September 24, 2007
Advising Tip: Understanding Your Instructor or GSI
Are you having some trouble understanding your instructor? Here are some tips that could improve communication.
One of the great attributes of the university is that it attracts some of the best minds from around the world. Not only does this enrich the intellectual climate of the university, but it a gives us all the opportunity to live and learn from people from wide array of cultural perspectives.
This fantastic diversity, however, can lead to misunderstanding. More specifically, you may find yourself struggling to understand a person whose accent or dialect differs from yours. This can be particularly frustrating if you find yourself unable to understand your instructor or a GSI.
Here are some suggestions that might help you better understand your international GSIs and professors. You should know, however, that international students hired as GSIs have to take aptitude tests in English, and if they do not demonstrate proficiency in written and spoken English, they’re required to take special courses before they teach. While there is no formal language evaluation process when professors are hired, English is the international language for scholarship, and few professors arrive in Michigan without a command of English.
In fact, it’s entirely likely that the GSI or professor that you’re having difficulty understanding has been reading and speaking English since childhood. You have to keep in mind that English is a world language with many regional dialects. Most Americans can negotiate differences between American English and British or Australian English but may have more difficulty understanding Indian, Hong Kong, or African English dialects. It’s not that these speakers are “incorrect;” their English may simply reflect different accents, diction, syntax, etc.
But that doesn’t help when it’s difficult to follow your GSI’s explanations or instructions. Here are some suggestions to help you understand an international instructor.
First, be patient with yourself and with the instructor. It generally takes three-to-five weeks to become fully accustomed to someone’s speech patterns. Give the instructor an opportunity to settle into the course while you become more familiar with her/his speech patterns. Time will help you both become more effective communicators. Also, keep in mind that the complexity of the material, not the instructor’s ability to convey the information, might be causing you problems. Give yourself a chance to become familiar with the fundamentals of the course, and you might find it easier to understand the instructor.
Second, sit up front so that you not only can hear the instructor clearly but also pick up non-verbal cues such as gestures, expressions, etc. Actually, this is good advice whether or not your instructor is a non-native English speaker. All speakers, of course, consciously and subconsciously provide non-verbal supplements to their words, and this is particularly true of teachers when they’re explaining complex material. Also, by sitting close, you give the instructor the opportunity to read your body language and expressions as well, making it more apparent when you’re not understanding something.
Third, be assertive and ask questions, and again, this is good advice in every course. You can be certain that your instructor wants to know if you’re able to understand him/her. Help her/him and yourself out by asking questions. Not only will the instructor have the opportunity to clarify points that may confuse you, but having an opportunity to interact with the instructor will only help you better understand how she/he uses English.
Fourth, visit the instructor during office hours. Sure, you can use office hours as an opportunity to ask questions about the course, but office hours provide another chance for you just to get used to the instructor’s English. That can only help when you’re back in class.
Be patient and don’t be intimidated. Assume that your instructor is at least as interested in being understood as you are interested in understanding her or him. You may never again have the opportunity Michigan provides for you to get to know and to interact with people from around the world. You shouldn’t allow frustration or fear to prevent this from happening with your instructors.
Posted by skassner at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2007
First Week Essentials
Move In, a new roommate, Welcome Week, book lines, the first home game, first day of class, Festifall,.… And you've only been here a little more than a week. Make sure, however, thaty you don't neglect the personal essentials.
Establish a routine so that you're getting adequate rest and nutrition. Also, take care of the academic essentials: read over your course syllabi and other handouts that you get from instructors and/or thoroughly checkout your courses' CTools sites so that you understand the expectations for all your courses. Check when your exams are scheduled and assignments are due and enter them in your calendar. Plan “backward”: if you have a paper due at mid-term or the end of the term, set deadlines for yourself when you want to have completed the research and drafts.
You still have time to evaluate your course selections. If you have questions or concerns about a course, talk with the instructor or GSI and/or email your advisor. Remember that, this week and early into next, it's still possible to drop a course and replace it with another. Technically, you can add and drop courses through Monday, September 24, but by the end of next week, you want to make sure you clear it with an instructor before adding because it is possible that you will have already missed too much material to succeed in the course.
Also, you have through September 24 to decide whether to take a course pass/fail. If you are considering taking a course pass/fail or if you have other academic questions, email your LSA advisor. Or call 764-0332 to make an appointment with your advisor at the Newnan LSA Advising Center, 1255 Angell Hall. There is also walk-in advising available at the Advising Center from September 4-7, 10-11 from 10:00-4:00.
Have fun but make sure you take care of business so you're in good shape the rest of the term.
Posted by skassner at 01:56 PM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2007
Advising Tip: Getting Ready for Sophomore Year
This is an “Advising Tip” for students nearing the end of their first-year in LSA. Take a few minutes to think about how things will change in the next year. By this time next year, you may have already applied and been accepted or (alas) rejected by another UM school or college. If you stay in LSA, you will have declared or be in the process of declaring your concentration and may be considering a minor. Nearly half of the credits you’ll need for graduation will be completed, and since you’ll be at the half-way point, you’ll be starting to think about what comes next. As you look ahead, you’ll be wondering how what you’ve done so far at Michigan—in both curricular and extra-curricular activities—will fit into your career plans.
Without a doubt, sophomore year will be an important year, and many of the decisions you make in the next few weeks before you are officially a sophomore will have a major impact on how successful you are next year. Soon, you’ll be registering for spring and/or summer courses, either here or at another college or university, as well as for fall courses in early April. You should choose courses that help you gauge your academic interests and explore potential concentrations, or if your goal is to leave LSA for another UofM school, it will be important that you take courses that will put you in good stead for transfer.
To help you start thinking like a sophomore, you should make an appointment with your advisor to discuss your plans for next year. You also can attend a new event sponsored by the LSA Advising Center:
Getting Ready for Sophomore Year!
Tuesday, March 20
7-9:30 p.m.
Angell Hall Auditorium A and surrounding classrooms
LSA seniors will give advice about making the most of your sophomore year, and there will be series of workshops on
• Choosing a concentration,
• Choosing courses for Spring, Summer, and Fall (including transfer courses),
• Getting the experiences you need to be marketable,
• Exploring your interest in business, through the Business School or LSA,
• Getting teacher certification or transferring to the School of Education.
• Study Abroad
Sophomore year is a big deal. Make sure you’re ready.
Posted by skassner at 08:45 AM | Comments (0)
January 29, 2007
Advising Tip: Be a Self-Aware Student
Are You a Self-Aware Student?
It's easy to become so focused on the results of your studying that you don't pay enough attention to how you study. Grades are important, but think about what needs to happen before you earn those grades.
Successful students are not only aware of their study habits and strategies, but they are also willing to experiment with different techniques and develop new study habits. Self-aware students pay attention to where and when they study. Where do you study best? Do you like to be alone and to have it quiet or do you do study more effectively where there is background noise and activity? Have you tried studying in different environments around campus—your room, a library, a coffee shop—to see where you are more effective? Do you know when you study most effectively? Try to schedule your study time during those periods when you are most alert and most efficient.
In addition to becoming aware of how and when they study, self-aware students take control of the semester through long range planning. Look at the schedules for all your classes and then “plan backward,” setting aside time in your calendar to study for midterms and finals. For the courses in which you have projects and papers due, establish personal deadlines for the invention and research, the drafting, and the revising stages of the project or paper. If you get organized now, you will cut down on ineffective cramming and all nighters at midterm and at the end of the semesters.
There are many resources on campus that can help you become a more aware student and that can help you refine your study techniques. Take advantage of the most obvious and most under utilized resource: see your instructors during their office hours, ask for suggestions on how you should study for their classes, bring drafts of your papers, and ask for feedback. More importantly, just get to know your instructors, particularly in those areas that interest you the most academically. Sometimes the best learning takes place not in the classroom but in the informal conversations students have with faculty.
Use the Sweetland Writing Center and its resources—the Writing Workshop, Peer Tutoring, and Online Writing and Learning—to get additional help with your writing. If you're in a language course, watch a movie in the language or use the other resources in the Language Resource Center. GSI for your science courses will hold office hours at the Science Learning Center, and/or see the tutors in the Math Lab if you're registered for a math course. For additional resources, go to LSA's “Strategies for Academic Success.”
And pay attention to Advise Me Weekly. Almost every week, "This Week's News" has information about programs that can help you become a better student. This week's edition features news on time management, test taking, career options, and other programs that can make you a more aware and, ultimately, a more successful student.
Posted by skassner at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)
November 27, 2006
Advising Tip: The End of the Term
Here are some practical ideas for surviving and even thriving during the next few weeks.
In the next few days you'll notice it. People will be scurrying across the Diag, looking preoccupied. There'll still be chatter and laughter, but the timbre will be more nervous, more subdued than it was just last week. People whom you haven't seen in class for weeks will start showing up for lectures and discussions, and the computer labs will be jammed. Perhaps for the first time, there'll be lines for your profs' office hours. The end of the term is almost here, and it's getting serious as the due dates for term papers approach and as final exams near.
If you've been working hard all semester, you'll be fine. Just take some time to survey your courses, checking what you have left to do and when you need to get it done. Go through your notes, previous exams, past homework, etc., and if there are any concepts you don't quite understand, see your instructors or GSIs during their remaining office hours. Or make an appointment.
If you haven't worked quite hard enough or have fallen behind in one-or-more courses, be realistic about how much of a salvage operation you can mount at this point. Try to take an objective look at what you have accomplished and what you have left to do in all your courses. If you're not exactly sure about what you have left to do in a course or whether you can pass, contact the instructor or GSI, now! Depending on what you find out, you might need to focus on a couple of the salvageable courses and let one-or-two courses go. If this is the case, you should make an appointment to see your advisor.
As deadlines and exams near, cramming and all nighters might seem unavoidable, but be realistic about how much you can truly learn in the last few hours before an exam. How long can you be truly productive without getting some sleep? Again, getting organized now, before the final crunch comes, could help you from having to spend the night before a paper is due snoozing on your keyboard. Put some opportunities in your schedule to go through your notes several times over the next few days rather than waiting just till the night before an exam.
Don't give into the temptation to try to re-read everything that was assigned before the exam. It's probably not possible to do this, and it would be ineffective. Instead, ask the instructor about the critical points to review before the exam. If the instructor doesn't offer much help in focusing your review, go back to your notes to see what he/she emphasized during lectures and discussions. That should help you figure out which sections of texts you should review.
No matter how much work you have, remember you need sleep, nutrition, and exercise to be at your best. Carve room out of your schedule for all of these. In particular, get enough sleep the night before a final. Also allow yourself some breaks where you can socialize with friends, roommates, etc. You're not the only one feeling pressure these days, and it's healthy to talk about it. If you're feeling overwhelmed, consider a visit to Counseling and Psychological Services: 3100 Michigan Union.
Above all else, keep it all in perspective. Sure grades are important, but they aren't life. The grades you get this term may have an impact on your future, but they won't determine it.
Posted by skassner at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2006
Advising Tip: Learning Resource Centers
One of the biggest differences between successful high school students and successful college students is that the good high school student rarely needs to ask for academic help while the good college student knows that she/he needs help and knows where to find it.
Of course, the academically successful college students make use of their profs' and GSIs' office hours. The successful Michigan student also knows about and takes advantage of the services of the learning resource centers on campus.
If you're in a language course, you definitely should use the Language Resource Center (LRC), 2001 Modern Language Building. The instructors for many language courses hold their office hours in the LRC, and the center has state-of the-art multi media equipment that will help you develop your skills. Also, the LRC has a remarkable collection of international films and access to international television programming: these are great ways for you to hear the language you're learning. There's also walk-in LSA advising available from 1:00-3:00 on Tuesdays.
Another terrific resource is the Math Lab located in B860 East Hall. The Math Lab has free tutoring available in math courses from Math 105 through Math 217, no appointment necessary. Check out the link above. In the Math Lab you'll find GSIs and trained undergraduates who can help you work your way through math problems.
For students in astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, and physics, the Science Learning Center (SLC), 1720 Chem Building, offers computer labs, group study alcoves, and reserve and research materials as well as assistance from GSIs. Also, the SLC arranges formal study groups for many science courses. These study groups, led by trained peer leaders, are a popular and productive way to prepare for your science classes. You can see a general LSA advisor on a walk-in basis from 1:00-3:00 on Wednesdays, and a LSA pre-health advisor is available for quick questions from 2:30-4:00 on Thursdays.
Last but not least among the resources that good students take advantage of is the Sweetland Writing Center (SWC) in 1139 Angell Hall. Students can call to make half-hour appointments (764-0429) with Sweetland faculty to discuss writing assignments in any of their courses. Also, students can meet with peer tutors, on a walk-in basis from 7:00-11:00 P.M., with trained peer writing tutors in the Sweetland Peer Tutor Center , G219 Angell Hall. Sweetland also runs the "OWL," the Online Writing Center : students can submit their papers online and get feedback from tutors.
Seeing a tutor, joining a study group, asking for help, these aren't the signs of weakness. These are the indications that a student knows what he/she needs to succeed.
Posted by skassner at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)
September 01, 2006
Advising Tip: First Week Essentials
Enjoy your first week of classes, but remember the essentials.
First Week Essentials
Move In, a new roommate, Welcome Week, book lines, the first home game, first day of class, Festifall,.… And you've only been here a little more than a week.
I'd wager that in the past week, you've met more new people and have had more new experiences than any other time in your life. These first few weeks of the term are exhilarating, and you should enjoy them. Make sure, however, that you don't neglect the personal essentials: try to establish a routine so that you're getting adequate rest and nutrition.
Also, take care of the academic essentials: read over your course syllabi and other handouts that you get from instructors and/or thoroughly checkout your courses' CTools sites so that you understand the expectations for all your courses. Check when your exams are scheduled and assignments are due and enter them in your calendar. Plan “backward”: if you have a paper due at mid-term or the end of the term, set deadlines for yourself when you want to have completed the research and drafts.
You still have time to evaluate your course selections. If you have questions or concerns about a course, talk with the instructor or GSI and/or email your advisor. Remember that, this week and early into next, it's still possible to drop a course and replace it with another. Technically, you can add and drop courses through September 25, but by the end of next week, you want to make sure you clear it with an instructor before adding because it is possible that you will have already missed too much material to succeed in the course.
Also, you have through September 25 to decide whether to take a course pass/fail. If you are considering taking a course pass/fail or if you have other academic questions, email your LSA advisor. Or call 764-0332 to make an appointment with your advisor at the Newnan LSA Advising Center, 1255 Angell Hall. There is also walk-in advising available at the Advising Center from September 5-13 from 10:00-4:00.
Have fun but make sure you take care of business so you're in good shape the rest of the term.
Posted by skassner at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)