Labs, lectures, help sessions

What is it like to go to your classes and labs?

Lectures:

This is the part where you sit in a desk and take notes. Lecures aren't like high school classes since there will probably be over one hundred people in your classroom. You probably don't need to bring your texts to class. The teacher will talk, show movies, oveheads, slides, and give demonstrations to the class and it's your job to understand and record the information. Sometimes the teacher will hand out sheets, but not very frequently. Of course, show up to your lectures. If you don't go, what's the point of being a student? If you want to read the texts and not go to class, buy the texts and read them yourself or do correspondance.

You will probably not want to bring a binder to class since you don't get a real desk to sit in (usually). Bring a clipboard or a coiled notebook. Write the date of the lecture on each page. If you want to transfer the lecture information to a binder, include the hand-outs, syllabus, and assignments (this is a good idea). If you have to miss a class, find someone who was there and copy their notes.

Labs:

If you're in science, you will do labs. These are sessions with a TA (teaching assistant) who guides a group of about twenty students. The labs help reinforce the important lecture material and teach basic skills that are necessary later in your degree program. Lab basics include a lab coat and lab glasses. In some universities, your prescription glasses will substitute lab glasses. Make sure to find out. Don't wear contacts. You can buy any lab materials at the universities book stores or specific "department" stores at the university (pun not intended).

Although nobody cares if you miss a lecture, you will be heavily penalised if you miss a lab. Not only do your learn more information, but you will be tested on what is covered in the lab and you will have to hand in several write-ups. If you miss the lab, you are responsible for what you missed. You may be able to schedule a make-up lab, but don't count on it. There is usually a final lab exam for each lab, but these do not tend to be practical exams.

The TA is similar to a high school teacher. S/he is there to aid students on a one-to one basis, so ask questions. Sometimes, you may have difficulties with TA's. Some have little enthusiasm for being a TA and some are very difficult to talk to. If you can't talk to your TA, go to help sessions.

Do not plagerize your lab reports!

If you are in arts, you will not have labs, but you will have to write essays on your own time. Again, do not plagerize and see your TA regularly!

Help Sesions:

One or several TA's will be asigned to act as student helpers in a particular room and at a particular time. Find out when and where these take place and use them if you need to. Unofrtunately, it is difficult to tell whether you will be the only person there or whether you will have to stand in line for an hour. If you're not sure, go as early as possible. If you encounter problems with the TA's in these sessions, go to your professor for help or go to another help session. Sometimes university life just isn't fair!

Do I need a computer??

You will have to write up your essays, labs and assignments somehow. Some labs (usually chemistry) just require hand-written reports but other labs have required typed discussions and tables (usually biology). Furthermore, all essays must be done on some sort of word processor. Assignments may or may not require typing, depending on the class (i.e. math probably won't requir typing). So the main question is: Can you get access to a computer? There are several ways to do this:

You own your own computer. If this is true, make sure it has a decent word processing program and is reliable. However, the drawback is the expense!

A parent, relative, or close friend has a computer that you are free to use. If this is the case, you will be somewhat limited in your access to the computer, especially if this person lives far away. If you know that person well enough to make sure that they will let you use the computer nearly any time, than it's probably okay. Ensure the you are familiar with the computer and the programs on it!

There are computers in your residence. Well, this is alright. The computers are right there for you to use, but there may be a bit of a wait to use one. The other side to this is that you will only have a certain amount of time before you must give up your computer (at the U of A its 2 hours). You will have more access to help if you need it, but I can tell you now don't count on it since the computer staff at the university are quite busy! Another drawback is that all the computers at the university will run the same prgrams so you will have to learn them. You maybe stuck using a program that is older or newer than what you're used to! The university should have both Mac and IBM labs, but do check!

You don't have direct access to any computer but there are computers at the university. Hah! Expect to use them at 8:00 in the morning, then! The computer labs at the university will be so busy that you're unlikely to get on a computer any time between 10:00 and 3:00. Furthermore, many or all of the computer labs will also have classes in them at certain times and will be unavailable for general use. Put plainly, I wouldn't rely on the university computers in any way since any problems become YOUR problems! If you live in residence, try to use the computers there. If you live at home, use your parents computer. If you live off-residence on your own, then find a computer that you can borrow, occasionally use, or purchase!

Do I need internet access?

It's not required at most universities (YET), but its a tremendous help. Many courses now post the syllabi and outlines on the internet so you can look at them to aid your notes (these DO NOT replace noes!) Furthermore, you can do research for your paper topics on the internet. One of my essays (a report on the use of magic in the anime Sailor Moon) relied extensively on internet sources. Another paper about civil disobedience cited an on-line biography of Mohondas Ghandi. The main trick is to make sure the sources you are using are academic and not opinion-originated! You will also find on-line help like that seen here and the other college/university survival pages that I have links to!

Internet access! The university may provide it, but you can count on it being slow! Some people I know have tried over a hundred times to get on the internet through university servers and been rejected since it is so busy. Again, there may be a time limit. IF you live in a dorm, you MAY have a direct connection to the internet (just linke a cable modem!) and there will be no time limit since you are not using phone lines. A friend of Dan's (HI JADE!) lived at a university dorm and had a 24 hour direct line to the internet! As for commercial providers, I would reccommend them if a) you can get a student discount and b) you are getting a really good connection. Price estimate: don't go above $20.00 a month (after student discount).

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