How Do Or Might Previous Experiences Of Education And Exposure To Ideas About Higher Education Affect Students’ Attitude Toward, Approach To, And Performance In College
Policymakers, educational researchers as well as practitioners collectively hold the belief that transition to and excellence in postsecondary education is significantly influenced by pre-collegiate experience. Numerous community agencies have directed efforts and resources towards the initiation of activities that emphasize on high school graduates to have the knowledge and skills required to excel in college. The efforts in question include programs and structures to raise academic aspirations, promote college awareness at an early stage, provide college planning in a comprehensive manner and ensure that clear college expectations are set.
One of the observations and experience noted in my high school education is college preparatory coursework. We were exposed to expectations of college-level at an early stage. I took extremely challenging coursework, comprising of three years of college-preparatory mathematics course and four years English preparatory course. The courses were so challenging that I almost gave up. However, with constant support and encouragement from my teachers, I successfully completed them. This step had a major impact in successful completion of my college education. One observation noted when I advanced to college is that I hardly needed to attend remedial classes because I was familiar with most of the concepts learned. Additionally, prior exposure to college materials and educational requirements spurred a great interest in the learning process. It is therefore clear that prior education exposure to college materials contributed positively to college success.
At some point in my high school years, questionnaires were distributed to me and my classmates. The questionnaires required us to list some of the preparations that we felt most useful in helping us to successfully transition to higher learning institutions. Majority of the students mentioned writing and English. Emphasis was particularly laid on the ability to conduct research and write academic papers. Following the response, we were given training and robust preparation in English and writing. We held numerous exhibitions and wrote a substantial number of papers. A larger part of my senior high school year was spent in conducting research followed by writing a final paper that accounted for the final grade. Most of us had to re-write the paper severally as until it met all the expectations.
Upon entering college, I felt extremely prepared to research and write my assignments. Writing and getting good grades was not much of a challenge. Having multiple assignments that required a lot of writing was not a strange phenomenon because I was already used to it and fully prepared. Exposure to research writing prior to joining college is extremely essential in familiarizing students with the art of following instructions, researching from multiple sources and writing a high-quality paper. Most students end up being frustrated upon joining college because of excessive workload and completely new and unexpected tasks. It is quite difficult for a student who is used to writing a single page to quickly get used to completing a 10-page research paper within a short time. This clearly shows the essence of prior preparation and exposure.
A positive attitude toward college learning is developed following adequate college preparedness. Many high schools students have often cited the need to familiarize themselves with diverse learning and instructional styles. The most notable skills imparted during exposure and preparation to college standards include note-taking, meta-thinking, and listening skills. These skills are particularly beneficial in college courses that are based in lecture and discussion. I found college courses to be extremely different from high school experience. Most of the times, we had a book but hardly used it. Most of the lectures were based on discussions.
Owed to the fact that I did not get adequate preparation in note-taking in high school, I found it extremely challenging to concentrate during lectures. At the initial stages of taking classes, I experienced difficulties in focusing and absorbing all information. I found it hard to merely listen to the lecturer and know the concepts that needed to be grasped. I experienced a major difficulty in identifying the essence of key information pieces in a classroom setting that was lecture-based. Due to poor note-taking skills, my grades were at times quite disappointing. The funny bit is that I attended all the classes, but got lost during tests because I could not remember the key points mentioned during the lectures.
Most of us linked good note-taking skills to excellent learning in a lecture-based structure. Looking back, majority of students wished they had learned and practiced more in using the note-taking skills while in high-school. Personally, lacking note-taking skills was a major obstacle to scoring exemplary grades in my college courses, especially during my freshman year. I wished I had done more practice in extracting useful information than merely taking notes written on the board.
However, this does not necessarily mean that the situation remained that way. As a progressed in college, I gradually learned to identify relevant points from vast amount of information and take down important notes during lecture-based instruction. Based on my experience, it is thus evident that previous educational experiences and exposure to ideas about higher education positively contribute toward college success.
Reference
Schroeder, Sandra. “Student Success in Higher Education”. AFT Higher Education, 2011
retrieved on July 12, 2012 from http://www.aft.org/pdfs/highered/studentsuccess0311.pdf
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