Faculty members and students gave tips to first-year students at First Year Experiences' INside Scoop event to guide them to getting the most out of their four years at IU.
Time management
Students in the crowd wanted to know the most about time management. For the first time, freshman students no longer have a parent or teacher reminding them of all the things they have to get done.
David Groth, vice provost for undergraduate education, broke down the numbers. There are 168 hours in the week, take away eight hours for sleep and fifteen hours for classes and you are left with 112 hours. Whether that is work, studying or clubs is up to the student.
Education as a conversation instead of transaction
Students know college is an expensive investment. Because of this, students are led to think of college as a transaction. They give the University time and money and in return receive knowledge and skills, said Robert Terrill, director of rhetoric, writing, and communication.
Terrill said he urges students to instead think of it as a conversation.
“Professors are trying to have a conversation with you,” Terrill said. “The best, most successful students I’ve had push back and question things.”.
Conversation leads to understanding. A valuable skill that can be gained from a student’s IU experience is the ability to understand points of view that are new or unfamiliar, Terrill said.
“Your job as a student is to understand. You don’t have to believe,” Terrill said.
Use your resources and take smart notes
IU has many extensive resources in place for students. Librarians can help with research. Career and academic advising is available. It is all there for students, Groth said.
“Resources are there to help you achieve your mission,” Groth said.
Junior nursing student Wensy Chan is an international student from China. She talked to the students about her struggles with communication. When Chan arrived at IU, she struggled with the language barrier.
She would cry in frustration realizing she didn’t fully understand her professors or that people did not understand her.
She was surprised and excited when she had a professor who was willing to spend a half hour every week to help her with the class. Her professors would send her the lecture notes after class.
Both Terrill and Groth strongly advocated going to class. Terrill also said students should read the syllabus thoroughly.
“If you read the syllabus carefully before classes start, you’ll already be ahead of three quarters of people in the class,” Terrill said.
Terrill also gave some useful tips for note taking. He told students to try to ignore the urge to just write down what was on the slides and to also write notes in the margins.
He advised to make a note to the side if something was intriguing or confusing. It's like having a conversation with the lecture, he said, which would help with understanding and memorization.
A student's academic experience at IU is what they make it to be, Director of First Year Experiences Jack Rhodes closed the event with a question.
“What do you want your IU story to be?” Rhodes said.
