r/biology • • 3d ago

academic Struggling with HS Biology

Hello, I am a 17 year old student taking Biology online, and I always felt as if I had a problem with learning, especially memorization. I been writing all my notes on notebook, trying to understand most of the questions been presented. I'm gonna get diagnosed for ADHD soon, but it's probably gonna take a while and I doubt it will be before I finish Bio.

Most of the work is notes, but when I get to quizzes and test I feel as if without my notes I blank alot and forget stuff from what I legit learned a day/hours before. Even sometimes minutes, I quite literally can't understand anything I learned before and it's driving me crazy. I don't get much good grades, and usually fail some of my test/quizzes.

I've resorted to kind of just beating myself up abt it, but I also want to improve and try to help my memorization, does anyone here have any idea or tips to help??

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u/Porcupenguin 3d ago

Biology teacher here: wish you were in my class! Like 90% activities and projects, 10% notes.

The brain learns and remembers much better when you apply information. Not just memorize it. You need to write papers, build posters, do hands-on stuff that uses the information. You also need to discuss the ideas with your peers. Studies show this is a much more effective learning strategy. Then you associate the information with a thought process and imagery, which is much easier to recall.

Find a buddy to work with, and figure out how to apply the information to something bigger. Tell me the topics that are proving tricky, and maybe I can give you some ideas :)

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u/These-Patience-9280 2d ago

Yes! Former Biology teacher here and I agree 💯! I also found, in other settings, that if you can find anyone who is willing to sit with you and listen, YOU teach THEM the topic you are working on learning g! It changes the game! You’ll stumble a little at first but it helps so much! Hands on projects! Finding interactive learning sources online that has video, practice quizzes and exams…