Do You Really Understand It?

You walk out of biology class feeling great! You understood the topic, wrote brilliant notes and you are now excited to complete the homework, well kinda.

You go home, sit in front of your desk and you are just about to answer the first question.

Why is the left side of the heart bigger than the right side?

You write the answer, almost word for word of that on the mark scheme and get it 100%.

You then look at an application question.

The heart was split into 2. Maximum contraction occurred creating an equal amount of force on both side. You notice the heart that is been experimented on is that of a deceased patient who was unable to walk for a long time as they would experience shortness of breathe. Based on the information, why was the patient short of breathe?

The answer for both questions rely on the knowledge for question 1. The question you must ask yourself is, did you understand the concept of why the left side of the heart needs to be bigger or can you memorise the answer.

To relay test yourself, ask yourself: Can I explain the concept and therefore the answer to question 2 to a 5 year old?

If you are able to explain this concept, it most likely means you have understood the information rather than remembered it. This is a positive as exams like to test your application knowledge with graphs from experiments not just your memorisation skills.

How can I apply this to my learning?

1. Use the learning of objective as a guide

2. explain each learning objective to a friend, family member or if you have one, a five year old!

3. For the ones you struggle on then watch YouTube videos, consult your tutor or even a friend in your class.

Need some more support:

Please contact me and we can arange a meeting.