On August 15th, Daniel Hopkins, a political
scientist and professor at Georgetown University, wrote a piece called “So You Are Starting Your First Year at a Research University…” on The Monkey Cage
political science blog. Hopkins
discusses some simple tips for new undergraduate students as they enter into
the world of higher education. The post
targets students who are enrolling in research universities, and while UT Tyler
technically does not carry this label, the ideas he shares are universal for
all new college students.
1) Familiarize yourself with the course catalog
A few things will occur when you begin to explore your
academic interests in a collegiate setting.
Most students enter their first year with the intention of taking
classes choosing a major that follows suit with your high school interests. For example, I was heavily interested in
politics and debate in high school, so I assumed that Political Science and
Speech Communication were the optimal choices for my majors. Students who focused on sports and athletic
training in high school may believe that Kinesiology or Nursing would be the
right path to take. These decisions are
not necessarily wrong, but supplementing them with further research gives the
student a better understanding of what their new academic institution has to
offer.
Hopkins suggests students to take ample time in reading
their course catalog, to get a better understanding of the organization of
their particular fields. No student
comes into an academic institution knowing fully of the intricacies of their
prospective programs, and having an optimal understanding of how these fields
function within their college will push them farther with their academic
ambitions. Hopkins also notes that
investigating other fields, particularly those that the student knows the least
about, allows the student to learn about the different disciplinary toolkits
for improving intellectual process. He
says, “You might really like a subject like European history, but also find
that the tools you want to use to make sense of that history are actually those
of an anthropologist. Or a computer
scientist. Or an economist.”
2) Explore different models of academic research
There is a paragraph in the article I find to be spot on
with his overall message:
“In that is also a thought about
picking classes, to the extent that first-year requirements leave room for
choice. Good classes convey facts,
sure. But they also convey ways of
thinking and ways of learning. More than
the specific facts, it is those ways of thinking and learning that you are
likely to retain years later. So if the
instructor of a course thinks about problems in a novel or compelling way, give
the course a shot—even if you never imagined taking a class on pre-modern
Chinese diets.”
In high school, the model of learning that takes primacy is
one that conveys facts onto students that then transfer over to standardized
tests and report cards. The good college
classes, as Hopkins says, will use a fact-based learning system, students
utilize those facts in context with research papers, final exams, and more
standardized tests. Hopkins is correct
regarding what sticks with the students: the methods of research and
understanding a certain field of study.
It is not always just about the facts in a vacuum, but rather, how
professors and students approach those facts and the way they frame them in a
broader academic sense. Keep this in
mind when you choose your major-specific courses. Even if the targeted content does not peak
your interest, the method of evaluating that content just might.
3) Get to know your instructors
You have a good idea of what to expect from your field of
study, and you have a framework for choosing classes throughout your
undergraduate career. The next step is simple,
and it involves communicating with the instructors and students around
you. Hopkins quotes a study from Harvard
professor Richard Light, who concluded that students have a richer college
experience when they get to know their instructors better. This involves taking smaller classes rather
than big lecture courses, as well as increasing your critical thinking and
sharing your thought process with the professor during their office hours. You may even ask your professors about their
individual research, and offer your services to become more involved. Along with your professors, speak to your
graduate assistants, your fellow classmates, and perhaps even deans and explore
their different educational backgrounds and their reasoning for studying their particular
fields. This proves beneficial at the
end of your undergraduate when seeking out professors to write letters of
recommendation for internships, graduate school, or even entry-level positions
pertaining to your degree. The letter
will be more sincere and detailed if the professor knows you well both in and
out of class.
Your undergraduate career is the optimal time to explore
your academic interests fully, and then apply those tools to a future
career. Try to do so without spending
too much on tuition, though.
PS. The Monkey Cage is a great political science blog
written by various professors of political science from some of the top
political science institutions in the United States, including various guest
bloggers from time to time. Check it out
if interested!
