Preparing For Class
How To Study
Preparing For Exams
Avoiding Penalties
Because I am using this text for the first time, I cannot provide a detailed schedule of assignments. Instead, I provide a list of major topics and the related assigned readings. I will alert you the class before I plan to move into a new topic. It is IMPERATIVE that you read each new assignment BEFORE I begin to discuss it in class. I will assume that I am discussing the material with people who have read it; if you haven't, you will not get as much help from the class, and you will find it much harder to work problems and prepare for exams. Also be aware that I will not "cover" everything that I assign, but you are responsible for all assigned readings. (see PREPARING FOR EXAMS, below.) I reserve the right to give short quizzes at the beginning of class to reward those who are prepared. I will ask questions in class in order to engage you in discussion of the experiments, results, and interpretations that form the subject of biochemistry.
Problems are not tests of your knowledge; on the contrary, they are part of the learning process, so do not put off problems until you think you have mastered the material. Working problems will help you master the material. TRY TO SOLVE ALL PROBLEMS WITHOUT REFERRING TO THE ANSWERS. If you are stuck on a problem, don't look up the answer. Instead, look back through the chapter to find and reread related material. Then try to work out an answer to the problem. Try to find fault with your answer before you check it. (In real life -- and on tests -- the answers are not in the back of the book. Scientists hold all of their answers tentatively until they find something wrong with them. Scientists practically never get clear yes-or-no answers to their questions.) If you simply read the problem and then turn to the answer, you will not be prepared for the exams, on which you must first arrive at answers, and then decide for yourself whether the answers are worthy of your confidence. Regular and frequent problem-solving, in the manner described above, is the most important path to success in this course.
The most important preparation for exams is problem solving. Exam problems, like those in the text and Study Guide, will require you to interpret data and formulate explanations, rather than simply repeating material from lecture or text. As much as 50% of each exam will consist of factual questions based on the Study Guide sections entitled "Questions for Discussion," "Do You Know the Terms?" and "Do You Know the Facts?" These sections provide a good guide to the factual information with which you should be equipped for exams. The remainder of the exam will consist of problems somewhat like those in "Applying the Information," and like the challenging problems in the text. The percentage of exams devoted to problems will increase with each exam.
Special Note About Reaction Mechanisms: Every exam will contain at least one problem in which you must write a detailed reaction mechanism, showing intermediates and "electron pushing" (using curved arrows to show bond breakage and formation). If your electron-pushing skills, or other organic chemistry skills, are rusty, see Pushing Electrons: A Guide for Students of Organic Chemistry, Daniel P. Weeks, 2nd ed., Saunders College Publishing, NY 1992, at the library or in the bookstore. Or ask me to borrow and copy the handout, "Prelude to Biochemistry: A Review of Important Concepts From Organic Chemistry."
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