How Classes Work

Lectures

Lecture class sizes, especially in first year courses, may be very large. Students are expected to listen carefully and take notes with little guidance from the lecturer in identifying what should be recorded. Learning to take good notes will be a new skill for many people. Lectures usually run for 50 minutes, though some last up to 2 hours. Attendance is not usually compulsory or monitored, so you may miss a lecture and no one will notice. However, you will have missed vital information and any handouts distributed at the lecture. If you are sick or have a genuine reason for missing the lecture, see your lecturer to catch up.

Tutorials

Tutorials are small discussion groups of students lead by a tutor. Students are usually required to attend one tutorial per week for each course. Weekly assignments are often set and may involve a presentation to the group, a written exercise or participation in group discussion. Attendance at tutorials is usually recorded, especially where tutorial participation forms part of the course assessment.

Practicals

Some academic programs have practical classes of up to 3 hours duration. This is common in science-based courses (eg, biology) and many language courses.

Student Study Commitment

To successfully pass your courses, you will need to allocate an appropriate time commitment to your study. In addition to the formal contact time required for each of your courses (e.g. lectures, tutorials, practicals), you will need to allocate non-contact time. Non-contact time will be required for a range of activities which may include, but are not limited to, assessment tasks, reading, researching, note-taking, revision, writing, consultation with staff, and informal discussions with other students. While the relative proportion of contact and non-contact time may vary from course to course, as a guide, a full-time student should expect to spend, on average, a total of 48 hours per week on their studies during teaching periods.