My college junior daughter will be replying directly to the originator of
this question, but in reading other's responses and after talking to her I
thought I'd add a couple of things she has mentioned to the general discussion here.
The major adjustment she found necessary was the switch to Library of
Congress from the public school Dewey system. Although she was aware of Library of
Congress, she had never before found it necessary to do significant research in
a library organized on this system. She felt she lost valuable time in
learning a new system at a time when she was also struggling to adjust to college
level assignment expectations which already demanded more time to complete.
Another frustration was the switch from MLA to APA, since she is a
physchology major and science oriented majors usually require APA. I believe
someone
else has mentioned this also. In high school MLA was required for all research.
A third new skill was the ability to use online databases such as WilsonWeb
to do research. Each database has its own quirks and it can be like searching
for a needle in a haystack if the student has never used it before.
Finally, online search techniques are vital. So many students just type in
keywords and hope without knowing how to follow leads, refine searches, etc.
If we could introduce high school students to the skills mentioned above it
would make their transition to college academic demands much easier.
Incidentally, my daughter is a straight A student, so I can only imagine the
frustrations of students who do not learn as easily trying to learn these new
skills while adjusting to the demands of college.
Peg Merkley
Reading Specialist
New Hanover-Upper Frederick Elementary School
Frederick, PA
magiemae5@aol.com
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