Make the most of your in-class experience

As one of Canada’s leading research universities, we’re home to a number of world-class facilities. You’ll have access to expert researchers and faculty, innovative technology, state-of-the-art laboratories and exceptional learning and teaching resources. And although these are great things, we want to encourage you to take an active role in your learning experience.

Leslie Reid, associate dean for teaching and learning in the Faculty of Science shared a few tips with us that we summarized to help maximize your experience no matter what faculty or program you choose.

Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to your prof (although maybe not when they are setting up for class or running to another one), all profs have office hours, which are a great time to get to know them. If this seems entirely too frightening (they don’t bite we promise), then pick the prof in your favourite course and start there.

Connect with your classmates, sometimes just knowing and sharing the same experience prevents you from feeling isolated and overwhelmed. Research also shows that learning in peer groups can be far more effective than studying on your own.

Learn from your mistakes. If you fail a test or under-perform, it is okay to be disappointed, but take it as an opportunity to reflect, what can you learn from it and what can you do differently next time.