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Personal Freedom in High School |
Personal Freedom at UTEP |
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High school is mandatory and free
(unless you choose other options). |
Attending UTEP is voluntary and a privilege,
and is expensive. |
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Your time is usually structured by
others. |
You manage your own time.
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You need permission to participate in
extracurricular activities. |
You must decide whether to participate
in extracurricular activities. But get involved!
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You need money for special purchases
or events. |
You need money to meet basic
necessities. |
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You can count on parents and teachers
to remind you of your responsibilities and to guide you in
setting priorities. |
You will be faced with a large number
of moral and ethical decisions you have not had to face
previously. You must balance your responsibilities and set
priorities. |
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Guiding principle: you will usually be
told what your responsibilities are and corrected if your
behavior is out of line. |
Guiding principle: you’re old enough
to take responsibility for what you do and don’t do, as well
as for the consequences of your decisions.
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High School Classes
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UTEP Classes
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Each day you proceed form one class
directly to another. |
You often have hours between classes;
class times vary throughout the day and evening.
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You spend 6 hours each day - 30 hours
a week - in class. |
You spend 12 to 16 hours each week in
class. |
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The school year is 36 weeks long; some
classes extend over both semesters and some do not.
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The academic year is divided into 2
separate 15-week semesters, and a week
of exams after each semester
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Most of your classes are arranged for
you. |
You arrange your own schedule in
consultation with your academic adviser. Schedules tend to
look much lighter than they really are.
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Teachers carefully monitor class
attendance. |
Professors may or may not formally take roll,
but they are still likely to know whether or not you attended.
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Classes generally have 25-35 students.
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Some classes may have up to 400
students. Some may have 10. |
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You are provided with textbooks at
little to no expense. |
You need to budget substantial funds
for textbooks, which will usually cost more than $300 each
semester. |
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You are not responsible for knowing
what it takes to graduate. |
Graduation requirements are complex,
and differ for different majors and sometimes different years.
You are expected to know those that apply to you.
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Studying in High School
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Studying at UTEP
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You may study outside of class as
little as 0-2 hours a week, and this may be mostly last-minute
test preparation. |
You need to study 40 hours a week or
more!. |
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You often need to read or hear
presentations only once to learn all you need to learn about
them. |
You need to review class notes and
text material regularly. |
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You are expected to read short
assignments that are then discussed, and often re-taught, in
class. |
You are assigned substantial amounts
of reading and writing which may not be directly addressed in
class. |
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Guiding principle: you will usually be
told in class what you needed to learn from assigned readings.
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Guiding principle: it’s up to you to
read and understand the assigned material; lectures and
assignments proceed from the assumption that you’ve already
done so. |
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High School Teachers
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UTEP Professors
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Teachers check your completed
homework. |
Professors may not always check
completed homework, but will assume you can perform the same
tasks well on tests. |
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Teachers remind you of your incomplete
work. |
Professors may not remind you of
incomplete work. |
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Teachers approach you if they believe
you need assistance. |
Professors are usually open and
helpful, but most expect you to initiate contact if you need
assistance. |
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Teachers are often available for
conversation before, during, or after class.
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Professors encourage you to set up an
appointment during scheduled office hours.
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Teachers have been trained in teaching
methods to assist in imparting knowledge to students.
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Professors have been trained as
experts in their particular areas of research.
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Teachers provide you with information
you missed when you were absent. |
Professors expect you to get from
classmates any notes from classes you missed.
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Teachers present materials to help you
understand the material in the textbook.
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Professors may not follow the
textbook. Instead, to amplify the text they may give
illustrations, provide background information, or discuss
research about the topic you are studying. Or, they may
expect you to relate the classes to textbook readings.
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Teachers often write information on
the board to be copied in your notes.
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Professors may lecture nonstop,
expecting you to identify the important points in your notes.
When professors write on the board, it may be it amplify the
lecture, not to summarize it. Good notes are a must.
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Teachers impart knowledge and facts,
sometimes drawing direct connections and leading you through the
thinking process. |
Professors expect you to think about
and synthesize seemingly unrelated topics.
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Teachers often take time to remind you
of assignments and due dates. |
Professors expect you to read, save,
and consult the course syllabus (outline); the syllabus spells
out exactly what is expected of you, when it is due, and how you
will be graded. |
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Grades in High School
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Grades at UTEP
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Grades are given for most assigned
work. |
Grades may not be provided for all
assigned work. |
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Consistently good homework grades may
help raise your overall grade when test grades are low.
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Grades on tests and major papers
usually provide most of the course grade.
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Extra credit projects are often
available to help you raise your grade.
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Extra credit projects cannot,
generally speaking, be used to raise a grade in a college
course. |
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Initial test grades, especially when
they are low, may not have an adverse effect on your final
grade.
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Watch out for your first tests.
These are usually “wake-up calls” to let you know what is
expected - but they also may account for a substantial part of
your course grade. You may be shocked when you get your
grades. If you receive notices of low grades on a
Mid-Semester Progress Report, see your adviser.
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You may graduate as long as you have
passed all required courses with a grade of D or higher.
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You may graduate only if your average
in classes meets the departmental standard—typically 2.0 or C.
Getting a D is not much different from getting an F.
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Guidance principle: “Effort
counts.” Courses are usually structured to reward a
“good-faith effort.”
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Guidance principle: “Results
count.” Though “good-faith effort” is important in
regard to the grading process, it will not substitute for
results. |
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Tests in High School
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Tests at UTEP
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Testing is frequent and covers small
amount of material. |
Testing is usually infrequent and may
be cumulative, covering large amounts of material. You,
not the professor, need to organize the material to prepare for
the test. A particular course may have only 2 or 3 tests
in a semester. |
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Makeup tests are often available.
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Makeup tests are seldom an option; if
they are, you need to request them. |
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Teachers frequently rearrange test
dates to avoid conflict with school events.
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Professors in different courses
usually schedule tests without regard to the demands of other
courses or outside activities. |
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Teachers frequently conduct review
sessions, pointing out the most important concepts.
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Professors rarely offer review
sessions, and when they do, they expect you to be an active
participant, one who comes prepared with questions.
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Mastery is usually seen as the ability
to reproduce what you were taught in the form in which it was
presented to you, or to solve the kinds of problems you were
shown how to solve. |
Mastery is often seen as the ability
to apply what you’ve learned to new situations or to solve new
kinds of problems. |
