Semesters
In secondary school the year is split into autumn term
(September to Christmas), spring term (January to Easter) and summer term
(Easter to June), with midterms in between. The college year is split into two terms
or semesters. Each semester is 12 weeks long. The first semester runs from
September to Christmas, and the second semester from January to May. In UCD
most courses have a reading week in the middle of each semester (a week of no
classes to catch up on reading and studying – don’t call it a midterm, your
lecturers will not be happy). At the end of the 12 weeks you have a study week
and then end of semester exams which take place over a two-week period. That
means you only have 24 weeks of classes in the entire year – much less intense
than school!
Examinations and assignments
In UCD there are both Christmas and summer exams; semester
one exams are held before Christmas and semester two exams are held before
summer. Some colleges don’t have Christmas exams, the exams for both semesters
are held in summer. This is another reason I love UCD - you get semester one
exams out of the way at Christmas when the information is still fresh in your
head.
You are rarely graded 100% on an exam. Usually you are
examined on a mixture of assignments and exams. The assignments usually take
the form of an essay or a group project, and are usually worth about 30% – 50%
of the grade. The exam makes up the remaining 50% – 70%. Sometimes instead of
an essay there’ll be a short midterm test. Some modules are entirely continuous
assessment, meaning there are no end of semester exams (woohoo!).
I can’t speak for everyone, but personally I found college
exams much easier than school exams - maybe because you only have to learn 12
weeks of information as opposed to two years, and in college they’re a bit
nicer with the amount of time you have to answer a question. I’ll give you an
example: for Leaving Cert Classics you had 20 minutes to write one essay
answer, while in UCD you usually have about an hour for each essay answer.
Doing assignments and writing essays is much different in
college than in school. In school you memorise and regurgitate information from
one textbook. In college you are expected to research the topic and find a
range of reliable, academic sources, critically analyse them and from them form
your own opinion and answer to the question, referencing whenever you use
someone else’s information or ideas.
Classes
Teaching is done through lectures, tutorials, and if you’re a
science student, labs. Lectures are held in relatively large theatres and are
50 minutes long. The lecturer basically gives a presentation on a topic, which
guides the students through ideas, theories and information. Students take
notes and are expected to read up on the topic. There isn’t as much interaction
between the lecturer and student as there is between teachers and students in
secondary schools – the classes are usually too big (there can be up to 500
students in a lecture hall), but you can still ask questions of the lecturer
and sometimes the lecturers will ask you questions too, or one of the lectures
will be dedicated to a class discussion. Lecturers have office hours so
students can meet and talk with them one-on-one. Tutorials are smaller groups, usually
around 15 or 20 students. This is much more like a classroom setting, with more
interaction with the teacher. It gives students the chance to further discuss
topics with a teacher, as well as assignments and exams. Tutorials are also 50
minutes long. Not every course has tutorials, some only have lectures. For
example, for a Classics module we had one lecture and one tutorial a week. Geography
on the other hand had no tutorials, but had two lectures a week.
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| Theatre L is the largest lecture hall in UCD Arts Block |
UCD Online
Depending on the school you were in, some of you will be used
to using online resources such as moodle. When you register for UCD you get a
UCD connect account, that gives you access to UCD email, newsletters, notice boards
etc. You’ll also have a Blackboard account. Lecturers use Blackboard to keep in
touch with their class – they’ll post announcements, reading lists and
information about the module and assignments. Most lecturers will upload
lecture notes onto Blackboard for the students to access. Students in many courses often decide to set up a Facebook group for their class. This is a great way to communicate with your class and is particularly helpful around assignment and exam time, everyone pulls together and helps each other out. You'll also have access to computers in UCD - computers line the walls of the corridors for students to check emails and timetables and for printing essays etc., you can borrow a laptop from the library for the day and there are computer labs for courses and classes that require them.
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For anyone with a smart phone, there's a handy UCD app that gives
you access to blackboard, the library website, campus maps and
news and events
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And of course, freedom!
As an Arts student, I had about 15 hours of classes a week. That's about the equivalent of two school days. Which means you'll have a lot of free time on your hands. Obviously some hours will be spent studying and completing assignments etc. When you aren't in class you can come and go from UCD as you please, unlike school where students usually can't leave during free periods. There are none of the little rules there are in school - no one's going to give you detention for dying your hair a certain colour or for chewing gum or using your mobile. The only
rules really are to pay attention in class and be respectful to your teachers
and peers. You have to take more responsibility in college than school - there won't be teachers chasing you down if you don't attend class or hand in assignments or miss exams. It's up to you to do the work and to seek help if you're struggling. You're treated like an adult and will have much more control over your life.
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