FOLLOWING THE RULES IN HIGH SCHOOL |
CHOOSING RESPONSIBLY AT UNI |
 |
 |
 |
|
* High school is mandatory and usually free. |
* UNI is voluntary and expensive. |
* Your time is structured by others. |
* You manage your own time. |
* You need permission to participate in extracurricular
activities |
* You must decide whether to participate in co-curricular
activities.
|
* You can count on parents and teachers to remind you of your
responsibilities and to guide you in setting priorities. |
* You must balance your responsibilities and set
priorities. You will face moral and ethical decisions you have never
faced before. |
* Each day you proceed from one class directly to another,
spending 6 hours each day--30 hours a week--in class. |
* You often have hours between classes; class times vary
throughout the day and evening and you spend only 12 to 16 hours
each week in class |
* Most of your classes are arranged for you. |
* You arrange your own schedule in consultation with your
adviser. Schedules tend to look lighter than they really are. |
* You are not responsible for knowing what it takes to graduate. |
* Graduation requirements are complex, and differ from year to
year. You are expected to know those that apply to you. |
* Guiding principle: You will usually be told what to do and
corrected if your behavior is out of line. |
* Guiding principle: You are expected to take responsibility
for what you do and don't do, as well as for the consequences of
your decisions. |
 |
|
GOING TO HIGH SCHOOL CLASSES |
SUCCEEDING IN UNI CLASSES |
 |
 |
 |
|
* The school year is 36 weeks long; some classes extend over
both semesters and some don't. |
* The academic year is divided into two separate 15-week
semesters, plus a week after each semester for exams. |
* Classes generally have no more than 35 students. |
* Classes may number as few as 20 and as much as 100 students or
more. |
* You may study outside class as little as 0 to 2 hours a week,
and this may be mostly last-minute test preparation. |
* You need to study at least 2 to 3 hours outside of class for
each hour in class. |
* You seldom need to read anything more than once, and sometimes
listening in class is enough. |
* You need to review class notes and text material regularly. |
* You are expected to read short assignments that are then
discussed, and often re-taught, in class. |
* You are assigned substantial amounts of reading and writing
which may not be directly addressed in class. |
* Guiding principle: You will usually be told in class what
you need to learn from assigned readings. |
* Guiding principle: It's up to you to read and understand
the assigned material; lectures and assignments proceed from the
assumption that you've already done so. |
 |
|
HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS |
UNI PROFESSORS |
 |
 |
 |
|
* Teachers check your completed homework. |
* Professors may not always check completed homework, but they
will assume you can perform the same tasks on tests. |
* Teachers remind you of your incomplete work. |
* Professors may not remind you of incomplete work. |
* Teachers approach you if they believe you need assistance. |
* Professors are usually open and helpful, but most expect you
to initiate contact if you need assistance. |
* Teachers are often available for conversation before, during,
or after class. |
* Professors expect and want you to attend their scheduled
office hours. |
* Teachers have been trained in teaching methods to assist in
imparting knowledge to students. |
* Professors have been trained as experts in their particular
areas of research. |
* Teachers provide you with information you missed when you were
absent. |
* Professors expect you to get from classmates any notes from
classes you missed. |
* Teachers present material to help you understand the material
in the textbook. |
* Professors may not follow the textbook. Instead, to amplify
the text, they may give illustrations, provide background
information, or discuss research about the topic you are studying.
Or they may expect you to relate the classes to the textbook
readings. |
* Teachers often write information on the board to be copied in
your notes. |
* Professors may lecture nonstop, expecting you to identify the
important points in your notes. When professors write on the board,
it may be to amplify the lecture, not to summarize it. Good notes
are a must. |
* Teachers impart knowledge and facts, sometimes drawing direct
connections and leading you through the thinking process. |
* Professors expect you to think about and synthesize seemingly
unrelated topics. |
* Teachers often take time to remind you of assignments and due
dates. |
* Professors expect you to read, save, and consult the course
syllabus (outline); the syllabus spells out exactly what is expected
of you, when it is due, and how you will be graded. |
* Teachers carefully monitor class attendance. |
* Professors may not formally take roll, but they are still
likely to know whether or not you attended. |
* Guiding principle: High school is a teaching environment in
which you acquire facts and skills. |
* Guiding principle: UNI is a learning environment in which
you take responsibility for thinking through and applying what you
have learned. |
 |
|
TESTS IN HIGH SCHOOL |
TESTS AT UNI |
 |
 |
 |
|
* Testing is frequent and covers small amounts of material. |
* Testing is usually infrequent and may be cumulative, covering
large amounts of material. You, not the professor, need to organize
the material to prepare for the test. A particular course may have
only 2 or 3 tests in a semester. |
* Makeup tests are often available. |
* Makeup tests are seldom an option; if they are, you need to
request them. |
* Teachers frequently rearrange test dates to avoid conflict
with school events. |
* Professors in different courses usually schedule tests without
regard to the demands of other courses or outside activities. |
* Teachers frequently conduct review sessions, pointing out the
most important concepts. |
* Professors rarely offer review sessions, and when they do,
they expect you to be an active participant, one who comes prepared
with questions. |
* Guiding principle: Mastery is usually seen as the ability
to reproduce what you were taught in the form in which it was
presented to you, or to solve the kinds of problems you were shown
how to solve. |
* Guiding principle: Mastery is often seen as the ability to
apply what you've learned to new situations or to solve new kinds of
problems. |
 |
|
GRADES IN HIGH SCHOOL |
GRADES AT UNI |
 |
 |
 |
|
* Grades are given for most assigned work. |
* Grades may not be provided for all assigned work. |
* Consistently good homework grades may raise your overall grade
when test grades are low. |
* Grades on tests and major papers usually provide most of the
course grade. |
* Extra credit projects are often available to help you raise
your grade. |
* Extra credit projects cannot, generally speaking, be used to
raise a grade in a UNI course. |
* Initial test grades, especially when they are low, may not
have an adverse effect on your final grade. |
* Watch out for your first tests. These are usually
"wake-up calls" to let you know what is expected--but they also may
account for a substantial part of your course grade. You may be
shocked when you get your grades. |
* You may graduate as long as you have passed all required
courses with a grade of D or higher. |
* You may graduate only if your average in classes meets the
departmental standard--typically a 2.0 or C. |
* Guiding principle: "Effort counts." Courses are usually
structured to reward a "good-faith effort." |
* Guiding principle: "Results count." Though "good-faith
effort" is important in regard to the professor's willingness to
help you achieve good results, it will not substitute
for results in the grading process. |