Hi! First of all, your page is amazing! So, I’m in my first semester of grad school now and some of the lectures for my class have been a little vague with no accompanying PowerPoint. Do you have any recommendations or go-to websites for reviewing material? We have an upcoming test on yeast genetics and I feel no where near prepared 😅 Any help is appreciated, thanks (:
Hi! Aaahh thank you!!
Ugh, classes taught in vague ways with no extra materials are the worst!!!
So ways I’ve gone about supplementing my learning when the lectures are making as much sense as a fever dream:
Google. This is my first go-to. It’s amazing how much educational material is out there–everything from people’s blogs to free online course material from other universities to Youtube lectures and even schematics (so definitely check the Images section too!). This is probably the first thing I do when I don’t understand something. (I don’t have a specific website I always use, since the subject I look up and the detail I need are always changing.)
Textbooks. If there’s no required textbook that accompanies the class, you may be able to squeeze a list of recommended textbooks from the professor or TA. Those may be worth checking out (lol pun) in the library (no need to buy the whole million dollar thing; maybe just scan the chapter you need when you need it). Your library may even have some books available as pdf’s online.
Visiting the professor/TA during office hours. Sometimes 1 hour of clarification via face-to-face chatting is worth a whole day of trying to learn something by oneself. However, would not recommend if the professor still communicates poorly during these times (and also, what a horrible teacher)
Visiting university learning/tutoring centers. In my undergrad university we had these free learning centers dedicated to different subjects staffed with TAs and other knowledgable students. They also had on hand copies of every textbook, and were just all-around great places to go to for help. You can see if your university has similar centers.
Forming a study group. Sometimes more brains is better than one brain! You can try to get the people sitting around you to form a casual study group to meet up and clarify questions. Plus, teaching something is oftentimes the best way to learn the thing!
Get help from a real-life yeast geneticist, ie PIs doing yeast research, or their grad students and/or post-docs. Kind of an unconventional way to get help for lectures, but if you know of any yeast geneticists, it never hurts to ask! All the PIs I’ve ever interacted with have always been super excited to help students within their area of expertise.
I hope that helps! Good luck with your test!!
