The Differences Between High School and Uni

High School When and where students learn Mostly formal study in class. Uni Lots of independent study outside the classroom.

Time management

Time is arranged and managed Time management is self-managed. for you.

Class hours

Set hours for class attendance. Depending on your course, contact hours Fixed timetable. can appear low. Flexible and varied timetable that you arrange yourself.

The amount of feedback students receive

Constant feedback on your progress.

Less frequent feedback.

Different kinds of information

Learning what is already known.

Critical and analytical thinking: extending and speculating on what is known.

Types of assignments

Limited forms of assessment.

Varied forms of assessment.

Amount of contact with teaching staff

Frequent access to teaching staff.

Less frequent access to academic staff.

Kinds of lessons

Face-to-face teaching. Mostly takes place in the classroom.

A range of different classes taught in different ways. Lectures, tutorials, computer-based or online learning, laboratory or field work, sit-down or takehome exams.

Class size

Limited class sizes.

Classes might be very large, especially in first year.

Flexibility

Set and co-ordinated program. Flexible and variable program. What is

What is learned in one subject tends to support things learned in another.

learned in different subjects can offer different, even conflicting views.

Opportunity for assessment

Years 11 and 12 build towards a single set of exams.

Continued assessment over three to five years. Building on knowledge.

What is expected from student work

Limited range of acceptable responses to assignments often indicated by teachers.

Broader range of acceptable responses to assignments. Students have more opportunity to offer their own analysis.

Diversity

Students are all the same age. May live in the same locality. Mostly Australian residents.

Students are from different socioeconomic, age and cultural groups. Lots of international students.

What is the difference between school teachers and uni lecturers?

A big difference between school and uni is the role of teaching staff
As their name suggests, school teachers tend to concentrate on educating students. They might spend a large part of their working day in the classroom engaging with students, and they are generally accessible during (and sometimes after) school hours. The many tasks they do outside the classroom - like preparing and planning lessons or marking work - are often focused around teaching and learning. But at uni, lecturers must do more than teach students. Teaching is only one of a broad range of responsibilities your lecturers have (see the list of what lecturers do in the right-hand column). So, if your lecturer is not in her or his office when you drop in, don't think they are avoiding you. Uni lecturers don't tell you everything you need to know. In lectures especially, their job is to provide the basic information/ knowledge that you need in order to discover things for yourself.

Independence

What does it mean to be 'independent' at university?

Uni requires more independence than high school

Being independent at uni means that you are responsible for managing your studies and your time. BUT 'independent' doesn't mean 'alone' Nobody 'does' uni all by themselves Being independent means knowing when to ask for assistance

A major difference between school and uni is the higher degree of independence expected from uni students. Being independent at uni means that you are responsible for your learning. Uni allows you far more control over your work than school. However, Uni also offers far less supervision. In high school, teacher-centred learning is common. You might be used to teachers reminding you when work is due, letting you know what to study and how to achieve good marks. University learning aims to be student-focused: an approach that requires you to learn independently, plan your workload, meet deadlines and organise your time. This level of self-managment can be a challenge. Some students thrive, others find it difficult to adjust at first.

Being Independent
'Independent' doesn't mean that you have to tackle everything 'on your own' or 'alone'. As a uni student, it is helpful to think of independence in a different way. Independent learning doesn't mean 'learning alone'; it means 'to be in charge' of your learning. After all, the primary meaning of the word is 'self-governing'. We live in a society that places a high value on independence. It is deemed bad to rely too much on other people. But working with others or seeking support and advice doesn't indicate dependency! No one at uni does it all by themselves. If they say they did, they are probably overlooking those that helped them.

Meeting Other Students & Having a Social Life

Successful study, making friends and forming social networks often go hand-in-hand. Students that have a good social life and a solid on-campus network often find academic work easier to accomplish.
While uni is hard work, you're allowed to have fun; if you're not happy socially how can you do all the assignments you will be expected to complete? If you're a school-leaver, you're coming to uni from an environment (high school) where you were thrown together with other people with whom you spent 15 or 20 hours per week. At uni you may only have class contact for an hour and then everyone will disappear. So it is really up to you to make connections with other people: it is worth the effort. If you're a non-school leaver, you may not spend a great deal of time on campus. If you're juggling other commitments, it's easy to decide you don't have the 'free-time' required to make friends, and that you're just at uni to work. Howevermeeting other students is not a luxury, it's a necessity.

Study Networking
Establishing a good social network is crucial to success at uni. Making friends not only contributes to your general well-being, it helps you become a more successful student. It's also vital to establish contacts with student colleagues and participate in formal or informal 'study groups'. Apart from the enjoyable social aspects of meeting people, it's important to cultivate a group of people with whom you can:

discuss the work covered in lectures, tutorials and pracs, discuss concepts and ideas in your courses, exchange advice and nut out problems, collaborate on study tasks, share references and research, borrow and exchange lecture notes, especially if you miss a class.

Student colleagues can also be an important source of support if you experience problems with your studies and need extra help, be it resources or reassurance.

Making Friends
Many lasting friendships are made at uni. The important word here is 'made'. It's a common misconception that making friends at uni will be easy. But establishing friendship networks can be difficult at first. Great friendships don't just happen - you need to look for opportunities to get to know other students.

Meeting People
In your classes

The first few weeks are the best time to meet other people in your courses. Exchange phone numbers or email addresses with at least one student in each of your tutorials.

You'll meet lots of other students in your seminars. Small groups like this give you a chance to get to know other students. Say hi and introduce yourself to the person sitting next to you in your lectures and tutorials. Greet people that you recognise from your classes when you see them around campus.

Leaving highschool and entering university is a big adjustment for the students. Lots of difficulties can be caused if they are not awares of the differences to prepare for the changes in attitudes and behaviors. In my opinion, therere three mains issues that the

students should pay attetion to: time management, ways of studying and the change in class-size Getting into the university, students first have to deal with the problem of time management. In high school, the schedule is made for you: the subjects are chosen and the time is arranged for each class so you dont have to worry about the matter of where and when to learn. But now, being a student of an university, it becomes more complicated as you have to make your own schedule. By comparing the importance and the interesting of the subjects, you pick your classes and your tutors. Thiss not only the problem of choosing what to learn but also how to spend time logically so that you can have more freetime to have a part-time job or take part in some clubs of your university. The better you make your time-table, the more effective you study. However having a reasonable schedule is essential, to be successful at university, youd better change the way of learning to adapt to the brand-new environment. Back to the high school time, class attendance is needed and closely monitored by the teacher which also means that you have to go to school no matter its useful for you or not in order to have a high grade and avoid punishment from your school. Things get different when youre in university. The attendance policies differ with the teacher. Certain teacher check attendance to take it in grading, when others neglect it. On the other hand, when the types of assignments are limited at high school, in university, the variety of assessment forms can For lots of students, class-size is the biggest change when taking a big step from high school to university. High school students are familiar with the limited class sizes which often range from 30 to 60 boys and girls who are often at the same age and live in the same locality. On the contrary, a class of university consists of a large number of students from different socioeconomic, age and cultural groups or even from other countries. However, successful study, making friends and forming social networks often go handin-hand so students who have a good social life and a solid on-campus network often find academic work easier to accomplish, many students have difficulties making friends at university because of the differences between them. Trying to find the similarities between you and your friends may be a good solution for this trouble. Networking is an important skill that can be archieved in university.