As students transition from high school to college they often struggle to take responsibility for their own education and in particular to understand the amount of study time required outside of the classroom.
City Tech’s First Year Programs developed this graphic to emphasize that College Happens in Many Places:
You can empower students to take responsibility for their learning with pointers from The Companion for the First Year at City Tech — a valuable resource that offers advice about navigating the first year:
- Section 2-D explains that for every hour spent in class, students should spend another two hours outside of class completing the work for that course.
- Section 2-A encourages students to track what they need to do during the average week. They can use the provided grid to develop a schedule, including time spent in class, at the library, in the Writing Center, at tutoring, in an undergraduate research project, etc., as well as at work and other responsibilities outside of school. This is often an eye-opener for new students!
If you are teaching a class with many first-year students, consider one or more short activities to help students learn to manage their time and learning. These low-stakes activities and sharing can also foster ongoing community and participation in the classroom:
- Students review and annotate the course syllabus to understand the course’s expectations, including expectations for work outside of class and the attendance policy.
- Students plan their weekly schedule to include due dates from the course syllabus, incremental work they need to do to meet those due dates; appointments they have with tutors and the Writing Center, etc.
- Students share ideas about places on campus to study, such as quiet spaces on the library’s 5th floor, or group study rooms, computer labs, and student lounges.
- Students share ideas about places off campus to study, including other CUNY college libraries, public libraries, local coffee shops, etc.
- Students compile a list of links to these resources, such as the library’s Student Services, the Writing Center’s OpenLab site, and the college’s page of undergraduate research programs.
Consider showing the “Mastering Your Time: Strategies for the First Year” slides and/or posting to your course site.
Photo credit: “‘Things That Should Be on My To-Do List,’ 2011-2013. Artist: Leslie Roberts.” by m kasahara via Flickr under the license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
