Graduate school is definitely different from undergrad. Where as my undergrad experience was a lot of projects and tests I only have one test (in total) for all my classes this semester. In my classes so far there have been mostly readings. Unlike my undergrad experience where it didn't actually matter if you read the assigned reading or not because the teacher was going to summarize the information in class anyways, in graduate school if you don't do the readings you won't learn a thing. My teachers sometimes lecture for a short portion of the class but mostly it is based around discussions. Each student is expected to draw from the reading and their experience to come up with points for discussion. Teachers here won't spoon feed you information, they may not even give you the answer to your question instead they present theories and differing sides or the same situation and ask you to decide what you think. It's refreshing to be in a learning environment like that!
So.. looking for some tips?
1. Do as many of the readings as you can. Really read them and think about what they are saying because this is why you are here.
2. Find a group of people in your class who you can form a reading group with and distribute the readings on weeks when the work load is heavy.
3. Set goals to help you regularly talk in class. Most classes have at least 10% of the grade based on participation.
4. Actively make connections between what you are learning in one class with another. Just because a reading wasn't for a certain class doesn't mean you can't bring it up in the discussion. This will make you sound even smarter because you are talking about an outside reading!
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