Volume 7: Academic & Student Success - Supporting Boilermakers Learning

Parents are encouraged to discuss academic expectations with their students before school starts. This conversation should include discussions about structuring their study time, utilizing resources and protecting themselves against potential accusations of academic misconduct.

Studying

The general expectation in college is that students study two to three hours for every hour in the classroom. To graduate in four years, most students will need to take a minimum of 15 credit hours a semester, which translates to 30-45 hours a week of work outside the classroom. And something to note— the GPAs of students who take at least 15 credit hours are typically higher than those who take fewer credit hours.

Encourage your student to do more than basic memorization. Most college exams will focus on applying, interpreting and evaluating the material from lectures, labs and/or textbooks.

Utilizing Resources

Boilermakers utilize resources proactively and often throughout their academic career— it is a benefit AND an expectation. There are many free academic resources available for students from the Helen Bass Williams Academic Success Center (ASC), including:

Supplemental Instruction (SI): These are peer-led, informal study sessions for specific, foundational courses that are known to be rigorous.
Coaching and Consultations: The ASC provides students with one-on-one sessions with a peer (Peer Success Coaching program) or a professional staff member. These sessions can focus on study skills, time management, setting goals or other academic success topics.
Accountability Groups and Workshops: The ASC also provides opportunities to learn more about strategies for learning, studying, and self-management in a small group setting. One of the most popular and newer ASC offerings is accountability groups.

In accountability groups, students will get peer support and connections each week as they meet to set goals, talk about what strategies are or are not working for them and have dedicated study time together.

For students looking for a topic-specific or one-time small group option, the ASC offers a variety of workshops related to strategies and skills needed for college success.
Tutoring and Academic Support Resources: If your student wants additional support for a subject, there are a variety of support services available. While the ASC does not provide tutoring, the website can help students connect with the tutoring and help room resources offered on campus by departments and programs.

The resources available through the Academic Success Center are some of the many academic supports available to your Boilermaker.

Other resources include:

A student’s academic advisor is a great resource and can be the first point of contact when a student doesn’t know where to begin. Academic advisors assist students with navigating resources, setting goals, and making plans toward academic and personal success.
Professors and teaching assistants (TAs) have office hours to meet with students, discuss course content and answer questions. Encourage your student to reach out to their professors and get to know them. Beyond providing help with courses, these connections could lead to other opportunities - such as research or internships.
The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab offers free in-person tutoring for students working on class assignments and other kinds of writing, and students can find supplemental resources, examples and YouTube videos on the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL). Research shows that using the Writing Lab has a positive effect on students' grades.

Avoiding Academic Misconduct

The most common violation of the Code of Student Conduct is related to academic misconduct. Issues such as cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration and the use of unauthorized resources (ex. ChatGPT, Chegg, CourseHero, etc.,) are considered serious infractions and can result in a student failing a course and additional university sanctions for a single offense. Talk with your student about protecting themselves from potential issues of misconduct. For example, students should save drafts of their original work and should not share personal information (such as passwords) or information about tests.

Faculty often encourage and even expect collaboration and group work. However, sometimes collaboration is prohibited. If in doubt, students should review course material and ask questions to determine what level of group work is acceptable on a particular assignment or project.

Boiler Up!
Purdue Parent & Family Connections