Tips for Success

Use a Weekly Schedule Template to Track Your Time

Use one of the weekly schedule templates below, or recreate one on a blank sheet of paper, to track how you spend your time for one week. Notice patterns of how you spend your time. Are you getting enough sleep? Exercise? Family / friend time? Look for places you can be more efficient with your time. Find 3 or 4 blocks of time you can plan to dedicate to our biology course every week. After evaluating how you spend your time for one week, start with a clean weekly schedule template and fill it out to show how you plan to spend your time this semester. 

Words from the Wise

Here is some advice provided by previous BIOL 1 students. You will see that time management is the most often discussed topic of advice!

The advice I would give to future BIOL 1 students would be time management, it is so very important for this class, and the amount of time you put into it will reflect your grade. What you put into this class is what you will receive. 

My Synthesis Project gave me a reason to dive deeper into something I've always found interesting. I had watched a 10 second clip about my topic years ago and never thought about it since and somehow being able to research it and showcase it was a full circle moment. How from one moment I was skimming through social media and now turning it into my own  project I had worked endlessly on was so rewarding. And now I seek for my topic everywhere I go! Thank you for providing this amazing opportunity!

Coming to labs is something you have to do as often as possible, it is a lot easier than doing the make up work.

i find it funny that now that i got the project going i have this boost of momentum. and I think this is just a personal fault that when there is a project I deem too big for my self i make it sound harder than it is and then once I had the assistance from you I was like "Oh I got dis".  Also I will admit I should have listened to you! On doing step 13 sooner,  seeing what my fellow classmates turned in made me more confident on what I need to do to do better or at least I had a standard to strive for.

I feel like some advice I would share to future BIOL 1 students would be that the class is more enjoyable when you actually want to learn. You'll likely discover something you never knew about but are happy you do now.

I loved that there was more emphasis on learning what you got wrong rather than getting it correct on the first try. There are many times I have learned from revising an assignment.

The labs were very interesting and fun, I actually enjoyed doing most of them. I also enjoyed having the unlimited revisions on assignments because it allowed us to shoot for the best grade possible but also really encouraged us to actually know the information we were learning.

The synthesis project was a great way to dive deeper into a subject of biology, and it was very flexible.

Show up and stay on track!

Even though when you first initially look at the material for a new module each week, it looks like a lot, it is actually not that much and goes by very quickly with good time management. 

I was concerned with the labs because this is my first lab class but I actually enjoyed it. I feel like a lot more classes should incorporate labs because it gives you better understanding of the material your learning. I feel like the term “labs” is what scared me but its more like a hands on process which I thrive in when I learn. 

What didn't work was waiting late minute to complete assignments and having them build up on me. Advice that I would recommend for future online BIOL 1 students is to not procrastinate, take the labs seriously, and reach out with any questions. Sometimes I over thought a lot of assignments and just reaching out to discuss my concerns was a big help to really understand what I needed to do. 

I loved how accessible everything was and how many resources Melody included. One thing that really worked for me was all the different types of videos she included and how I could pretty much choose one that fits how I learn. 

A little advice I would give to future BIO 1 students would be to not stress out about it because if you do you'll just be stress and anxious for no reason. Set a schedule and do your work. Ask for help and look at the resources she gives out!

Time management is very important, planning your week can help a lot with lowering stress levels. 

Some advice for BIOL 1 students would be to do the work on time, even early, and take time to answer the study guide questions and do the activities.

Reach out to the professor for any help you have. She is very useful and understanding.

I found myself struggling with my own problems like life. I was struggling with my current life situation, and it just got in the way. If I could give any advice to the future students of this class, it would be to not procrastinate. As basic as it sounds it's true. Get each step of the project done the second it is available. It will save you in the long run. 

I did not plan my project out very well, but it ended up coming out quite nice. The format of having students complete a small part of it each week worked out really well, although it sounds quite daunting at the start

This class is extremely well organized which I greatly appreciate. This course is well structured and manageable and having flexibility with due dates has been beneficial as it's allowed me to actually take the time I needed to learn the material and not just turn in something hoping it was right. Quick turnaround with an email response and grading are much appreciated and have helped encourage and support my learning.

This semester overall was super fun in Biology!  Communicating with Melody worked really well for me, as well as the additional resources #teamAmoebasisters!!  I was really nervous about taking this course online fearing I wasn't going to learn anything, sounds nerdy I know ;)....but I actually learned A LOT and that to me is the real grade!

Time management did not work well for me.  Unfortunately, murphy's law invited itself into my semester and I struggled to complete assignments on time which turned into falling about 2 weeks behind until tonight.  While I am proud of myself that I was able to catch up, I do wish I had recognized the signs of potential struggle earlier so I could have better managed my time. My advice to future students...hmm....okay....if you ever reach a point in this class where you think throwing in the towel is a better option. Don't. Instead, finish. And write this quote down and tape it to your laptop/computer...

"I did not come this far just to break down and lose now. I'm a winner. I'm going to win." -Denzel Washington

or this one...

"All it takes is ganas (desire)" -Jaime Escalante, Stand & Deliver 

I felt that the way the semester was structured worked well for me. I felt the multiple ways to learn the information was good helpful. I truly appreciated how fast Professor Schmid responded to questions and how willing she was to make herself available for help. I was very nervous taking this class and the early contact from Professor Schmid and what to expect alleviated some fears, and the knowledge that assignments were not timed, and could be revised and re-submitted eased more fears. 

For future students I would recommend to take a deep breath, this class is not nearly as scary as I feared it would be. 

Everything i needed was easily laid out for me and it helped with understanding the subject. The labs were diverse, fun, and doable. I struggled with my mental health in the middle of the semester so i ended up having to catch up, but Melody was understanding and helped me recover.

As far as advice goes, DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE! There's just way too much to cover each week that you are likely to go crazy if you do that (and I'm normally a procrastinator). 

What worked well for me was asking questions. If I had a serious question I would email Melody and I would get an answer the same day. Very useful resource.

Tell future Bio-1 kids that this class is valuable and information compact. That they will be required to put in effort every week but is very beneficial in the end.

If I had to give advice to future students of this class, I would say get your work done before the day that it is due. Always go back and do missed assignments and if you have questions then ASK!

Everything in this course worked great for my success. The flexible dates and multiple attempts allowed me to take a look at what I did wrong and gave me another chance to understand the material. 

I am, admittedly, not the best student when it comes to my study habits. I procrastinate and can have a very difficult time focusing and staying focused when I do sit down to do homework. It is very easy to get behind in this class if you have a procrastinator mindset, I would tell future students that if they do have this type of mindset and are worried to breathe, if you are really and truly determined to complete this class Melody is willing to work with you and help you. 

I fell behind a bit towards the middle of the semester because of some personal things; however, I was able to catch up nicely because of the no late penalty policy. My advice for future students would be not to abuse the no late penalty policy; I found this out the hard way. This class is a great class to learn and discover new things, take your time on each module to understand the material, and you'll do great.