When I was in high school, I picked electives based on what I wanted to learn and I was given a schedule with the teachers and times already set. When I started university, however, I had to consider the following seven factors when choosing a course:
- Topic
- Academic objectives
- Instructor
- Faculty requirements
- Accountability
- Time
- Course format
These factors are a lot to consider and it may not even be possible to fulfill all the conditions that you want. This post will focus on the first three factors only: Topic, Academic objectives, and Instructors. The goal of this post is to have you reflect on what you want to see in a course. By the end of this two-part series, you will be able list these factors from high priority to low priority, while considering distancing learning, so that you can register for the courses you want.
Topic – What’s the course about? Would I like it?
When you look at the courses available at UBC, read the course names and see if you would like to know more about the topic. For many of us, we might not have ever studied specific topics like “Sport and Exercise Psychology” and “Gender and Environmental Justice.” If you want to know more about the course, you can check out the department’s website to see if they have posted course descriptions or required textbooks.
When I was in first year, this was my priority. I did not know what I wanted to do and I took a course in linguistics, in computer science, in economics, etc. Through trying out new courses, I learned that university courses are more dense than their high school equivalents, that coding could be fun, and that there were many economic theories and models I did not know about.
Academic objectives – what are my goals in the course? Should I play to my strengths or follow my passion?
As we start considering our majors and careers, it is good to consider what we want to achieve post-graduation. Some people may want to go to grad school, and therefore need to focus on their studies to receive good grades. Others may simply want to enjoy learning the topic without having the stress of achieving a good grade.
Academic objectives were not much of a priority because what mattered to me was that the topic was interesting. My friend, however, plans to go to law school, so she chose topics even if they weren’t her favourite topics because the instructor supported her way of learning and therefore helped her achieve her academic goals.
Instructor – Does the instructor help me achieve your academic goals?
When you attend that first lecture, what do you notice about the instructor? Do they demonstrate their passion and experience in their field of research by sharing about their work beyond the required information in the course? Do they seem to value assignments and tutorials for online courses so that they can help you keep on track while learning at home? Will they support you if you decide you want to choose your own topic for an essay or lab report?
Keep mental notes about how the instructor approaches their class and their students and see if they can help you achieve your academic goals or your learning style. For a self-assessment of your learning style, click here.
Office hours are also very important in helping you understand the material, so do not be afraid to sit down and have a chat with your professor! Here is a toolkit on interacting with professors and TAs.
I prioritized choosing courses with instructors I felt I would resonate with in first year, when I was scared about how difficult university might be. I tried to take courses in which the professor was humorous, did not go through topics too quickly, and could explain tough concepts in simpler ways with lots of examples. At the end of the year, I understood and retained a lot of information because of the way my professor conducted lectures.
Topic, academic objectives, and the instructor are three of the easier topics to consider when choosing a course. Once we start considering faculty requirements, time, accountability and course format, it gets more complicated, since these factors may conflict with the course you want to take. Please look forward to the next post on course selection – Sanjana will share her experiences choosing courses in her last years at UBC. In the meanwhile, take this quiz to see what you prioritize the most in choosing courses.
