Academic Resources

“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet”

-Aristotle

Well Congrats! You’ve made it to Purdue University. Time to buckle up and prepare for a bumpy ride…

Different from High School

For the past twelve years you have pretty much been spoon-fed any information that you needed to learn. But now you have graduated, and it’s time for college. Boy are things about to change. Here are some big differences to watch for when you get to college:

**Material that your professor covers in college goes at a much greater pace then that in high school. They also expect you to go more in depth with the material, which you will likely have to do on your own time.

**Your grades in most of your classes are largely determined by your exams. There is little to no extra credit given at college, so that put more emphasis on how well you study.

**The kind of studying that you are used to probably involved you looking over notes or a study guide provided to you by your teacher. In college, your studying will greatly increase in time and change drastically with how you study.

**Tests in high school were usually fairly frequent and covered maybe a chapter or two of information. In college, the exams are few and scattered, meaning they are going to cover a much broader range of information.

**You have a sudden rush of freedom and responsibility when you get to college. No one is looking over your shoulder making sure you do your homework, or go to class for that matter. It is important that you keep on top of things, do not fall behind. If you are having trouble, go find help! No one is going to do it for you.

Here are some easy steps…

So where to start! There are many simple things you can do everyday to make sure that you are getting the most of your education.

**Time Management: You should seriously consider making a schedule of how you are going to be spending your time outside of classes. For starters, when you get your class schedule, sit down with it and mark times when you are going to do homework or study. You have never had a schedule with one, two, or three hour gaps in between classes, and it can be very easy to just go and relax during those breaks.

**Lectures/Notes: It is important to go to lecture. When you go, make sure to take good notes on what the professor is saying. Try and keep you notes organized and legible so when you need to go back through them, you can understand them. You should also try to do the reading for class before you go to lecture so when you are there, you can fill in any holes that you did not quite understand. These notes and your understanding will come in very handy around finals time.

**Studying/Exams: Most of the classes here have previous semester’s exams available to students. These are very good ways to see how the exams are structured and how in depth the material goes. Some professors post them online or you might have to go to the course’s resource room and photocopy them. Another good thing to do is review all your notes, and make sure you have been keeping up with the readings. Not everything on the exams was covered in lecture. Try making note cards for theorems, ideas, or formulas. You might also consider studying in a group so that you can all help each other with any questions you may have.

Still stuck? Try this…

If what you are doing on your own is just not working, there are places and people out there willing to help you succeed.

**TAs/Students: Your TA’s and your peers can also be valuable ways to get extra help. Large lectures are divided up into sections where you will have about 30 students to 1 TA. TA’s have office hours that you can go to and ask questions or they can help you in your recitation. Yes, most of them speak another language, but that’s part of the college experience! Also, there are quite a few other students in the same classes as you; odds are at least one of them will be able to fill in the holes where you are confused. Don’t hesitate to ask someone for help!

**Supplemental Instruction: This is available to all students. It is an ongoing weekly study session that is offered for some of the more difficult courses here at Purdue. The sessions cover courses in math, biology, chemistry, physics, and management. They also hold exam review sessions which can be a great way to get some extra studying in. Most of the people running the weekly sessions are students themselves that have gone through the class you are having trouble with, making them and excellent source of information and help. If you are interested, you can check out Supplemental Instruction’s website for session times and location.

**Tutors: If the group study sessions are not helping, you can always find a tutor to get that one on one attention. You can find a tutor for almost any course at Purdue on SSINFO. If you go to the SSINFO website and click on Academic and then Course Tutors, you can do a search for the class that you need help with. If you are anticipating having problems, I suggest finding a tutor early. Once the semester gets too far along, most of the tutors are full and do not have room for another student.

This may all seem very overwhelming, but you will be fine! There are many places out there willing to help you; now it is your responsibility to go find it!

Sources

Dr. Brown, Dr. Kitchin, and Dr. Robinson. “How to Study for a College Level Science Course”. University of Wyoming. August 2004. Internet. 11 April 2004. Available <http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/biology/Study%20Skills.htm>.

HOW TO GET AN A AT PURDUE . Videocassette. DOS, 1991.

”Supplemental Instruction”. Academic Success Center. August 2004. Internet. 9 April 2005. Available <http://www.cla.purdue.edu/asc/si/>.

Van Blerkom, Dianna L., College Study Skills: Becoming A Strategic Learner. Belmont: Wadsworth, 1994.

“Study”. Purdue University : Liberal Arts. August 2004. Internet. 16 April 2005. Available <http://www.sla.purdue.edu/slabo/images/study.jpeg>.