"Biology is a matter of analysis rather than to learn by heart. "

Hi, I am working in a local university and my job is to help students with their projects on biology. My experience in tutoring H2 biology shows that the most effective way to help a JC student bring grades up is to correct his/her misconceptions. Most JC students seem have no problem memorizing notes but is short of analytical skills to apply the notes into problem-solving. I admit that parts of biology such as structures of DNA/amino acids have to be memorized. But the same as physics, biology is a matter of analysis rather than learn by heart. For example, the structures and functions of cellular organelles may be quiet easy for JC students to understand; and students are still fine with the structure of carbohydrates. The problem is why the differences in structure between starch and cellulose make them very different in tensile strength. When it comes to 4 levels of protein structures; most students would simply memorize the bonds maintaining the structure at each level without carry out further analysis. Actually it is difficult to memorize the bonds for the structure of each level accurately. In the end, they are totally lost about how the structure of collagen, which is in triple helix, contributes to the increased tensile strength. My advice to solve the problems like these is either to go through the Campbell Biology 9th but 8th Edition works well; or get a quality tutor who understand biology.