Summary

Uni. is just so big. So impersonal. One of my classes - Political science has three hundred students in it. That's incredible. At school, the biggest class I was ever in was thirty. Here the lecturers don't know your name - how can they? You pass in the corridor and you think `Hey, Dr Barrington, I'm in your class. Hey, don't you notice me?' and they just look right through you as though they've seen you before ... total strangers.

There will be other staff of course, such as tutors who lead small groups, who do know your name and who are helpful to individuals, espesially new students. But Helen is right; academics are often remote.

The informal and apparently casual nature of some university teaching can be confusing at first. Lectures may not be compulsory In many Science departments tutorials may be optional. In , Some courses the assignments and short tests during the term are optic And each week there are public lectures and seminars being he:-­the university which you can attend if you wish.

. After the much stricter organization of secondary school, you may find it difficult to decide for yourself how much use you will make of these ­resources. Your decisions will rest on your interest in a subject _ the amount of time you can usefully devote to deepening this in. terest. An apparently informal discussion or question period .­lecture or tutorial can often given you

Troversies or problems.

You must decide for yourself whether or not you make use of informal resources for learning. Developing motivation . effective study habits is now your responsibility.