How to Succeed At University--International Edition. Danton O'Day

Чтение книги онлайн.

      It is important to keep in mind, however, that neither high school grades, standardized test scores or other admissions criteria are perfect predictors of postsecondary success even though they can determine whether acceptance to the institution is granted. As mentioned before, many students who did comparatively poorly in high school thrive in the less structured learning environment provided at university. In some cases those who have excelled in high school can fail for similar reasons.

      A Word about Grading Systems

      The grading system varies from university to university. Percentages, letter grades, and/or point scales are common evaluation measures. The prevalence of each system depends on the country. Some universities use a complicated grade point system in addition to percentage and letter grades One example involves converting the percentage or letter grade to a 4.0-point scale, as shown in Table 2.1 for the University of Toronto. The grade point ranges used vary between universities, with some calculating grades on 4.33-point, 12-point or other scales.

      Since this is of little concern to you at this stage and since the grading system varies so much between institutions, it will not be discussed further. We would like to make a comment about grade points, however. Converting a 100% scale to a 4.0 or other scale with 0.3 or similar gradations (as is done in the system in Table 2.1) homogenizes the marks and distils them to a smaller number, putting students into groups. At the University of Toronto a student who gets 85% is given the same grade as one with 100%, completely destroying the concept of excellence. What’s more, depending on where you fall one percentage point of real marks can be quite significant. A 1% difference can mean either a 0.3 or a 0.4 difference in value (which actually represent 7.5% and 10% differences in grade point value, respectively). Similarly, a student with 80% gets only 0.3 less than a student who gets perfect! This becomes even more ridiculous when different universities then have to recalculate your university’s grade point into their own which further fudges the grade. There are numerous other inequities to the system but the point has been made: all universities should use the full 100% scale because it is fairest to students.

      Lectures

      By definition a lecture is a formal discourse before an audience. Not all lectures acknowledge this definition. The lectures you see and hear will be as diverse as the people who deliver them. They will involve sights, sounds and sometimes touch and smell. They will be exciting and they will be boring. “So what’s new,” you might ask, “I’ve been through all of this at high school!”

      Well, there are a lot of differences. First, in your beginning year you will be a member of a large community (first-year students are also called freshers, freshmen or frosh). Many of your classes will contain hundreds of other students in lecture halls as vast as the Carlsbad Caverns. (This may not be true of the smaller universities—at least in some disciplines—but it will probably be true in general since the majority of students go to large universities.) It is only in the later years, as the surviving student numbers dwindle, that you will be in lectures with a reasonable student population. The reduced class size will also influence lecture content. Upper-year classes will often be more interactive, with a greater focus on active learning strategies such as class discussions and student presentations.

      Lecture format will vary dramatically from subject to subject. Sometimes the lecturer will talk at you for the entire lecture and continue this for every lecture for the duration of the academic year. Sometimes the sessions will consist of watching pre-recorded lectures, especially in very large classes that have many different sections (the same lectures offered at different times). This saves the lecturer having to repeat the same lecture to several different classes. Recorded lectures may also be made available for viewing online. Sometimes the class will be team-taught—several lecturers will share the teaching of the material with each talking on his or her area of expertise. The lecturer may be an extremely organized and well-prepared speaker or the lecturer may be disorganized and simply ramble on for the lecture period. You will be exposed to a wide range of knowledgeable people with varying abilities and methods to communicate that knowledge. Regardless, you will have a tapestry of experiences that will affect your life and your beliefs for as long as you are here to enjoy them.

      Labs and Tutorials

      Many subjects will have laboratory practicals and tutorial sessions in addition to lectures. In general, labs and tutorials will have many sections offered at different days and times and you will be given a choice of which to attend. The class size will also be smaller as a result.

      Did You Know?

      In some science subjects you may be given a choice whether to take just the lecture portion of the class (with reduced credits) or both the lecture and laboratory sections. However, enrolling in the laboratory portion of a class concurrently with the lecture section appears to enhance learning outcomes. A study found that introductory chemistry students enrolled in both lecture and laboratory sections obtained higher grades and were less likely to withdraw from the class compared to students who only took the lecture section.⁷