School Leavers
Overview
The first few months at university are very exciting as you discover an expanding social life and increased freedom and opportunities.
However all students will experience some sort of adjustment period, no matter what your background. This is especially true if you've moved away from home, or if you are the first in your family to go to uni.
Life as a uni student
Life as a uni student is quite different to that of a high school student. No bells, no uniform, and no detention!
But it's not all plain sailing either - university study is quite different to school study. It requires much more self motivation and responsibility.
More people
ECU has approximately 20,000 students studying across three campuses, including off-campus students. Core subjects for popular courses may have up to 350 students in one lecture in any one time.
New people
You may be nervous about leaving your school friends, work colleagues or family members, and meeting new people but you should be assured that every new student is in the same boat.
Orientation is a good time to meet people studying the same course, plus there are heaps of social programs and activities where you can meet people with similar interests.
Finding help
As part of your increased independence, you need to take responsibility for seeking help when you need it.
Lecturers and tutors are more than happy to help with any course/unit queries.
In addition to financial assistance and learning support, we also offer an enormous range of support in other areas, like counselling for personal problems, career development and employment advice; and medical advice.
Different teaching methods
You will usually have one lecture per week per unit for 1-3 hours. Depending upon the number of students enrolled in the subject, the class may range in size from 30-350 students.
Each unit will usually also have tutorials/laboratories/workshops for 1-2 hours with classes of 15-30 students. These offer the opportunity to ask questions and engage in discussion about the material presented at the lecture.
Less contact time
With one lecture and one tutorial per week per subject, full-time students may spend as little as 12 hours per week in the classroom.
You may have quite a varied timetable made up of lectures, tutorials, laboratory sessions and seminars - dependent on university timetabling, you may be able to cram this into several days or it may be spread over the whole week.
However, for every one hour of teaching time you are expected to spend at least 2 - 3 hours in self-directed study such as doing your readings, researching, preparing for exams and working on assignments.
More independence
You will be expected to be more responsible for your own learning.
You won't get into trouble if you don't turn up for lectures or tutorials (although some classes do have a compulsory participation requirement) and we won't chase up late assignments or remind you to do required readings.
Not doing these things, means you will have more trouble coping with the unit.
If you are enrolled full-time, it's a good idea to set aside roughly 40 hours per week for university work. This includes contact time as well as assignment preparation and study time. Be prepared for this to increase during exam periods.