Study Program

University education prepares the student for a life of significance and responsibility. It is for self-transformation of students into young men and women to take up positions of leadership in society.  It is also a time for self-discovery, when students can establish their own values and measures of success, so they can forge their own path.

University differs from school in so many ways!

Many are obvious but some are not so obvious ways. University is the first setting where young students are expected to function as adults, not large children. It is observed that students generally do not enter university with a work ethic that prepares them for the expectations of professors or requirements of the course. Almost all the rules of the game of schooling that students have so carefully mastered over the preceding 12 years are either discarded or modified radically. For example a university course requires students to read eight to ten books in the same period that a junior college class requires only one or two. 

University students are expected to write multiple well reasoned research papers in short periods of time. The focus is on expository, descriptive, and persuasive writing, and to write extensively and within short time-frames, present arguments clearly, substantiate each point. This is in sharp contrast to school assignments, where students may not have written such papers at all.

Even if the name of university course looks similar to the name of a school subject, the expectations for engagement, independent work, motivation, and intellectual development are fundamentally different. Even the student-teacher relationship is different. University professors expect students to generally think deeply about what they are being taught. These are skills that students typically do not develop extensively in school years.

Moving away from the paradigm of "A mile wide but inch deep" - (Covering a large set of topics but on a very shallow level.)  

Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline. The goal is to have students develop an understanding of the structure of the discipline and to retain specific content knowledge within this structure.  There are standards that specify what students will know and be able to do in each of the core academic areas. This sort of a structure facilitates a more logical progression and development of knowledge mastery over two years of senior school. 

Writing Skills

Writing is the primary means by which students are evaluated in the university. This 2 year course aims to develop students' mastery over expository, descriptive, and persuasive writing. They will learn to present arguments clearly, substantiate each point. They will also learn how to pre-write, how to edit, and how to re-write a piece once and feedback has been provided. The course of study prepares them to be able to write a lot in short periods of time.

Critical Research Capabilities

Students will carry out authentic research projects while learning skills like defining a researchable problem, gathering and evaluating the credibility and validity of data from a variety of sources and producing a written analysis that marshals evidence in support of the claim.  Students gain skills in selecting appropriate resources, differentiating between scholarly and popular information sources, search strategies for precise searching, and evaluation of found information sources, synthesizing and incorporating the material into a paper or reports.

These are at the heart of the intellectual endeavor of the university. Without the capability to think in these ways, a student entering college either struggles mightily until these habits begin to develop or misses out on the largest portion of what college has to offer

1. Intellectual openness

The student possesses curiosity and a thirst for deeper understanding, questions the views of others when those views are not logically supported, accepts constructive criticism, and changes personal views if warranted by the evidence. Such open-mindedness helps students understand the ways in which knowledge is constructed, broadens personal perspectives and helps students deal with the novelty and ambiguity often encountered in the study of new subjects and new materials. 

2. Inquisitiveness

The student engages in active inquiry and dialogue about subject matter and research questions and seeks evidence to defend arguments, explanations, or lines of reasoning. The student does not simply accept as given any assertion that is presented or conclusion that is reached, but asks why things are so.

3. Analysis 

The student identifies and evaluates data, material, and sources for quality of content, validity, credibility, and relevance. The student compares and contrasts sources and findings and generates summaries and explanations of source materials. 

4. Reasoning, argumentation, proof 

The student utilizes recognized forms of reasoning to construct an argument and defend a point of view or conclusion; accepts critiques of or challenges to assertions; and addresses critiques and challenges by providing a logical explanation or refutation, or by acknowledging the accuracy of the critique or challenge 

5. Interpretation 

The student analyzes competing and conflicting descriptions of an event or issue to determine the strengths and flaws in each description and any commonalities among or distinctions between them; synthesizes the results of such an analysis into a coherent explanation; states the interpretation that is most  likely correct or  is  most reasonable, based on the available evidence; and presents orally or in writing an extended description, summary, and evaluation of varied perspectives and conflicting points of view on a topic or issue. 

6. Precision and accuracy 

The student knows what type of precision is appropriate to the task and the subject area, uses precision appropriately to reach correct conclusions in the context of the task.

7. Problem solving 

The student develops and applies multiple strategies to solve routine problems, generate strategies to solve non-routine problems, and applies methods of problem solving to complex problems requiring method-based problem solving.

1. Self Monitoring 

• the ability to reflect on what worked and what needed improvement in any particular academic task

• the tendency to persist when presented with a novel, difficult, or ambiguous task

• the tendency to identify and systematically select among and employ a range of learning strategies

• and the capability to transfer learning and strategies from familiar settings and situations to new ones 

2. Self Study 

Nature of university learning requires that significant amounts of time be devoted to learning outside of class. Study skills encompass a range of active learning strategies that go far beyond reading the text and answering the homework questions. 

• accurately estimating how much time it takes to complete all outstanding and anticipated tasks and allocating sufficient time to complete the tasks 

• preparing for and taking examinations

• using information resources

• taking class notes

• communicating with teachers and advisors 

• ability to participate successfully in a study group and recognize the critical importance of study groups to success in specific subjects 

• prioritizing study time in relation to competing demands such as work and socializing.