For many students, the amount of school work in college is significantly higher than in high school. And, the hours spent in and out of class may be more intense. As a college student, you won’t only be a learner absorbing new information, but you will also become an independent thinker who creates arguments, designs new innovations, and authors information.
Types of College Work
Below, we review some examples of college work that you can expect to do at Duke. Some of it might feel familiar, and some you might be doing for the first time. Knowing what you’ll be expected to do can help you feel less overwhelmed when encountering something new.
College reading is more than the number of pages assigned. It can take time to understand new concepts and re-reading text for understanding. It’s important to have a game plan for how you are going to read and how you will take notes.
The ARC has resources on Tips for College Reading and Reading scientific Articles to help you get started.
Problem sets are a critical part of STEM learning and an opportunity to apply important concepts presented in lecture. Working through problems sets will help you understand the process and give you a chance to figure out what steps you are getting hung up on to talk to your professor about during office hours or during a tutoring session.
Weekly response papers, discussion posts, lab reports are all examples of regular, smaller assignments that prompt you to engage with course material and main ideas or concepts from class. Lab reports “tell the story” of an experiment or study.
Researching and writing for papers is a continuous cycle of reading, drafting, reviewing, editing, and revising. Procrastinating can lead to sloppy writing and weak analysis, so it’s best to start early. The writing center has a writing resource page to help with academic writing.
Studying for tests and exams involves taking ownership of the information and finding ways to connect pieces together and make the information memorable for you. Ways to do this is through writing summaries of information in your own words, coming up with stories about a concept or idea, as well as many other strategies. The ARC has several peer resources; Study Connect, Peer Education and Learning Consultants.
Academic Integrity – College work also requires you to act with a high standard of integrity. Duke has clear guiding principles outlined in the Duke Community Standard. You can find detailed resources on topics of academic integrity here:
