for longer periods of time when you review materials within a few days of learning it.

For organic chemistry classes, you might try practicing alkene addition reactions within a few days of them being introduced. Or you might really take your professor seriously when they say flashcards of reactions can be an important study resource. For biology classes, you might try transferring your written notes to a file on your computer to refresh the material and have a more succinct, searchable document when studying. Or you could also review the quizzes you took in between bigger exams to remind yourself of the types of questions you could be asked and the topics of material being covered. For physics, you could do a practice problem or two per day, drawing from questions that might not be assigned for extra help. Another really useful idea overall is going back to your syllabi: Looking at what you have covered so far and what the professors have emphasized as being important can be useful in dividing up your study efforts.

This doesn’t mean you have to go sit in Perkins for 5 hours at a time draining your energy over review of one concept. In fact, that might do more harm than good. Instead, try scheduling in shorter chunks of time between classes to review what you learned in the class before, note your lingering questions, and identify strengths and weaknesses in your understanding of the material. Also, take my word for it, studying undistracted (i.e. not constantly checking your phone) for a shorter period of time can be much more impactful than studying with constant distractions (i.e. interrupting friends, checking social media, etc.).

One way I do this is by quizzing myself with provided practice tests without allowing myself to use my notes and under similar conditions to a real exam. After I do the practice round, I go back and grade myself rigorously according to the answer key. This allows me to see what types of questions I still don’t understand, which material would be the best to review, and to adjust my study schedule accordingly. Though it’s not always possible, if multiple versions of past exams or quizzes are available, I take these practice tests at different points in my studying process. This allows me to focus more heavily on my most fuzzy concepts before exams.

I also revisit past exams and quizzes during the course of the class though it sometimes feels easier to shy away from what I got wrong. Identify your weaknesses early and fix them. This is really helpful for courses that have cumulative final exams.

...and Make Use of Your Resources -- Including Peers and Professors

The Academic Resource Center often has study groups or tutorial sessions you can join for different STEM courses at Duke. Many students take advantage of these resources, along with the STEM Advancement through Group Engagement (SAGE) program. SAGE offers biology, chemistry, math, physics, and biochem study sessions!

It also never hurts to form your own group too! Making friends in class is always a plus—it makes you feel more comfortable in your learning environment and often more willing to engage with new peers and your professor or TAs. Turning these friends into study partners or a group is useful for keeping yourself accountable and crowd-sourcing knowledge. Maybe you can help your friend understand the experimental set-up, while they can help you better approach those pesky problem sets.

Per usual in a study partner or group space, it is your responsibility to complete your own work in ways that align with Duke’s standards of academic integrity and to ensure that you are learning. If you’re better as a solo studier, there is no harm in studying alone, but partners and groups may be additionally beneficial for moral and emotional support.

For example, while taking Animal Physiology, I became really good friends with a classmate and improved my study habits by setting a weekly meeting time to discuss homework questions! This gave me a deadline well before the actual deadline to incentivize me to work ahead. But it also helped me feel more confident in the course materials overall by talking about them frequently and less alone in the things I did not yet fully comprehend -- other people were struggling too! In turn, this inspired me to go to weekly office hours with my professor!

Office hours are incredibly underrated. Generally speaking, your professors really want to see you succeed and they don’t expect you to get everything right when you come to talk to them. Going to office hours is a great way to solicit information about your course materials directly from the source. It is also a great way to build relationships you can return to over time and that might even provide you with unexpected opportunities (like being a Teacher’s Assistant for their class) later in your Duke career!

Be aware of your calendar

Science classes often come with lots of intermittent deadlines and lots and lots of details. Be aware of your deadlines early! Most introductory science courses are broken down into weekly assignments, along with bigger exams, to help you explore and review material intermittently (similar to how you should be studying). One way that I keep track of my work is an excel spreadsheet that contains all assignments and deadlines for the entire semester. This spreadsheet is color-coded by class, sorted by the due date, and bookmarked on my Google Chrome browser for easy access.

If you find scheduling particularly difficult, you can make an appointment with a Learning Consultant at the Academic Resource Center to help you map out a master calendar of all courses (or all STEM courses) for the semester.

Come engaged, stay engaged

My last piece of advice will be for you to truly engage in the lectures and the supplementary sections of your class. Though it might be hard to build a one-on-one connection with your professor, that doesn’t mean you can’t build them with your TAs or discussion leaders. These individuals, along with your professors, often offer a wealth of insight to being successful in a course, managing your time, and addressing the questions or concerns you may have.

Beyond this, I know it’s super easy to zone out in big lectures, but you’re only doing yourself a disservice. When you go to review materials you zoned out on or weren’t paying attention to the first time around, you’re going to be learning this material anew and then having to study more to actually do the reviewing part. Grab yourself a coffee, get that extra bit of sleep, put your computer and devices away, and listen to the lecture as best you can.

Okay, one more last piece of advice, write your notes by hand! This is not just for science class, this is for every class. And yet again, if you don’t believe me, it’s backed by science.

Good luck to all you biology, physics, chemistry lovers and scholars. You’ll get through the Science101s and you’ll get better each step of the way.