Skip to content | Change text size
 

Information for School-leaver Students

School and university study: similarities and differences

Studying at university is in some ways similar, but also quite different, to the study you have done at school. Adjusting to the expectations of your lecturers and tutors can be demanding at first but once you have a basic understanding of what to do you will feel more at ease. An excellent way to achieve two goals, that of developing a friendship network and establishing a learning community, is to get together with other students from each of the subjects that you are studying after lectures and/or tutorials to discuss your understanding of the material covered. Learning communities, which are effectively small 'study groups', enable students to:

  • establish friendship networks quickly (especially at first-year);
  • feel more comfortable with the subject matter through discussion to ascertain the 'big ideas', i.e., the key concepts;
  • confer on assigned texts and assessment tasks to clarify and enhance understanding;
  • analyse subject matter in a non-threatening and risk-taking environment;
  • act as 'critical friends' by providing feedback on each others' work (prior to submission);
  • increase the ease of obtaining and sharing scant resources, e.g., books, videos, etc. through collaboration;
  • be more thoroughly prepared for essay writing and revise collectively for tests/examinations;
  • offer assistance, guidance, encouragement and emotional support to one another; and
  • increase persistence (to stay at university) through the camaraderie established with other group members.

It is crucial that you do this immediately as the university semester lasts for only thirteen weeks!

By the end of the thirteen-week period you need to have proven to your tutor that you have a firm grasp of the subject you have been studying. At the beginning of your first-year at university this will be a considerable undertaking, especially if you have taken some time to adjust to the changed learning and teaching environment in which you now find yourself.

STUDYING AT SCHOOL

STUDYING AT UNIVERSITY

Attendance at school

Attendance at university
Daily and individual class attendance is closely monitored by the classroom teacher, form teacher and year level coordinator. The monitoring of attendance at lectures is difficult, however, tutorials have an 80% minimum attendance requirement. Some students fail despite the quality of their work because they fail to meet this requirement.
Parental support can be sought, and/or disciplinary measures can be implemented to deal with poor attendance. The issue of attendance is left to the individual student's discretion - it is your responsibility to meet the 80% minimum attendance requirement.

Attendance is consistent for most students.

Attendance can drop off if time management is an issue and the work piles up.

Course content and skill development at school

Course content and skill development at university
The prime responsibility of teachers is to 'teach'. Lecturers are encouraged to undertake research as their prime responsibility; students are expected to undertake responsibility for their own learning (this is called 'independent learning')
Depth of analysis may be limited. Depth of analysis can be extensive by experts in the field.

Delivery modes and their implications at school

Delivery modes and their implications at university
Students have regular, scheduled lessons in the classroom context.

Students have regular, scheduled lectures and tutorials, seminars, demonstrations and/or practicals.
Each teacher is responsible for a class of up to thirty students. Lecturers may 'teach' hundreds of students in a single session; tutors have groups that range from ten to forty students.
The same teacher will teach the class throughout the year. Several lecturers may lecture to the subject cohort throughout the semester; the tutor will remain constant.
The teacher will teach the class several times during the course of the week. Some lecturers may only see the subject cohort once during the course of the semester; tutors see their students on a weekly basis.
Teachers are able to observe easily any changes in relation to the level of development and achievement in students' work over the course of the year due to greater contact and assessment of more work. Tutors are seldom able to appreciate changes in relation to the level of development and achievement in students' work because they have limited contact with students and see few examples of student work in a semester.
The teacher invests considerable time in her/his students, therefore is interested in their progress. Lecturers rarely know individual students of large cohorts; tutors have limited contact with students.
VCE students are generally taught by highly experienced teachers. First-year students may be taught by tutors who are postgraduate students with little interest and experience in teaching.
Students are more confident in conferring with teachers because they are well known to them. Students are less confident in seeking out tutors for assistance.
Students are usually prepared to engage in active risk-taking when expressing their views in a familiar and safe environment. Students are less likely to express their views in an unfamiliar environment.

Assessment at school

Assessment at university
The means of assessment is communicated to all students in writing via each school's VCE Handbook and the VBOS subject Study Designs, and further clarified and/or reinforced verbally by teachers. The means of assessment is made available to all students via the subject handbook; it is students' responsibility to obtain and read the subject handbook.
Assessment is criterion-referenced; criteria are well known to students. Although some attempt has been made toward criterion-reference assessment, this does not occur in all subjects.
The teacher will review student work in draft form. Review by the tutor of written plans/drafts is not accepted practice, some tutors encourage students to discuss ideas for assigned work prior to submission.
Students have a clear understanding of the nature of each task. Students who have not discussed work with their tutor may not have a clear understanding of the nature of the task.
Final grades of school-assessed work are an aggregate of marks allocated for each criterion. The manner in which students' work is assessed may vary according to department, school or faculty.
VCE students who are university-bound are used to receiving high grades. Many first-year students are disappointed by their initial university results.
VCE students are used to receiving considerable feedback intended to enhance the outcome of future endeavours. Students, on the whole, receive limited feedback.
VCE students receive immediate feedback due to impending due dates.

Students do not always receive prompt and timely feedback.
Assessment in VCE reinforces student confidence which has a positive flow-on effect in relation to motivation. Disappointing results in first-year subjects can undermine student confidence that can have an adverse flow-on effect in relation to motivation.