College Life Under Examination C.L.U.E. College Life Under Examination -Kelly Krevey

Purpose Many students come to college to further their knowledge in a particular area. As a result, the typical day for a college student consists of class and studying. Studying helps you practice your concepts and skills that you learned inside the classroom. So I wanted to find out… How do students study? Where do students study? How much do students study? Where is the best place for students to study? What is in common with the places students study? What are the most common places for students to study?

What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student My Freshman Year What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student By: Rebekah Nathan Professor at “Any U” decided to go under cover as a freshman Became an ethnographer – took notes, observations,… “Interviews with the few students who were in the lounges during my observations revealed that the majority came there to “get away”- from a gathering in their room, music blasting in the hall, or a roommate with a guest.” (Nathan, 53)

Specific Questions How do students use the lounge? Why do students choose the places they study?

Methods I Used Observed the Lounge and Library Surveyed student’s daily schedules Interviewed people Used class mates collected data and observations To see how students use these spaces To see how often they go to the Library and how long To find out their preferences when it comes to studying To obtain more data to help draw conclusions

Purpose of Ethnography Reflect on learned knowledge Understand a cultural group and why they do the things they do As an Ethnographer one must: Participate Blend in (people do not act the same if they know they are being watched) Ask questions Take notes Be Open minded Observe (Health and Street)

Collected Data Columbia 2nd Floor Lounge In order to learn how students use the lounge, I decided every time I walked passed the lounge I would tally what each person was doing. 1 2 INtroduce INsert

More space to spread out Collected Data Columbia 2nd Floor Lounge Continued In addition, I asked each of the students why they come to the lounge. When I interviewed the students, I found similar reasons why they came to the lounge. When I asked the students why they came to the lounge, this is what they said: Easier to concentrate More space to spread out Roommate is sleeping Less distracting Roommate is watching TV Better for groups It’s quiet 2 Over all my conclusion is the lounge is used for many reasons both social and academic but it is mostly used for academic reasons such as homework, studying and projects. 3 2. INsert 3. INterpret

Further Investigation After realizing the lounge was mostly used for studying and completing school work, I was then wondering where else do students study? When thinking where else do students study the Library came to my mind first.

Collected Data Bloomsburg Library When looking at the time diaries I collected students who tend to go to the library spend 2 or more hours completing work and studying. I also found that some students to the library between classes. Diary 1 6:00 to 8:00 – Wake up; Drive to School 8:00 to 11:00 – Class 11:00 to 12:00 – Lunch 12:00 to 2:00 – Class 2:00 to 4:00 – Library 4:00 to 9:00 – Work 9:00 to 11:00 – Home; Relax 11:00 – Sleep Diary 2 6:30 to 6:45– Wake up 6:45 to 7:45 – Gym 7:45 to 8:30 – Breakfast 8:30 to 10:00 – Shower get ready 10:00 to 11:00 – Homework in room 11:00 to 1:00 – Class 1:00 to 2:00 – Lunch 2:00 to 5:00 – Class 5:00 to 6:00 – Dinner 6:00 to 8:00 – Library 8:00 to 11:00 – Relax 11:00 – Bed Diary 3 9:00 to 9:30 – Wake up 9:30 to 11:00 – School work 11:00 to 11:30 – Lunch 11:30 to 12:45 – Library 1:00 to 1:50 – Class 1:50 to 3:00 – Library 3:00 to 4:15 – Class 4:15 to 5:00 – Dinner 5:00 to 6:00 – Gym 6:00 to 9:00 – Library 9:00pm to 2:00am - Relax 2:00am – Bed

What does the library have to offer? Collected Data Bloomsburg Library Continued When looking at the previous data from the library I wondered why these students chose the library? I then decided to find out what the library has to offer. What does the library have to offer? Computers Printing/Photo-copying Books/Periodicals/Magazines Group Study Rooms Personal Cubbies Librarian Quiet Atmosphere

Further Investigation After checking out the Library I decided to go straight to the students to figure out their study preferences.

Collected Data Interviews *Majority of people prefer to study in their own private space

Collected Data Interviews *Majority of students spend around 4 hours a day completing school work or studying

What are some ways you study? Collected Data Interviews What are some ways you study? Flash Cards Study Guides Practice Problems Rereading the Book Power Points Rereading Notes Highlighting Make Slide Shows or Outlines Organizing Notes Reading the Book Memorization Doing the Questions at the end of the Chapter Discussions with Peers Type up notes Look over Notes *These answers were all given by Bloomsburg students. Each student named more than one way they study which shows the majority of students who study use more than one technique.

Collected Data Interviews *Depending on whether you study alone or with someone else determines where you will study.

Further Investigation While the library and the lounges are important study places, I noticed that students study in many other places on campus. Let’s check out where else student’s study!

Collected Data Kehr Computer Lab As I looked at the data Sarah collected I felt this was another place students would complete work or hang between classes. Kehr Computer Lab 1 “Bloomsburg students go to the Kehr Computer Lab to work on the computers, type schoolwork, use the internet, or check e-mails or even facebook. A lot of the students come to print papers or notes and PowerPoint slides from classes. “ – Sarah Stover 2 From reading all of Sarah’s findings you can see that students come to the computer labs to print notes to study from or follow along in class. 3 INtroduction INsert INterpret (Stover, 2011)

Collected Data Starbucks on Campus When reading Talyor’s observations about Starbucks I noticed she mentioned that she saw students completing their homework in a coffee shop. I thought to my self why the coffee shop? Is it a place of comfort? Is it the closest place to their next class? 1 “I also noticed only a couple people who did sit down in Starbucks do their homework right there.” – Taylor Adams 2 Although This shows that students do their work almost anywhere. 3 INtroduce INsert INterpret

Conclusions Between my findings and my peers I found that students study in a variety of spaces (Coffee shops, benches outside, computer rooms, libraries, dorms, lounges, apartments,…) but everyone has their own special space and own reason for choosing that space. It’s all that persons preference. Some students live off campus or on upper campus and choose to stay on lower campus between classes to complete work or socialize with friends. While students living in dorms prefer to go back to their rooms or study on their floor’s lounges. In addition students have many ways of studying. Many redo practice problems, reread the book, make flash cards, or simply just look over notes. But their reasons for choosing these types of study habits are all different. Mostly everyone has more than one way and has their own preference of studying alone or within a group which infers that studying can be influenced on a persons social habits. Because most of my findings showed where you study or with whom you study was all preference, Does personality make a difference in the way you study?

Work Cited Adams, T. (2011) Personal Page. Retrieved from http://sherry- adaptation12.wikispaces.com/CLUE+step+2. September 28. Heath, S and Street, B. (2008). On Ethnography: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research. New York: Teachers College. Print. Nathan, R. (2005). My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student. New York: Penguin Group, Ltd. Stover, S. (2011) Personal Page. Retrieved from http://sherry- adaptation12.wikispaces.com/Stover+CLUE+Step+2a. September 28.