By nature, university is more difficult than year 12, and becomes increasingly difficult as you progress through your degree(s) given that units that you would need to complete at the later stages in your degree(s) explore more sophisticated content within your chosen field(s) of study. It is therefore important to ensure that you remain up-to-date with the content in the units that you take each semester/trimester and that you seek clarification regarding any aspect of the content that you may not feel confident with. Doing so will assist you as you complete university assignments and prepare for exams, especially final exams, which, depending on the type of unit, may be allocated substantial weightings.
The good thing about university is that it offers increased flexibility compared to high school. This means that, for example, you do not necessarily need to take the maximum number of units allowed per session if you feel like it would be overwhelming to do so at a particular point in time or if you have other commitments that may need you to take on a lighter study load (such as a part-time job), although this could potentially extend the length of your degree(s). Still, it is good to have this option in the first place, as opposed to high school, where there is a specified sequence that you must adhere to.
The types of classes that you will be required to attend during your time at university will depend on the degree(s) that you wish to study. There are a number of class types that you may wish to familiarise yourself with, including:
- Lectures - These are the most common type of class and provide you with the knowledge that is relevant to the units that you are taking throughout the semester/trimester. Lectures can be held at university campuses and also be made available online (depending on specific units) and may be compulsory to attend or optional. It is highly likely that, regardless of the degree(s) that you will be studying, you will be attending and/or viewing lecture material.
- Tutorials - These are sessions during which content covered in lectures is discussed. Students are provided with the opportunity to enter into discussions with their tutor (the technical name for a tutorial teacher) which can include applications of the content covered in a particular week's lecture. Students may also have the opportunity to test their knowledge by completing relevant exercises. Tutorials are common in a range of degrees.
- Seminars - In my experience, seminars are essentially longer classes that constitute a combination of a lecture and a tutorial and go for 3 hours. Because they are based on this combination, the aim of a seminar is for content to be delivered to students by their seminar leader as well as to provide an opportunity for that content to be discussed/applied. Depending on unit structure and level, seminars may only cover content up until halfway through a semester/trimester, after which students begin completing major assignments, which can be both individual and group assignments. If you are studying a business/commerce (or related) degree, you may need to take seminar-based units at some point in your university journey. They may also be relevant to other degrees, although I doubt that seminars are included in many degrees.
- Practicals - These are classes that involve more hands-on learning, as opposed to tutorials, and are more common in degrees that involve practical elements (for instance, science and engineering degrees). Depending on unit structure/level, practicals may contribute to your assessment within particular units.
University campuses usually have both lecture halls and classrooms similar to those of schools (where classes other than lectures are typically run). It is unlikely that you will only find yourself in lecture halls for the duration of your degree(s).
I hope this helps!
