One of the most pronounced differences between graduate school and college for me is how much time I spend preparing for class. In college I almost never read before class (even though I should have!!). I did prepare for labs, but I rarely prepared for lectures. Now that I’m in graduate school I feel like I almost always need to prepare and read for class ahead of time. There are certainly times that I don’t (even though I should!), but for the most part I try to prepare for class.
One of the main reasons for this difference is because many of my classes at Baylor are strongly discussion based. If no one reads for class, then the discussion isn’t as productive. I went to a small, liberal arts college where my classes were fairly small and around the size of my classes at Baylor. Despite this, the majority of my classes were not discussion based. Reading ahead helped you to be prepared and helped for lecture information to reinforce previous reading, but it wasn’t imperative to read for class. There were certainly exceptions to this, like my English Literature General Education classes, but for the most part I didn’t have to.
I find that one of the best ways to get myself to read ahead of time is to read articles while on my elliptical machine. This way I not only read, but I also get some exercise in! I like to read through my articles/book chapters once while on my elliptical machine and then skim through them again afterwards. Usually this system helps me to make sure that I understood what I read and that I am prepared for class. Unfortunately, I have been bad about getting back into the swing of things (staying on top of homework, getting ahead of my work, exercising regularly) since getting back from Christmas break. I know it’s essential that I do both for my health and so that I do well in my classes, so I need to start making it a priority!
Erin