Fall 2020 College Survival Guide
Fall 2020 is going to be difficult. Difficult for students. Difficult for parents. Difficult for faculty. Difficult for administrators. These difficulties will not go away if students return to campus nor will they vanish if students wind up doing all their learning online. Here are some suggestions for students (and their parents) to help them survive and even thrive as university classes resume this Fall.
Anticipate Disruptions
If you are starting the semester with in-person classes, chances are good that it won’t end that way. Similar to last Spring when classes quickly shifting to online learning in late March, students and their parents should brace for an evolving situation that untimely ends up in front of a computer for most classes. It’s hard to plan for uncertainty, but what we do know is that there is a potentially deadly and highly contagious virus running loose around the world with the United States among the worst-hit nations. The design and flow of colleges unequivocally foster the spread of COVD-19. Unless all students and faculty engage in classes outside (with masks, at a distance) there will be more outbreaks, closures of schools, and pivots from in-person or hybrid classes, to exclusively online learning. Don’t be afraid to ask for refunds for housing. Don’t hesitate to demand that classes be taught synchronously or have major synchronous components (“synchronous” in this context means that everyone in the class is online at the same time allowing for organic conversations and answers to questions within the flow of learning). Asynchronous classes are more flexible but much duller, don’t allow for the same level of student engagement, and don’t seem to foster the same sense of community that synchronous classes do.
Participate in Classes
Participation in classes is something students probably know they ought to do. But very few (~15%) actually do so except at the very top schools (e.g., Cambridge or Yale). Participation is the most routinely undervalued and overlooked behavior that students can engage in to boost their grades, improve class enjoyment, build rapport with faculty, bolster comprehension of the material, and cultivate a sense of community. Participation matters even more online where there are fewer and more impoverished opportunities to get the professors’ attention, gain some clarity on difficult issues, or simply stay awake and attentive during a virtual class.
Go to (Virtual) Office Hours
Office hours are required of faculty. Few students even show up. Those that regularly drop by office hours are almost always “A” students (it's unclear if they are “A” students because they go to office hours or if they go to office hours because they are “A” students. It’s probably a mixture of both). In large classes, office hours are carried out by teaching assistants who very much want to help you. Office hours also help to demonstrate to those who will be grading your work that you care about the class — this may prove very helpful later in the semester, especially when final grades are submitted.
Take Advantage of Support Services
For many years now colleges and universities have been spending millions on programs and offices to help students succeed. Use these services. Go to the writing center (well before your paper is due). Check-in with the career center and have them look at your resume. Take free tutorials on time management. Ask the librarian to help you research something. Go to the math, language, or other tutoring centers to get a little guidance. Make your use of these services routinely.
Make a Schedule and Stick to It
If and when classes go online, you will need to develop a daily routine and stick to it for the best results. When we go fully online, students will no longer waste any time commuting or getting around campus. As a student, your workday may be as short as 3-hours long and should be no longer than 6, maybe 7. Keep to a schedule to make sure everything gets done so that you have plenty of time to do the things you want to do outside of academics. One of the biggest problems that beset freshmen students is a misuse of time when given new responsibilities and freedoms of college or university. Keeping to a schedule will give you more time, not less. Master your use of time before time masters you.
Recognize the Differences Between College and High School
Both college and high school have teachers, other students, big buildings, sports teams, and classrooms with desks. Freshmen year is simply 13th grade, right? Wrong. College and university faculty — the people who teach and grade students — are not the same as high school teachers. The main job of college faculty is usually research, not teaching. The culture of higher education, while appearing similar contexts students might know, is radically different from the outside culture, including high school culture. College faculty don’t live in a different world, but they do have different worldviews, values, and expectations. Learn about academic culture in order to play the academic game well.
For more on how to get the most out of the college classroom (online or off), check out www.habitusedu.com
