Dana T. Johnson - Will This Be on the Test?: What Your Professors Really Want You to Know about Succeeding in College

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Over my four decades of teaching, Ive noticed many misconceptions on the part of students that affect their ability to be successful in college. Many believe that colleges operate the way high schools do, with teachers who decorate the bulletin boards in their classrooms, check homework, and review intensively to get all of their students to pass the end-of-course exams. But colleges and college professors are different.

If freshmen had a better understanding of the higher education system, they could make more effective use of their four years and thousands of tuition dollars to set themselves up for a lifetime of success. This book is a guide, from the perspective of your professors, about how to get the most out of college courses, create academic relationships, and develop valuable skills for the future.

There are other books that give advice about other aspects of college life, such as how to get along with your roommate or how to manage your college loans. This book focuses on academics, which is the primary reason that colleges exist. A book came out a few years ago called My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student. The author, Rebekah Nathan, was an anthropology professor who went undercover as a freshman at the large state university where she taught. As she suspected, she found that students did not understand the process of teaching and learning in the ways instructors wish them to. Thats when I realized that a professor can go undercover as a student to see the student perspective, but no college freshman can go undercover as a professor to see the professors point of view. This book is my attempt to show students the professors perspective and how we expect our students to perform.

In 1996, I taught a math course for masters students who were preparing to be elementary school teachers. One of the students was a bright young woman, Mindi, who had recently finished her bachelors degree at a large, prestigious state university. She told me the story of her initial experience there and how she nearly dropped out. She was the first person in her family to go to college. She didnt understand the workings of the college environment and assumed it would be an extension of how high school worked. She was overwhelmed by the complexities. She didnt know how to structure her work without daily deadlines and reminders. Or that she could go to the instructors office to discuss her concerns about her progress or her cluelessness about expectations. She didnt know other students in her classes, so she felt alone. She didnt know about the support systems offered by the college, such as a writing center or tutoring services. Her response was to crawl into bed and pull the covers over her head.

Mindi was saved by four students who lived on her floor of the dorm. They recognized her plight and pulled her out from under the blankets and helped her figure it all out. Mindi said she was eternally grateful to these friends. We talked about how many other students were in her situation but werent as lucky. The focus of her high school had been on getting her into college. She said she wished that someone had mentored her to know what to expect once she got there.

Some aspects of Mindis experience are typical of every students introduction to college. Until students get familiar with the expectations and customs of the new environment, they can be uncomfortable and feel out of place. College is the on-ramp to a competitive job market where not everyone can be a big winner. Using college to develop professional skills and cultivate relationships with professors whose letters of recommendation are crucial to the next step in life can make a big difference.

The stories and cartoons in this book are all based on my experiences and those of hundreds of other professors from all over the country. Colleagues, both friends and strangers, have shared their stories in academic hallways, at conferences, on airplanes, on Facebook, and via email. I have had many messages with the subject line, Heres one for your book! The common thread in their stories is their concern that too many students do not understand the culture and expectations of their college environmentand that this misunderstanding is affecting their academic success.

Our hope is that by reading this book you will be better prepared for the challenges of college classes when you start. If you are clueless, this book will help you get off on the right foot. If you already know a bit about the ropes, it can make you even more accomplished. If you are already in college courses, this book can also help you optimize your efforts. We all want you to be successful while you are in college and for a lifetime afterward.

This book may also be of interest to others, such as parents, professors, college admissions personnel, high school counselors, and others working with students who are college bound. We all share a goal of success for students.

There is a tremendous range of experiences across various colleges. This book will focus on typical experiences at four-year programs. Community colleges sometimes provide more structured support for students than most four-year schools; however, the information in this book is useful for students at all colleges, including two-year programs.

Although this book is based on experiences at American colleges, much of the information is applicable to higher education in other countries. But there are certainly differences in classroom culture and academic expectations in various countries. For non-US students wishing to apply to American colleges or to come to the United States for a study-abroad experience, this book should be especially valuable.

Notes to the reader:

My daughter, Jennifer Price, has written for this book. She is a biologist and a college instructor with a great deal of experience in teaching online courses.

There is a glossary at the end of this book that defines some academic terms. If you encounter a word that is unfamiliar to you, please check the glossary. Reading the glossary in its entirety may also be a good source of information about college.

Prior to publication, this book was reviewed by high school and college students, professors at a variety of institutions, college admissions personnel, high school counselors, parents, and SAT prep tutors. All were supportive of our mission to provide this sort of good, practical information for college students.