| Personal Freedom in High School | Personal Freedom in College |
|---|
| High school is mandatory and free (unless you choose other options) |
College is voluntary and expensive. |
| Your time is usually structured by others. |
You manage your own time. |
| You need permission to participate in extracurricular activities. |
You must decide whether to participate in extracurricular activities (choose wisely in the first semester and then add later). |
| You need money for special purchases or events. |
You need money to meet basic necessities. |
| You can count on parents and teachers to remind you of you responsibilities and to guide you in setting priorities. |
Guiding principle: You're old enough to responsibility for you actions and the consequences of your decisions. |
| High School Teachers | College Professors |
|---|
| Teachers check you completed homework. |
Professors may not check completed homework, but assume you can perform the same tasks on tests. |
| Teachers remind you of your incomplete work. |
Professors may not remind you of missing assignments. |
| Teachers approach you if they believe you need assistance. |
Profressors are usually open and helpful, but most expect you to initiate contact if you need assistance. |
| Teachers are often available for conversation before, during, and after class. |
Professors may only be available during their posted office hours. |
| Teachers have been trained in teaching methods that assist in imparting knowledge to students. |
Professors are experts in their particular areas of research. |
| Teachers present material to help you understand the material in the textbook. |
Professors may not follow the textbook. Instead, to amplify the text, they may give illustrations, provide background information, or discuss research about the topic and expect you to relate the class material to the text. |
| Teachers often write information on the board to be copied in your notes. |
Professors can lecture nonstop and expect you to identify the important points for your notes. Good note taking is a must. |
| Teachers impart knowledge and facts, draw direct connectoins and help you throughout the learning process. |
Professors expect you to think about and synthesize seemingly unrelated topics. |
| Teacher often take time to remind you of assignments and due dates. |
Professors expect you to read, save, and consult the course syllabus; often the syllabus identifies what is expected of you, due dates, and grading method. |
| Tests in High School | Tests in College |
|---|
| Testing is frequent and covers small amounts of material. |
Testing is infrequent and can be cumulative, covering large amounts of material. You, not the professor, organize your preping material. |
| Makeup tests are often available. |
Makeup tests are rarely an option. |
| Teachers frequently rearrange test dates to avoid conflict with school events. |
Professors usually schedule tests without regard to the demands of other courses and/or outside activities. |
| Teacher frequently conduct review session and point out the most important concepts. |
Professors rarely offer review sessions, and if they do, they expect you to actively participate and come prepared with questions. |
| Mastery is usually seen as the ability to reproduce what you were taught in the form in which it was presented to you, or solve the kinds of problems previously demonstrated. |
Mastery is often seen as the ability to apply what you've learned to new situations or new problems. |
| Grades in High School | Grades in College |
|---|
| Grades are given for most assigned work. |
Grades may not be provided on all assigned work. |
| Consistently good homework grades may help raise your overall grade when test grades are low. |
Grades on tests and major papers usually provide most of the course grade. |
| Initial test grades, especially when they are low, may not have an adverse effect on your final grade. |
Watch out for your first test. These are usually "wake-up calls" to let you know what is expected--but they also may account for a substantial part of your course grade. You may be shocked when you get your grades. |
| You may graduate as long as you have passed all required courses with a grade a D or higher. |
You may graduate only if your average in classes meets the departmental standard--typically a 2.0 or C. |
| Guiding Principle: "Effort counts". Courses are usually structured to reward a good faith effot. |
Guiding Principle: "Results count". Though hard work is important to the professor's willingness to help, it will not substitute for results in the grading process. |