Feeling excited? Nervous? Wondering what’s ahead, how you’ll do? University life can be exhilarating, nerve-wracking, and illuminating. Academic Culture and Expectations (ACE) is a guide developed for students from cultures from around the world that provides advice to help you ‘ACE’ your time at Trent.
Let's Start with you!
Did you study in the Canadian school system or in another country? Did you learn in English or another language? Did you have instructor-led classes or a more student-driven model?
You bring unique strengths and good skills with you to Trent, and to reach your full potential as a student, you will want to build on your strengths, be open to new ideas, new ways of thinking, and new approaches to learning. Check out the video below for some quick tips for adjusting to university and click through the sections on this page about Independent Learning, Collaborative Learning, and Supports and Resources to help support you as you adjust to the university learning environment.
The new academic environment at Trent may seem foreign to you at first. Check out our glossary of common terms used at Trent to help get you started.
Independent Learning
Education at Trent reflects the Canadian individualist culture, where individual effort, reward, and ideas are highlighted through independent learning and students taking control of their own learning. At Trent you will encounter a greater degree of independence, and academic tasks that may differ from those you experienced in high school or another educational setting. The resources in this section are designed to help you navigate your new academic environment with confidence.
Workload & The Syllabus
The workload at Trent may be heavier than what you are used to, and the work is spread over the entire semester. Most courses require students to write assignments; shorter assignments may be due weekly and longer assignments generally require several weeks to complete. Evaluation may also consist of several short quizzes, mid-terms, or final exams. This online guide offers tips for time management.
To learn more about what to expect in your courses, read over the course syllabus. The video below provides and overview of how to navigate a Trent syllabus.
Lectures & Readings
During lectures and seminars students should listen, engage, think, take notes, and question the material being presented. Get the most from lectures.
While doing course readings, students should ask questions, think about the concepts, and how the reading connects to other ideas in the course. Get the most from your readings.
Writing
Writing assignments at Trent foster critical thinking and communication skills that are required at university and beyond. There are many different types of writing that you may not be familiar with. Here are some tips on writing assignment that you may encounter at Trent.
Critical Thinking
You may have come from a school environment where memorization is highly valued. While memorization plays an important part in your learning at Trent, critical thinking is also highly valued. Critical thinking is an essential skill for fully understanding complex concepts and ideas. This short video explains critical thinking:
Academic Honesty
Most writing assignments and testing reflect independent work and adhere to the rules of academic integrity. This means that the principles of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility must be upheld by all. Watch the following video to learn more about Academic Integrity at Trent and read this guide on how to avoid plagiarism.
Technology and Productivity
As an independent learner you will benefit from knowing how to navigate and use various computer tools. To start, you should become familiar with Trent's online learning management system, Blackboard. Check out the video below for how to navigate Blackboard.
Here are a few other resources to help you get familiar with Trent’s technology:
Collaborative Learning
While university learning often involves independent study, collaboration is also an important part of the Trent experience. Throughout your courses, you will have opportunities to learn alongside your peers in seminars, tutorials, labs, and group projects. These experiences help you develop communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills while gaining new perspectives from others.
Working in Groups
There are many opportunities for group learning inside and outside of the classroom. Some assignments at Trent are based on group projects. Your group may research and develop a position, organize ideas, and create a cohesive report. Your group may collaborate on writing the report and all group members are expected to contribute to the project. Check out this video on Strategies for Effective Group Work:
Participating in Seminar and Tutorials
Students participate in seminars and tutorials. By completing readings prior to class and participating in the class discussion you can learn from each other. This brief video provides tips on class participation.
Participating in Science Labs
At Trent, collaboration begins in first-year science labs where students work in groups to perform experiments. All group members have equal voices and share goals of completing the experiment and recording data. Lab reports are then written individually. This online guide explains how to write lab reports.
Orientation
Orientation sessions conducted by Academic Skills are available in the beginning of each semester. These sessions are geared towards getting you started academically at Trent and may include topics such as: Managing the University Reading Load, Time Management Tips, and a Mock Lecture with Note Taking Tips!
Academic Skills
The Academic Skills website contains lots of information that will help you with managing your time, writing different types of assignments, using different types of sources, documenting your sources and much more!
Academic Skills instructors are in each of the Colleges and at Trent Durham and can help you with academic writing, skill building, and numeracy. We offer free, 45-minute, confidential individual appointments.
Academic Skills Tool Kit
Look for The Academic Skills Tool Kit in many Blackboard sites. The Tool Kit offers learning support for that course, and you will find short videos, tools, and templates on study skills, time management, writing resources, and much more!
Course Specific Support
For course-content help, start by reviewing your course Blackboard site, looking at your textbook, and reviewing your course syllabus (on Blackboard) for more information. If you still have questions, you could attend Professor or Teaching Assistant office hours. Find these times in your course syllabus. This short video provides advice on how to email your teaching assistant or professor.