MAKING THE MOST OF COLLEGE
By
Richard J. Light
Student success
1. Learning
outside of classes is vital.
2. Students
learn significantly more in courses that are highly structured.
3. Students
value collaborative homework.
4. Close
contact with faculty that act as mentors, whether in a mentored internship,
small class, or research experience, is fundamental.
5. The
impact of racial and ethnic diversity is strong and highly positive, but
general campus atmosphere and residential arrangements are crucial.
6. Students
include activities with faculty members and other fellow students, focused
around accomplishing substantive academic work.
7. Students
value good writing and suggestions to improve it.
8. Particular
activities outside the classroom profoundly affect students’ academic
performance.
9. Student
value courses in foreign languages and literatures.
Time management
Students
that manage time well are those who work on it so that they can find time to be
happy outside class time and effective in academic work.
How
to balance academic and other activities?
Get
involved in depth in at least one activity other than courses. A substantial
commitment to one or two activities other than course work –for as much as 20 hours
per week- has little or no relationship to grades. But such commitments do have
a strong relationship to overall satisfaction with college life. More
involvement is strongly correlated with higher satisfaction.
There
is no significant correlation between part-time work, extracurricular
activities, volunteer work and grades. The only exception is intercollegiate
athletics. Student athletes have lower grades that non-athletes. But student
athletes are among the happiest on campus.
Many
extracurricular activities help students develop insights that transfer to
academic work.
Getting help when needed
You
have to ask for help if you need it. No one can read minds on campus.
Symptoms
of problems
1) Distressingly
low grades.
2) Isolation
from the rest of the college community.
3) Unwillingness
to seek help.
Reasons
for academic problems:
1) Poor
time management, particularly not enough long stretches of time to engage in
studying.
2) Many
students continue to organize their work in college the same way they did in
high school. They have difficulty developing new academic skills, particularly
critical thinking (the ability to synthesize arguments and evidence from
multiple competing sources).
3) Course
selection. Typical steps: (i) get all the requirements out of the way; (ii)
choose a major; (iii) take advance courses in the major; (iv) save electives
–the good stuff- for junior and senior years.
4) Study
alone.
The
most effective classes
1) Small
classes, seminars, and reading courses.
2) Collaborative
homework assignments.
3) Courses
that emphasize writing.
1) Background,
goal's at college, study plan.
2) Important
task: to get to know one faculty member reasonably well every semester and also
to get that faculty member to get to know you reasonably well.
3) Think
of the relationship between your academic work and your personal life.
4) Interact
with advisor about the big picture and big ideas, e.g., the reasons why you
want to pursue graduate studies.
5) Keep
a personal time log.
6) Work
in a one-to-one mentored research project with a faculty supervisor.
7) Get
involved in outside-of-class group activities.
1) Teach
precision in the use of language
2) Share
intellectual responsibility.
3) Connect
academic ideas with students' lives.
4) Engage
students in large classes.
5) Teach
students to think like professionals.
6) Encourage
students to disagree with the professor and let students figure out things for
themselves.
7) Teach
the use of evidence.
8) Don't
be predictable.
9) Integrate
ideas from other disciplines.
Build
a sense of community or shared value.