One would think that a classroom would be the one place that doesn’t hold any surprises for college students. However, it’s an environment that is still not entirely without a few twists and turns and, in my opinion, more so for international students than those native to the US.
In the past year that I have been a graduate student at the University of Michigan, the one thing about classroom environments that has struck me is how much they shift. At U-M, classes aren’t always straightforward lectures. We have discussions, seminars, recitations and independent study with instructors, and all of these are class formats which are very different from each other. You may have encountered some of them when registering for classes. We will also discuss class formats further in our Summer Orientation Workshop: Cultural Differences in the Classroom.
The differences in class formats are obvious in the way the class interacts. In small groups, often student interaction is highly discursive. In larger classes or lectures, students may interact directly with the instructor more formally. One similarity though is that interaction is always encouraged. Sometimes, it means I have to raise my hand and call attention to myself in a class of about a hundred students. Sometimes, it means taking advantage of a lull in discussion to ask a question or make a point of which even I am not sure. Sometimes, it means just taking charge and trying to break the ice in a timed group activity with people I don’t know. The latter was perhaps most jarring for me.
For each of us, it may be something different that pushes us out of our comfort zone but what you must do, is move with that push. Maybe it seems disrespectful to you to interrupt a teacher; maybe you’re unsure you are following the discussion correctly; maybe your thought process took you in an entirely different direction than what everyone is commenting on; maybe your accent seems too pronounced and people ask you to repeat yourself. I’ve been in all these situations and I’ve found that just talking to professors outside of class helps immensely. I attended office hours, emailed my instructors, stuck around after class to clarify anything I was unsure of directly. The result was that the one-on-one interaction helped me understand their teaching methods better and made them seem less intimidating.
The unexpected differences aren’t always in behavior though. For instance, I had never used cheat sheets before either. We have open book tests in my home country of Pakistan but never for any test that would have a large impact on our grade. The first time they were allowed in a midterm here, I completely missed the announcement so I went without for that test. I was better prepared next time. For anyone who doesn’t know, they are a page of notes you prepare for yourself that can be as crammed as you like and that you can keep with you during the test. On another occasion, I had a test early in the morning and as I was preparing, I was struck with the idea that we might need to have our own answer sheets. I googled the question and somehow arrived at the mistaken answer, “Yes!” The bookshops weren’t to open till 9 in the morning and my test was at 8:30 in the morning. So of course, I panicked. It wasn’t until I got to class ten minutes early and asked one of my classmates about it that I calmed down.
Instances like these happen to all of us. When we are in an unfamiliar environment, there are bound to be a few surprises. What matters is that we learn to roll with them as they come. Just remember that you aren’t the first or the last in such situations. All we really need to do is look for a little help and with the sheer diversity of the student and faculty population here, it’s always there around us.
Written by Hina Aftab Khan
International Center Summer Orientation Peer Adviser
Graduate Student
Pakistan
In the past year that I have been a graduate student at the University of Michigan, the one thing about classroom environments that has struck me is how much they shift. At U-M, classes aren’t always straightforward lectures. We have discussions, seminars, recitations and independent study with instructors, and all of these are class formats which are very different from each other. You may have encountered some of them when registering for classes. We will also discuss class formats further in our Summer Orientation Workshop: Cultural Differences in the Classroom.
The differences in class formats are obvious in the way the class interacts. In small groups, often student interaction is highly discursive. In larger classes or lectures, students may interact directly with the instructor more formally. One similarity though is that interaction is always encouraged. Sometimes, it means I have to raise my hand and call attention to myself in a class of about a hundred students. Sometimes, it means taking advantage of a lull in discussion to ask a question or make a point of which even I am not sure. Sometimes, it means just taking charge and trying to break the ice in a timed group activity with people I don’t know. The latter was perhaps most jarring for me.
 |
| School of Information classroom in North Quad, © 2017 Regents of the University of Michigan. |
The unexpected differences aren’t always in behavior though. For instance, I had never used cheat sheets before either. We have open book tests in my home country of Pakistan but never for any test that would have a large impact on our grade. The first time they were allowed in a midterm here, I completely missed the announcement so I went without for that test. I was better prepared next time. For anyone who doesn’t know, they are a page of notes you prepare for yourself that can be as crammed as you like and that you can keep with you during the test. On another occasion, I had a test early in the morning and as I was preparing, I was struck with the idea that we might need to have our own answer sheets. I googled the question and somehow arrived at the mistaken answer, “Yes!” The bookshops weren’t to open till 9 in the morning and my test was at 8:30 in the morning. So of course, I panicked. It wasn’t until I got to class ten minutes early and asked one of my classmates about it that I calmed down.
Instances like these happen to all of us. When we are in an unfamiliar environment, there are bound to be a few surprises. What matters is that we learn to roll with them as they come. Just remember that you aren’t the first or the last in such situations. All we really need to do is look for a little help and with the sheer diversity of the student and faculty population here, it’s always there around us.
Written by Hina Aftab Khan
International Center Summer Orientation Peer Adviser
Graduate Student
Pakistan
I like your advice:
ReplyDelete“… talking to professors outside of class helps immensely. I attended office hours, emailed my instructors, stuck around after class to clarify anything I was unsure of directly.”
I did use similar strategies which even provided me a range of extra benefits like professors’ offering me free book, and learn all about my interest and their works, passing a good report to my advisors, and getting great recommendation letters.
In any case, thanks for articulating the strategy. Professors really love one-on-one conversation and I can’t recommend enough students to that same as early as the semester starts, even if they don’t have a particular question.
Thanks Hina!