Adjusting to college life can prove challenging for first-year students as they navigate moving away from home, making new friends and figuring out college classes. To help with the adjustment, political science professor Andrew Lotz recommended that students attend office hours.聽
鈥淥ffice hours are the best time to connect with a faculty member,鈥� Lotz said. 鈥淲e are obliged as faculty to put in certain hours per week to be available for students exactly for this. Students think, 鈥業 don鈥檛 want to bother the faculty.鈥� However, we love students coming. The reason that we have office hours in the first place is that we want students to be successful.鈥�
One of the best habits Lotz suggested students get into is attending office hours early in the semester.聽
鈥淚 always encourage students that the best habit is having an early semester office hours meeting with one of your professors,鈥� Lotz said. 鈥淵ou will know where it is, what the times are and they will know who you are.鈥�
For students who are nervous about first attending office hours, Lotz recommends that students ask a question, like what their professor鈥檚 research is on and how it relates to the class.聽
鈥淭heir research always connects to their class in some way. Another good question can be, 鈥榃hat area do you want to get into?鈥欌�� Lotz said. 鈥淎nother question could be, 鈥楥an you tell me another class that鈥檚 like yours?鈥� That鈥檚 especially a good one if you鈥檙e a little bit deeper into the semester.鈥�
Outside of office hours, accounting professor Ryan Teeter said students should listen to the professor鈥檚 communication policy on the first day.聽
鈥淔reshmen come in and sometimes feel a little bit overwhelmed by the class, especially in the large lecture classrooms,鈥� Teeter said. 鈥淚n most cases, the professors are really accessible and they are willing to help. So typically, on the first day of class, the professors are going to communicate their communication policy.鈥�
Teeter said the communication policy can often be found on the class syllabus, which contains other information like tests and homework assignments, along with class structure and participation policies.聽
鈥淚t’s kind of a general overview of the class for students who really want to take advantage of that relationship with their professors,鈥� Teeter said. 鈥淭he syllabus answers most questions, but if you do have any questions as a freshman, it鈥檚 important to not feel like you can鈥檛 approach your professor. They鈥檙e here to help you, not just in the lecture hall. They鈥檙e there to help clarify questions and make sure you understand what鈥檚 going on.鈥�
Communications professor Kelly O鈥橠onnell said she encourages students to talk to her and attend office hours. However, unlike some classes, O鈥橠onnell said her classes are structured with a focus on assignments rather than tests and often emphasize participation.聽
鈥淚f they鈥檙e not talking, if they鈥檙e not engaging with the material, they鈥檙e gonna start to wander off and think about other things,鈥� O鈥橠onnell said. 鈥淵ou really need to participate and pay attention to what other people are saying to be successful, especially in public speaking.鈥�
Similarly, physics professor Dave Nero said he discourages students from being distracted in class by having conversations with neighbors or watching videos on laptops in class.聽
鈥淚n a large lecture hall, I think the biggest challenge is that there鈥檚 a lot of people, and it鈥檚 sort of a matter of being polite because you have a lot of neighbors,鈥� Nero said. 鈥淪o you want to avoid things like having conversations with your neighbors or watching videos on your laptop. Especially if you鈥檙e sitting in the front of the room, because then you鈥檙e distracting everyone behind you.鈥�
Additionally, Nero said he encourages students to sit in the front or talk to him about problems they may be having with their seat.聽
鈥淧eople sort of gravitate towards a certain part of the room, and they鈥檒l tend to stay there the whole semester,鈥� Nero said. 鈥淚 always think it鈥檚 a shame when students sit in the very back, and then partway through the semester, they鈥檙e like, 鈥業鈥檓 having trouble seeing the screen.鈥欌��
For students who are worried about showing up late, Nero said he recommends sitting near the door.聽
鈥淚 think a lot of freshmen students are worried about the time to transition from one class to another and really worried about showing up late. Professors know that sometimes you have to walk all the way across campus and will sometimes show up late,鈥� Nero said. 鈥淎ll we want is for them to not be disruptive when they walk in.鈥�
While in class, Nero said students should always take notes, even in classes that have Powerpoints prepared.聽
鈥淎 lot of people have heard the idea of visual learning or auditory learning, but it鈥檚 actually a myth that a person is only one of these modes,鈥� Nero said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e taking notes, you鈥檙e transferring information from a slide and from the professor鈥檚 mouth and reformatting it by putting it on a page.鈥�
Although students often take notes on their laptop, Lotz said he recommends students take notes on paper.聽
鈥淢y strongest piece of advice is for students to take notes by hand, or learn not to type every word if you鈥檙e doing typewritten notes, because if you鈥檙e just data recording everything said, you鈥檙e not actually engaging and will drift off,鈥� Lotz said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 better to write by hand or with a stylus or something like that, because then you have to understand what they鈥檙e saying.鈥�
Outside of class, while studying for tests, Lotz said one of the best things students can do is to practice explaining.聽
鈥淒on鈥檛 just memorize things like amendments of the Constitution or key features,鈥� Lotz said. 鈥淵ou have to be able to explain it to another person. Why does it matter? Why did we name it this way? You鈥檒l be ready to field any type of question about it, and not just spiel back information.鈥�
For students who may be struggling with their study habits, Lotz said he recommends the , which can provide services like academic coaching and peer tutoring.聽
鈥淭he Study Lab is fantastic, but the Dietrich Study Lab is great. They have these academic coaches who can sit down with you for a 30-minute meeting and figure out what鈥檚 going on and how to help you,鈥� Lotz said.聽
Another resource students can utilize is the , where students can help collaborate with each other with on-demand academic coaches and spaces to organize group work. By collaborating with others while studying, Teeter said you can then use your classmates to form study groups and bounce ideas off each other.聽
鈥淚t’s really easy to be mono-focus, like this is your university experience, when really it’s everyone’s university experience,鈥� Teeter said. 鈥淐ementing those ideas, and if you’re gonna get focused on things like notes and exams, when you have this whole resource, this whole community that we can tap into, to really help you.鈥�
For students who are struggling with circumstances outside the classroom, Lotz said he suggests the University Counseling Center.聽
鈥淭his is a stressful time for students. There’s a lot of change going on, a lot of interactions, friendships are going every which way,鈥� Lotz said. 鈥淗aving a spot to go talk about the stress, I think it’s critical to supporting your health.鈥�