Hi,
 
I just took BIO 222 this past semester, so I can give you a few tips! Although I am not sure how the structure of MCDB 322 is this winter (and the professors are different), I can say that one of the most important things in this class is not falling behind in lectures and material. Making sure you understand a concept is so crucial because the class builds on the knowledge you learn. At the time, we had quizzes every other week, so that forced us to keep up with the lectures, but doing so is important regardless of whether you are frequently tested on the material. In addition, going to office hours and participating in your discussion are also helpful for making sure you fully understand the lectures. There is a bit of memorization involved, but putting in the extra time and effort to actually understand the concepts rather than memorizing blindly was more beneficial. This is especially important if the new professors continue to have only short-answer questions on quizzes/exams as was the case last semester. Another thing that really helped me was finding a study partner/group to go over the practice questions with before quizzes. This allowed both us to benefit from each other by going over topics we didn’t understand in more depth and actually explaining/teaching it to one another. Personally, the textbook did not help me a lot in the beginning and once I realized that studying the lecture material was more important, I only read the textbook if I was struggling with a specific concept. Besides that, the class is very interesting and enjoyable, so I hope you like it!
 
I hope that helps! Let us know if you have any other questions.
Leen, PMH Advising Manager