The basic courses in American universities, especially public universities, are large in scale, ranging from 150 to 400 students, and progress is rapid, so we must make ideological and material preparations before entering the school.
The range of material preparation is very large. This is just a simple example. If foreign students can't understand the course because of language or academic obstacles, they can buy a digital tape recorder to record each class, preferably with the function of automatically converting it into words, about 100 yuan. However, it should be specially reminded that the permission of the professor must be obtained before recording to avoid copyright disputes.
2. Actively participate in the course.
American classrooms are more active. Besides teachers' lectures, there are seminars and other forms. Students need to read books or do information retrieval by themselves and then discuss with teachers in groups. Be prepared and actively participate in such activities, which can not only exercise your ability, but also cause a lot of thinking in generate, which is a weak link for international students in China.
3. Make full use of the curriculum regulations of American universities.
In the first two weeks of school, if you don't like a certain course professor, you can transfer to a class with other professors in the same course, but you don't need to explain the reasons. The trouble is that other courses have to be adjusted accordingly. If you find a course too difficult, you can generally drop out of class and refund your tuition within the first two weeks. If you don't do well in a course after the mid-term exam, you can drop out of school without affecting the university gpa (total average score), but the tuition fee will not be refunded.
4. Make full use of the teaching resources of the course.
Students in American classrooms can ask questions at any time, but they need to raise their hands to get the teacher's permission. If you have any questions about your homework, you must answer them at the "office hours" announced by the teacher. If there is any problem in course study, the school has a "studentlearningcenter" to help diagnose and dispel doubts.
5. Master the course selection resources of American universities.
American university teachers mostly use corresponding educational software to communicate with students, such as "blackboard" and "canvas". Teachers publish homework, progress, grades (students can only see their own) and even conduct training exams through these software platforms. Students can also communicate with teachers through this platform, so before entering the school, we must find out the teaching software used by our teachers and participate in the training of such software (included in the tuition fee).
6. Pay attention to the relationship with the course teaching assistant.
American courses that study and live in the United States are generally equipped with teaching assistants (ta), and most of them have to go through five customs to get jobs, so if you have any questions about the courses, you can communicate with TA in time.
7. You must not cheat in American universities.
Most American universities have honorcodes. Students must sign a contract with the school to abide by this norm, that is, "they will not help others in homework, reports and exams, nor will they accept any unauthorized help", and teachers often do not supervise the exams. However, during school, if students are found to have violated the honor code, they will be punished according to the rules, from detention to expulsion, or they will be prosecuted.
8. Safety always comes first.
There are many safety regulations in American experimental classes, such as wearing safety glasses, not wearing shorts and slippers, tying up long hair, needles and the like, which must be counted and recycled into specific containers, and broken glassware has special treatment steps. Safety has always been the first requirement of American experimental courses. If you don't follow the safety rules, you may be fired directly, or even worse, you may be prosecuted.
9. Team spirit is very important.
Many experimental classes in the United States need to be completed by two or more people in groups, and so do subsequent reports. So teamwork spirit is very important. I met some international students from China who had to quit the group because of falling out with their experimental partners. I also dealt with such international students who thought that they could do experiments without their partners for more money. Remember, American university rules are for observance, not for detours.
10, the focus of American university courses is not "attending classes" but "learning".
In class, the professor will give a course outline, and the progress will be very fast. At the same time, you will arrange a lot of reading materials after class, and then you will study what you should master. No one cares whether you study or not, and no one chases you for your homework, so the spirit of self-management and active learning is very important.