What is the best way to learn and study genetics?

I'd say the best way is to not fall behind and to know the bare basics of genetics - like how to create crosses and present them in tables. Also, notation is important when it comes to writing out alleles, like what the plus and minus mean, etc. Each author has their own style, so try to familiarize yourself with the textbook quickly and learn the conventional notation as well.

The material in the textbook is pretty dense, and it takes a long time to read and fully understand. How would you recommend getting through all the information in a timely manner? It's hard not to fall behind when our professor expects us to read so much each day (very fast-paced because it is a summer class).

Should I take extensive notes as I read, or just focus on reading on understanding the material and only take notes during lecture?

Thanks!

Genetics textbooks are always like the way you described it, and worse, they are boring to read and hard to follow along. Professors expect you to read all the chapters without acknowledge that you have other classes too. Here's what I'd do: I'd try to find the PowerPoint slides that accompany the textbook. All modern day textbook publishers have these accessible to the professors, so let's hope he gives you guys access to them. Then, use those slides in particular to make truncated notes. Forget about dates and history facts - those are useless on exams. Make sure you understand the examples provided by your teacher.

Exactly! Someone who understands! She shows PowerPoint slides and writes notes on the board during lecture. I guess what she covers in lecture is probably more important the some of the random information in the text? So I should focus on the examples she does in class as an indication of what's going to be on the exams?

Yes, only concentrate on her slides and nothing else. In fact, the textbook is useless. People only buy it because it serves as a placebo when studying.


Her examples will be 75% similar to what you'll see on the exam.

What textbook are you using?

Well the slides and also what she writes on the board during class, right?

And, we're using "Genetic Analysis: An Integrated Approach" by Mark F. Sanders and John L. Bowman. It's not too bad, but it definitely isn't too easy to follow along with.

It seems to me that the book has a tendency to make things way more complicated than they actually are.

Yes, and listen carefully to things she says in class. When she says something like, "this next slide is very important", you know there's something on that slide that interests her. Mind uploading one of the PowerPoint presentations she has used in class? I want to see if it is similar to what the publisher gives her and how she has altered it.

I uploaded her most recent PowerPoint presentation.

As you can see, there isn't very much textual information on the slides, and most of it is visual. Most of the textual information she wants us to know is written on the board by her for us to copy. I'm just wondering whether she will decide to take some random information from the textbook to include on the exam that was not talked about during lecture (which has been done in the past by another biology professor of mine).

As you can see, she includes some example problems in the slides, which she has mentioned are important. Since she stressed that they are important, I can assume the exam questions will be relatively similar.

Would you recommend watching animations and YouTube videos to help explain some of the more complex processes that the book does a poor job of explaining?

Thanks again for being so helpful!

Nope, she will stick to what she writes on her slides/board. Believe me, stick to the questions she provides and make sure you can answer them well. I am also a big believer in animations, but only watch the animations that pertain to this textbook and none other. She does, however, provide this link at the end, and I would carefully watch each one, since Mcgraw-Hill does a really good job explaining concepts using animations.

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072835125/student_view0/animations.html

Sounds good. Yeah, I've already watched the animations she posted at the end! They really helped to clarify what was going on. I'll probably go back and watch them again before the test.

I guess to study for her exams I'll go over all the PowerPoints and rework all the questions she provides until I can do them quickly and efficiently. We have our first exam this coming Thursday, and I still have two more chapters to get through.

It seems like you know exactly what you're talking. Are you a biology teacher or professor yourself?

Biologist by trade, teacher currently Remember, forget dates and historical facts, and concentrate on the questions. Further, email her to see what the exam format might be - i.e. does it have multiple choice, short-answer, etc.