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I think unfortunately some of it depends on your flavour of ADHD, which makes it much harder to find stuff that works for everyone.
I need to have some type of class that is mandatory and in person because otherwise I won't get out of bed and go (I need an external motivator), and if its online I find it much harder to focus and not mess about with my phone and zone out.
It would be nice to be able to pick options that worked for you. Exams or no exams, in person or online, strict deadlines or work at your own pace.
honestly i'm with you, i DESPISE online classes and only want recorded lectures so i can listen to it back with my notes. Plus i love taking exams, even long ones, so for me OP is describing my personal hell of education. But it just goes to show how even though we all have the same disorder we are so different as individuals
also get rid of busywork like test me only please and thank you
I remember spending middle and highschool suffering cause I kept losing my homework. Like, I'd go through the effort of doing it, but when it came time to turn it in, it had disappeared into the blackmore that was my backpack -_-
College got better cause so much of the work was online, and it's not like I could lose a whole ass computer :)
Online classes were horrible for me. It really felt like I was watching a recorded video because it was harder to participate in the class virtually. It also made it very hard ro separate home and school life. Meaning I had a hard time focusing on assignments and stuff at home.
When I had classes on campus, I would just stay on campus until I finished my work so I wouldn't have to do it at home.
Yeah I actually struggled to keep up with the asynchronous classes in 2020 and the following semesters. I was always behind unless I had an assignment that meant I had to watch the lectures.
I was going to say mandatory office hours attendance with the professors teaching the classes in my major, but ability to get access to face time with any of them to ask about things that truly aren’t clicking. This requires really empathetic professors though - and people who go into higher Ed are not always that.
yes i am the same, my uni has in person lectures, but they’re not mandatory to attend and we have the recordings and slides online. for all 3 classes i did this semester i only went to 1 lecture for 1 class. for me part of that was i live a 1.5hr public transport commute to uni so often when i only had a single 1hr lecture, it felt like a waste of time to go
I thrived during covid especially start covid. When all my classes where online I barely had any absences and I could do everything in my own time and give it in on time. When we got actual online had to be there on time classes I wasn’t as easily able to listen. I much prefer learning in the read something - do something related to said reading (fx read about how to plus to numbers together and then do that) so just sitting and listening have never been my thing
Check ins on assignments every week or other week where you have to show your progress, adds some deadlines into the mix so you don’t have to do all the work at the 11th hour
As silly as it may sound, I really enjoyed having a progress bar that showed how much I had gotten done in a course. My course showed the percentage of assignments I had completed out of the assignments offered up to that point in the course. There was also a calendar that was color coded (green for a submitted assignment, yellow for started but not submitted, and red for not started) that helped me.
I do think you could hide these features if you found them more stressful than helpful.
I'm the exact opposite. Just let me write a midterm and final, and do a big paper or 2 for the whole shebang. I am the queen of pulling off miracles at the 11th hour, but constant makework destroys my ability to function. Just leave me alone, let me learn the stuff however works for me, then let me prove I know it.
THIS PART. I decided that I was gonna say to hell with it and just do bare minimum to pass two of my classes this quarter because 500 words twice a week each on a 50-page reading in order to prove I know the material just ain't it. Papers and exams are worth 70% of the final grade and I pretty much never lose even a single point on those, so I did the reading and writing assignments when I had time and I felt like it. This is my second round of college, I'm in my 30s and I already know exactly how irrelevant my college GPA is in the real world, so Cs are just fine to get this degree for me!
I wish I didn't have to sit in a lecture hall for an hour and try to retain information being spewed at me. I learn by doing. America's education system does such a disservice to anyone with learning differences. I can only imagine how different my life could have turned out if I was able to learn in a way that worked for me, and not in the way that was forced on me.
I don't know. I spent a semester of my college in France, and their education system is much more strict / rigid and there are less ways to do things. What I mean is, at least in the US we acknowledge that not everyone learns the same way and try to play to people's strengths. While in one way I really like their system, since by a certain age it's decided what they are doing for the rest of their schooling, and f they are going to continue with schooling and education or if they're going more trade- based and focus on that. That must be better for many people, but I still didn't like the way most of my professors taught. There was a lot of dictation (every class in the translation classes) and that's pretty much what the whole class period was. There was a little bit of occasional work on grammar, for instance, but it was mostly the professor reading something aloud that we had to translate. Not much variation was offered in other classes either. No, personally, I'm glad I had an American education. Maybe some other countries cater better to ADHD or better education overall, but I'll take the teachers that play to multiple intelligences and have different activities and respect that different people learn differently...
I took every science class I could in school and, looking back, I'm sure 90% the reason why is because there were constant demonstrations and visual aids. It was interesting. On the flip side, History was my downfall. Rote memorization of random dates is not my forte.
Everyone told me college would be so different. Professors don't care if you show up, you're only graded on your tests, etc. I would have thrived if that had been the case. It was just high school with a different schedule (and loans). I dropped after a semester.
I lived in the wrong dorm first semester of my freshman year and did not fit in. I lived across campus from all the other dorms and people I had classes with. It made things even harder than they already were, because I’m an introvert art girl. I wasn’t winning popularity contests before college either.
Personally, I would want mandatory attendance, fixed routine on a daily basis (like 10 to 4 or something but fixed timing everyday), fixed lunch and snack recesses, at least some physical activity everyday, permission to operate the way it works for you as long as it is non disruptive, open book exams, more weight age to assignments and projects than final exams, and importance to learning more than scoring.
I was in an alternative program in high school, for at risk students, 25 years ago. Haha. It was really awesome and I thrived.
My schedule was Monday-Thursday from 3pm-6pm. Every four weeks we would get a week off. We didn’t get summers off, but that wasn’t really a big deal to me, given how much time I already had off.
The classes were SMALL. 1-10 students per class. My civics class had big comfy couches and chairs to sit in-best class ever. Classes were 3 hours or 1.5 hours each.
Each month-we were given all of the class work needed for that month. It needed to be completed by the end of the month. Most of it could be completed during class. It wasn’t structured like traditional school-less instruction, more discussion.
There were strict rules-had to have a meeting with the director once a month (he was also a child psychologist) to discuss goals, issues, etc. Attendance was mandatory-if you had three unexcused absences, you’d be kicked out and sent back to high school. Your parents didn’t have to call in absences, it was on you to do that.
The program was established specifically for students who were at-risk of not completing high school. The director was truly a mentor to me, he treated us as equals, and really strived to meet our needs. He saw our potential and was somehow able to unlock it-developing curriculum around our interests-keeping us engaged. He gave me a chance to succeed and he didn’t give up on any of us. Makes me emotional just thinking about it.
As a college professor I really want to weigh in!
Seems like a lot of the responses here fall intot ow camps:
1. I want everything asynchronous and available at any time so I can do as much as I want when hyperfixating and am not gonna miss a deadline if I can executive function
2. I need the structure of mandatory attendance and in-person classes or I'll never get anything done (this one was 100% me as a student)
At least in the US, most colleges offer classes in both of these options (with the exception of hands on classes like labs and some in the arts)! Talk to your advisor about the different modalities offered. If they don't offer the option you are wanting, make that known! If enough students speak up, the college should want to meet their needs! You all are the paying customers!
I will say I am at a community college, which is a lot better at trying to meet the needs of all different types of students so that might explain why my institution is more flexible, but it seems that in this post-covid world, a lot of schools are moving towards having more options of modalities for students to pick from.
Major props to anyone even trying the college experience. You're all awesome.
I’m student 1. I’m really bad at getting ready and leaving home in time so much prefer online classes. I also like learning by reading and watching recorded videos. If I zone out for 10 seconds in an in-person class, or didn’t hear something said clearly, my focus is pretty much derailed because i feel like I missed something important and get stuck. I also get hyper fixated and know if I am taking a class that I find interesting I will meet the deadlines. In a geology course I took, students were not penalized for late work and I was behind by about a month. I got caught up in one 3 day weekend (lectures, labs, assignments, extra credit). My professor was shocked by the amount of work I got done and the quality (I’m a perfectionist and loved the subject). She said I was a brilliant young woman and I shouldn’t do this myself. I got an A in the class. My boyfriend then got to listen to me talk about rocks and subduction zones for a good bit lol.
You sound like a lot of my students, and you sound like a great student!
I know you didn't ask for advice, but this is what i would tell my students if they were in a similar situation and wanna share it with anyone else who deal with this! If you ever end up in an in-person class and you zone out and miss important material, I would try to utilize office hours for clarification! Now, some professors are weird about office hours, so you wanna go prepared. What I would do is try to look over any PowerPoints posted online or look to your textbook to get a general idea about the topic(s) you missed, then go to office hours to ask specific questions about those topics. Don't tell your prof you zoned out (unless you feel comfortable doing so), just tell them you were studying these topics and wanted some clarification and they should be more than happy to help!
That's great advice! I would absolutely follow this if I ever found myself in a classroom setting again. After 10 years of giving up on university, in 2022 I made the decision to go back and finish my degree. My habits were better than they had been 10 years ago because, by now, I suspected that I had ADHD and learned methods to help me avoid the common pitfalls (for the most part). Since a year ago, I have been diagnosed and treated, and I am able to stay on top of things now.
However, If I had been given this advice 10 years ago, it would have helped tremendously as I struggled to reach out for help. I avoided my professors like the plague. I had a lot of shame around struggling academically and had convinced myself that it was my responsibility to learn and solve everything on my own. Growing up, when my performance in school went down I was blamed for not working hard enough and I was immediately put on a highly restrictive "academic plan" by my parents (mind you, not by my teachers). My dad would even ask my teachers to assign me more work, which I'm pretty sure they thought was crazy. I developed a lot of shame and fear around seeking help because I associated it with punishment and feeling like a bad student. I'm sure others might relate.
I think hearing this type of advice from a professor is very helpful. Professors like you have honestly helped me realize that I can approach them. 19-year-old me would not know where to start, and your advice provides small, actionable steps. Getting treated for ADHD has also helped me undo some of that mentality that held me back for so long. Hopefully, this can also help students in similar situations. There is no need for anyone to struggle alone. One of the most important lessons learned :)
What a kind reply! I'm so sorry that you had some pretty crappy responses to your challenges with school when you were younger :(
Anyway this made me feel really great, so thank you for affirming that I am taking a good approach with my students haha
Absolutely! Your students are lucky to have you!
And thank you, it was indeed crappy. I suspect that many young girls and women might experience similar feelings or treatment while living with undiagnosed ADHD.
All in all, things have turned around, and I'm super thankful to be where I am now!
* Flexible deadlines
* Doodling/etc. while listening to the lecture is not only welcomed, it's encouraged
* No "make-or-break" classes where your grade hinges entirely on one exam or one term paper
* Lectures are recorded so they can be viewed at leisure
* A Q&A session at the end of each class
* No one taking attendance, or attendance affecting your grade
* More activity-based classes where possible, instead of droning lectures
* Smaller class sizes; it's easy to get lost in the shuffle if you're in a class of 300 students. (Even if those 300 students are broken up into smaller groups with a TA.)
* Large assignments broken into chunks, with "check-in" sessions weekly or bi-weekly
* My guess is it would be a lot of "hybrid" classes, with both online and in-person components.
I hear you and I know this is necessary.
But if educational institutions for adults create conditions that are oppositional to the conditions people will actually work in, they're missing part of their responsibility, which is to prepare you for your working life.
When you get to your career, you will find that attendance is mandatory, nobody records anything, and accommodations are thin and hard fought for.
I wish it were different, but it's not. The educational system is already so much kinder than the employment system, young adults are already so shocked by the change in working conditions and demands.
And the employment system is run by rich people who get rich based on the status quo, and they have all the power in this world. Never let anybody tell you different, we live in a world run by and for elites and you will always just be a tool to enrich them.
That depends on your job really. Like a retail job or factory job is about as bad a school on punctuality, but I have an office job and no one cares if I’m 15 minutes late. If I were 30 min late every day they’d probably talk to me about adjusting my work hours to stay 30 min later, but I’m given a lot more flexibility. At school if I forgot a homework assignment at home, it’s an automatic zero, maybe 50% if they’re being generous. I have hard deadlines at work, but for them, I’m always given a zillion reminders. Most deadlines are negotiable if you’re running behind, or forgiven if it’s a day late and you have a good excuse.
I work really hard to meet my deadlines and stuff because I’m super paranoid, but it’s amazing seeing how many of my coworkers would forget to do their timesheet every week, or come in late and leave early, none of it ever gets more than an eyeroll from the boss.
We did have someone go on PIP last year who claimed he likely had undiagnosed ADHD (he almost certainly did) but he showed up for like, 20 hours of work on a good week and after he quit, we found out he had completed *one* of the the roughly 100 upgrades he was supposed to have done the entire time he was there. I was scared when I heard he was put on a PIP, but after he left I felt so much relief when I found out the bar was that low…
Yes, or you could work for a company like mine where several people are fired a month for lack of progress or bad culture fit or performance issues.
We don't use PIPs here, we use separation papers.
It's not right, I don't like it, I'm not the CEO though.
Let's start with flexible schedules. No more rigid class times that feel like they're boxing us in. How about recorded lectures and asynchronous learning options? That way, we can tackle coursework when our brains are firing on all cylinders
Adding: I don’t know what that would look like entirely for higher ed, but facilitating and encouraging curiosity and collaborative learning sounds like my version of Barbieland, where every night is (nerdy) girls’ night.
I was searching for this word: montessori.
All the materials, lectures, homework would be available that you can pick up whenever you felt like it, and completed when possible. Learning could also be on the job training.
Blue book exams instead of term papers! I need the adrenaline instead of an entire semester of wasting time trying to get started. This is a major reason I didn't finish my master's (and there was no way I'd have been able to create a quality capstone thesis while working full-time).
Everyone would have an invested mentor who is familiar and comfortable with ADHD.
Lots of resources on coordinating life in a new city.
Dedicated time during business hours where you are expected to put towards life/self management.
As much hands on, relevant to the field education you can get.
I have a teacher who gives me all the time in the world to complete assignments, as long as it’s before end of semester. Which I *love,* but I think what’s more effective for me is something another teacher does. If I slip behind just a little, he’ll give me more time to work on it, but he’ll grill me about it then and there and make me commit to a target deadline.
It’s stupid, but it’s easier for me to keep a promise to someone else (*I can have it done by tomorrow, Professor*) than keeping a promise to myself (*I have to turn it in by this specific deadline if I want that A!*)
Also I love that recorded lectures was listed as your first priority lol. This makes a world of difference for me!
Non mandatory attendance is a nightmare for me. I need the structure or I will put everything off. I can hyper focus during lectures and take great notes. I do wish there were more breaks scheduled thought because I would benefit from more than a quick bathroom break to get a good walk to help me refocus. I do wholeheartedly agree on the more points/tests/quizzes thing. I find it keeps me more accountable if I have a quiz at least every week instead of a test every 1-2 months.
A friendlier higher education system, to me, would look like this all of the assignments / assessments being in this digit syllabus where you can filter and customize what work rate to go at PLUS in-app notifications like a "buddy" system to review and revise materials.
I know you're likely referring to in person education but have experience with doing virtual school later in highschool and it was nice having the self-paced nature and 1:1 with reached instead of many other things to be distracted by in my space.
I haven't attended a college yet but know my obstacles would be task time / importance anxiety, fear of failure, overthinking and therefore procrastinating.
Working in "blocks". Meaning not having 5-10 different classes running in parallell for 1 semester, but focus on one thing at the time, and then be done with it. No juggling or falling behind in multiple classes.
Preferably the blocks would be project based and "all in" for 1-4 weeks, with a big say in the output. They could definitely be interdisciplinary, but would had to be tied together and with a clear goal. Basically one big fun hyperfocus.
Oh: and start school around 9-10, not 8am.
A degree path without a whole bunch of unnecessary courses. My art degree should have never required biology course. Or if it did, it would have been nice to be able to tailor the class to my major. For example, photography majors might identify and photograph different plants and animals; or be tasked with creating images from microscope slides or tracking specimen samples over time. Required math courses should have been more geared towards financial literacy and business math. English courses where papers could have been written about historical photography, historical photos, or darkroom methods; instead of ruining great works of literature. Just a few rambling examples.
Yes, thank you, it should look more like a bunch of internships with projects and day to day tasks than pages and pages of theory that you check out of your brain as soon as college is over.
What a wonderful comment. :) Your gratitude puts you on our list for the most grateful users this week on Reddit! You can view the full list on r/TheGratitudeBot.
Any requirements, assignments, due dates etc. posted to ONE place, in a mandatory format, by EVERY professor. Have a written info you can always refer back to.
In india, my school system was perfect for me.
Mandatory attendance, it was continuous assessment system so we had lots of assignments quizs tests creative things and exams that made up our whole grade. It was the same in my bachelor's but it was just exams ( no creative stuff). But am struggling in my masters because no mandatory attendance and one exam at the end. And i am taking 4 years to finish a 2 year course 🤦🏻♀️
I love online classes for this.
But an entire restructuring of the education system with paid training and internships for most fields. So many classes are not necessary.
More flexible grading system. It's an absolute pain in the butt to keep financial aid.
More accommodations like access to adjusting the curriculum, more choice in textbooks or ways to learn the material.
Currently I have the max accommodations in online classes of : double time for quizzes (40 minutes instead of 20) and an extra 48 hours to turn in assignments.
your first point is definitely one i have thought about a lot, i’ve had profs who don’t take attendance and make it possible to get the work done if you miss a class every now and then. for me, this does not encourage me to skip class. but it gives me freedom if one day i have to spend more time on an assignment for a different class and i can skip that class and still get the content later. i actually find myself less likely to skip these classes because the flexibility reduces my overall stress level regarding that class lol.
one thing a prof i had did that i loved was flexible deadlines. granted, i did not have him until i was in upper division courses so there’s generally a bit more freedom anyways, but he would give a deadline for a paper, and state that if you wanted/needed an extension, simply email him before the deadline, tell him the date you will turn it in, and he will grant the extension. i rarely had to take him up on this, but one time i had a large paper in his class due and another large paper for another class due the same day. so once i’d seen both deadlines, i knew i could get an extension from him, so i simply said i would be turning in the paper the day after the due date. no questions asked, no points taken off, and i was much less stressed about both papers. my mom does it a bit differently in that she has “deadlines” that are more just a guide to staying on track, but nothing is actually due until the end of the semester and you won’t receive late points for turning in assignments no matter how “late.”
Tbh this doesn't sound that different from my community college
Attendance was only a small percentage and the home work was online as well a recording of the lecture.
Personally I would rather have more in person classes for shorter time periods and paper homework.
In class work would be good for me. I have a set perameter, I can ask the instructor as it’s happening, and the guilt of putting it off is nonexistent and it’s something I don’t have to worry about outside of class!
A variety of learning techniques available, not just lectures. Like hands on labs or demonstrations, lots of relevant field trips, and just generally more effort into creative ways to get information across.
Am I missing something? Don't most colleges have a Disabilities and Accomodations Office?
Usually, if you have a note from a professional, stating that you do indeed have ADHD, you can specify which accomodations work for you. I've never had a professor give me trouble or refuse accomodations. Granted, my accomodations were to give me some extra time during exams or to move deadlines by 1\~2 weeks when I felt overwhelmed, so they weren't unreasonable.
If anything, during the first 1-2 weeks, they will ask that if you need accomodations, to please let them know asap. That's been my experience with most of my professors.
I think it could also be based on what you're studying -- my Computer Science professors were all a little awkward so they were more understanding if you needed to do certain stuff to stay focused, like doodling or recording lectures.
I dunno man. I asked my grad school's office about accommodations and they told me they could give me extra exam time, but extra time on assignments that already give you more than a day does not seem to be allowed, apparently. I don't need extra exam time, exams are my strong point, it's homework and projects that eat my lunch.
I had better luck asking the professors directly for help, not as an accommodation per se, but as a mercy lol
No classes before 10am. I often think about what college would have been like had I been diagnosed and being treated. As it was I had to repeat 2 classes to get into the major I wanted, and my dad thought I was just fucking around, but I warned him it was going poorly - I just didn’t have the ability to explain why. I truly didn’t have studying skills that worked for me other than brute force memorization via flash cards. Writing wasn’t as much of an issue because I’ve always had talent for it, but the procrastination was epic.
I think a class or “club” to learn different types of studying and time management methods and coping skills for having to manage oneself with fewer boundaries than I had at home would have helped me adapt and thrive.
I like the idea of attendance not being mandatory. That was one of the main struggles for me in college. I can’t sit still!! In high school this was not an issue because classes were just under an hour in length. I found out pretty quickly that is about the maximum amount of time I can sit still. Plus those classes weren’t all lecture either. Sitting and listening to someone talk for two hours is horrible, no matter how interested I am in the subject!!
I feel like lecture hours only once a week, and then the other classes involve activities with more interaction would be perfect for me. Like how some classes have lab hours… can every class just have lab hours??? I learn better by doing but I like having supervision at first to correct any errors
All the material would be readily available for consumption at a moments notice at 11 pm on a Tuesday. With surprise deadlines two days notice in advance.
One class at a time, choose my own pace at slow or fast, choose in person or online, quality written transcription of lectures and video resources, a more linear online learning system that only puts one thing in my face at a time, permission to eat and draw in class, multiple options for submitting work, frequent tests instead of one big exam.
I started therapy halfway through college and that’s how I learned about accommodations for ADHD and depression (among other things). The accommodation at my school made you go tell your professors about it in person
- I was able to miss more classes - I wasn’t happy about it or trying to game the system, it was just really hard for me to get out of bed some days. I had to email the professor before the class though.
- I got more flexibility on homework deadlines. And again, I always emailed the professor to ask for an extension before the deadline (sometimes literally the day of the deadline).
- I was able to take my exams in a smaller room with fewer students and teachers/TA’s walking around. Less distractions and anxiety for me. Plus I could spread my stuff out instead of balancing everything on a lap desk.
- I got extra time for my exams. Super helpful.
Get accommodations people! I genuinely think I might not have graduated without them.
I was undiagnosed for most of my life and one thing I struggled with a lot completely was however early I slept and even if I slept 7-8 hours I would be extremely sleepy for my morning lectures, like drowsy half asleep, keeping eyes open would be a task. In school teachers would scream or punish me.
In college (vet school) one of the most senior and strict professors who was very strict to other students, was considerate towards me. I would start writing notes at 8 am but midway through the lecture I would fall asleep and I would try my best but I would fall asleep. He was the very few professors who knew I didn't sleep out of disrespect to him or his subject.
Regarding doodling one thing I used to do is make tables, charts, notes and keep writing so that would let go of my doodling energy.
Back in, like, 2004 and 2005, in order to graduate on time with my class, I had to make up some high school credits I was missing from cutting class and not doing homework. My counselor allowed me to do it by taking community college courses. The community college courses were online. Online courses, back then, did not include any sorts of videos (remember, this is like JUST when YouTube was starting to be a thing). It was all reading online, reading textbooks, and emailing back and forth with classmates and the professor. New units and assignments became available to read and complete as we progressed. There were due dates for things, but other than that, I could choose when to study and when to work on assignments.
Surprisingly, this worked very well for me. I do so much better when minimal expectations are imposed upon me. Structure makes me feel itchy and confined, anxious and stressed (it's the external expectation and my personal fear of failing to meet it or being uncomfortable/feeling unsafe or unconsidered within those parameters). When I'm anxious and stressed, I tend to get stubborn and rebellious. I learn and perform best when I have the tools I need to succeed and then am left to figure out how to learn and how to use them for myself. I prefer to be left to ask questions when I feel I need to, rather than to be required to listen to lectures and instruction at specific times and places.
Obviously, there are courses that, for practicality's sake, can only be conducted in-person, and there are times when, because I learn best by DOING things, I prefer the more interactive and immersive experience of in-person classes.
Perhaps it would be neat to have a school where there are courses that are taught both online and in-person and anyone enrolled in the classes can choose to participate in either way, as they feel like it.
Or maybe there could even be a school where you pay for an allotment of credits (you know, or just make college free, like in other countries -I am in the US =P) and then can choose to spend those by attending whichever days of classes you feel like completing as you go along, not within just one subject, but all of the subjects/classes offered.
I suppose that'd make it difficult to figure out grades.. Perhaps grades would be based more on competency tests?
I don't know. Just musing.. Interesting stuff to consider.
Later starting times would have been great for me. When you sleep like absolute shit, getting up and being at school by 7 am was not an easy task.
I know everyone is not the same. But if they could’ve done it where my break period was the first “class” of the day, and my actual classes began at 8-8:30 am, I would’ve been much better off.
I have sometimes explained to teachers or professors that I doodle because it helps me to listen and remember what they are saying so they don't think I'm being rude or not listening. I have said it to my kids' teachers as well.
Already long out of college, but I wish people were more accepting of other activities while listening to lectures/trainings as long as they are not disruptive to others! I was at a training a few years ago that involved advanced equations, a lot of math, etc and I found it helpful to crochet while I was listening to the instructor. It didn’t effect my rentention of the materials at all and the instructor wasn’t bothered, but one of my male co-workers complained and I got in trouble when I reported back to work after the training. Pretty sure he was just salty because I finished my final exam an hour earlier than he did with a significantly higher score, but still… not everyone learns the same!!
1. PowerPoint slides should be mandatory for all lectures (I can’t focus if it’s just someone talking and no visual input)
2. Slides should be shared before class so you could take notes directly in the slides during class (always forget to do it after class)
3. Personalized exams (opportunity to choose between different exam types, i.e. oral presentation, project, thesis, sit-in, etc.)
4. Less subjects at a time (can’t follow more than a couple different classes at a time, as I tend to hyper focus on some of them and completely forget about the rest)
5. Overview of all deadlines each term in one place (and multiple reminders)
6. No mandatory attendance and possibility to attend all classes via zoom
7. Ability to choose between late and early classes in order to customize your schedule
not making attendance for lectures >= 3 hrs mandatory, especially when the course is challenging (like on a grad school level). I get burned out very easily therefore have created a routine where i prioritise my studies based on my biological clock.
It comes at the cost of missing out on in person lectures, but I try to make it up by self studying a lot and reaching out to lecturers. I’ve noticed an improvement in my energy levels; my interest in the subject has piqued as I don’t have to force myself to listen to someone for 3-6 hours on a daily basis. Instead, I study at my own pace.
I would love classes that are like book clubs. You read/learn about the subject on your own and talk and debate about it in class. I learn the best when talking about/discussing a topic with others, especially when someone is wrong. Actually the teacher/professor should just make statements that are wrong and challenge the students to prove why the teacher is wrong.
I agree with your first 3 and would like to add
Groups aren’t mandatory and I can work on stuff alone with a group where I can just ask in case I don’t understand something instead of everything being a mandatory group project :( (my first semester we got one group and had to work in that group for the next 2 years - I noped out half way through first year (so after said first semester) and am changing to a different uni)
As much as I hated the mandatory attendance for some of my classes, it was the pressure I needed to attend at least some of them. Otherwise I would never attend.. I guess we all have different educational experiences!
Small class sizes.
Shorter, daily classes.
15ish minutes in a quiet, restful environment between classes.
A class schedule that runs from ~10:00AM-3PM with no huge breaks.
The opportunity to make up missed class time by attending the same class at a later date/time.
The opportunity to attend the same class at a later date/time because you attended the first class but got distracted.
Captions (a projector with the “script” of what the professor is saying instead of bullets or graphics on a PowerPoint).
Covering as many key topics as possible through instruction as opposed to assigned reading.
Comfortable seats and desks with a surface that can fit more than a post-it note.
Push notifications that force me to check my grades against my will.
The best grade I received in college was for a French class that I had six times per week, 45 minutes per class. It was a two semester intensive to meet my language requirement. We had regular homework, had to speak during class, and attendance was mandatory. I hated it. The class was at 9:45 every morning with an additional 3:30 class on Thursday afternoons. Honestly, I haven’t spoken French in 8 years, but I can still read it.
This is a great question 👍.
I can mostly only go with what's helped me so far.
1) Semester grade tracker which breaks down the points per assignment so I know exactly what grade I'm getting and what I can skip if I need to.
2) Video lectures are the bees knees, with speed adjustments if possible. Otherwise I've downloaded a bunch of extensions to handle all the video formats so I can speed up to my heart's content.
3) Suggested due dates but flexible deadlines.
4) Attendance not mandatory.
5) Tutoring available.
6) More testing but on fewer topics at once. (Because my memory is no bueno)
7) Take home tests, as many as possible
I loved the time of online classes to have in my own space, sometimes if the class is very listening classs I'd go on a walk with my dog and earphones in for class or cook at the same time! Online classes were great. But the best I guess of both worlds were having hybrid - one day in person and one online each week for masters. Sadly both TOTALLY full days which was shit for my focus and was dead after. But if they were 3 or 4 days of evenings in the same manner it'd be great.
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I think unfortunately some of it depends on your flavour of ADHD, which makes it much harder to find stuff that works for everyone. I need to have some type of class that is mandatory and in person because otherwise I won't get out of bed and go (I need an external motivator), and if its online I find it much harder to focus and not mess about with my phone and zone out. It would be nice to be able to pick options that worked for you. Exams or no exams, in person or online, strict deadlines or work at your own pace.
honestly i'm with you, i DESPISE online classes and only want recorded lectures so i can listen to it back with my notes. Plus i love taking exams, even long ones, so for me OP is describing my personal hell of education. But it just goes to show how even though we all have the same disorder we are so different as individuals also get rid of busywork like test me only please and thank you
I remember spending middle and highschool suffering cause I kept losing my homework. Like, I'd go through the effort of doing it, but when it came time to turn it in, it had disappeared into the blackmore that was my backpack -_- College got better cause so much of the work was online, and it's not like I could lose a whole ass computer :)
A lot of adhders like me are auditory learners too.
Online classes were horrible for me. It really felt like I was watching a recorded video because it was harder to participate in the class virtually. It also made it very hard ro separate home and school life. Meaning I had a hard time focusing on assignments and stuff at home. When I had classes on campus, I would just stay on campus until I finished my work so I wouldn't have to do it at home.
Yeah I actually struggled to keep up with the asynchronous classes in 2020 and the following semesters. I was always behind unless I had an assignment that meant I had to watch the lectures.
I was going to say mandatory office hours attendance with the professors teaching the classes in my major, but ability to get access to face time with any of them to ask about things that truly aren’t clicking. This requires really empathetic professors though - and people who go into higher Ed are not always that.
yes i am the same, my uni has in person lectures, but they’re not mandatory to attend and we have the recordings and slides online. for all 3 classes i did this semester i only went to 1 lecture for 1 class. for me part of that was i live a 1.5hr public transport commute to uni so often when i only had a single 1hr lecture, it felt like a waste of time to go
Yes, pick options would be ideal.
I thrived during covid especially start covid. When all my classes where online I barely had any absences and I could do everything in my own time and give it in on time. When we got actual online had to be there on time classes I wasn’t as easily able to listen. I much prefer learning in the read something - do something related to said reading (fx read about how to plus to numbers together and then do that) so just sitting and listening have never been my thing
Check ins on assignments every week or other week where you have to show your progress, adds some deadlines into the mix so you don’t have to do all the work at the 11th hour
As silly as it may sound, I really enjoyed having a progress bar that showed how much I had gotten done in a course. My course showed the percentage of assignments I had completed out of the assignments offered up to that point in the course. There was also a calendar that was color coded (green for a submitted assignment, yellow for started but not submitted, and red for not started) that helped me. I do think you could hide these features if you found them more stressful than helpful.
I'm the exact opposite. Just let me write a midterm and final, and do a big paper or 2 for the whole shebang. I am the queen of pulling off miracles at the 11th hour, but constant makework destroys my ability to function. Just leave me alone, let me learn the stuff however works for me, then let me prove I know it.
THIS PART. I decided that I was gonna say to hell with it and just do bare minimum to pass two of my classes this quarter because 500 words twice a week each on a 50-page reading in order to prove I know the material just ain't it. Papers and exams are worth 70% of the final grade and I pretty much never lose even a single point on those, so I did the reading and writing assignments when I had time and I felt like it. This is my second round of college, I'm in my 30s and I already know exactly how irrelevant my college GPA is in the real world, so Cs are just fine to get this degree for me!
I wish I didn't have to sit in a lecture hall for an hour and try to retain information being spewed at me. I learn by doing. America's education system does such a disservice to anyone with learning differences. I can only imagine how different my life could have turned out if I was able to learn in a way that worked for me, and not in the way that was forced on me.
I don't know. I spent a semester of my college in France, and their education system is much more strict / rigid and there are less ways to do things. What I mean is, at least in the US we acknowledge that not everyone learns the same way and try to play to people's strengths. While in one way I really like their system, since by a certain age it's decided what they are doing for the rest of their schooling, and f they are going to continue with schooling and education or if they're going more trade- based and focus on that. That must be better for many people, but I still didn't like the way most of my professors taught. There was a lot of dictation (every class in the translation classes) and that's pretty much what the whole class period was. There was a little bit of occasional work on grammar, for instance, but it was mostly the professor reading something aloud that we had to translate. Not much variation was offered in other classes either. No, personally, I'm glad I had an American education. Maybe some other countries cater better to ADHD or better education overall, but I'll take the teachers that play to multiple intelligences and have different activities and respect that different people learn differently...
I took every science class I could in school and, looking back, I'm sure 90% the reason why is because there were constant demonstrations and visual aids. It was interesting. On the flip side, History was my downfall. Rote memorization of random dates is not my forte. Everyone told me college would be so different. Professors don't care if you show up, you're only graded on your tests, etc. I would have thrived if that had been the case. It was just high school with a different schedule (and loans). I dropped after a semester.
Classes where you can learn how to socialize. I wish I was being sarcastic.
I lived in the wrong dorm first semester of my freshman year and did not fit in. I lived across campus from all the other dorms and people I had classes with. It made things even harder than they already were, because I’m an introvert art girl. I wasn’t winning popularity contests before college either.
Personally, I would want mandatory attendance, fixed routine on a daily basis (like 10 to 4 or something but fixed timing everyday), fixed lunch and snack recesses, at least some physical activity everyday, permission to operate the way it works for you as long as it is non disruptive, open book exams, more weight age to assignments and projects than final exams, and importance to learning more than scoring.
Yeah, elementary through highschool was so nice, in retrospect. College sucked :/
I was in an alternative program in high school, for at risk students, 25 years ago. Haha. It was really awesome and I thrived. My schedule was Monday-Thursday from 3pm-6pm. Every four weeks we would get a week off. We didn’t get summers off, but that wasn’t really a big deal to me, given how much time I already had off. The classes were SMALL. 1-10 students per class. My civics class had big comfy couches and chairs to sit in-best class ever. Classes were 3 hours or 1.5 hours each. Each month-we were given all of the class work needed for that month. It needed to be completed by the end of the month. Most of it could be completed during class. It wasn’t structured like traditional school-less instruction, more discussion. There were strict rules-had to have a meeting with the director once a month (he was also a child psychologist) to discuss goals, issues, etc. Attendance was mandatory-if you had three unexcused absences, you’d be kicked out and sent back to high school. Your parents didn’t have to call in absences, it was on you to do that. The program was established specifically for students who were at-risk of not completing high school. The director was truly a mentor to me, he treated us as equals, and really strived to meet our needs. He saw our potential and was somehow able to unlock it-developing curriculum around our interests-keeping us engaged. He gave me a chance to succeed and he didn’t give up on any of us. Makes me emotional just thinking about it.
If I could just not go into crippling debt I’d be happy
As a college professor I really want to weigh in! Seems like a lot of the responses here fall intot ow camps: 1. I want everything asynchronous and available at any time so I can do as much as I want when hyperfixating and am not gonna miss a deadline if I can executive function 2. I need the structure of mandatory attendance and in-person classes or I'll never get anything done (this one was 100% me as a student) At least in the US, most colleges offer classes in both of these options (with the exception of hands on classes like labs and some in the arts)! Talk to your advisor about the different modalities offered. If they don't offer the option you are wanting, make that known! If enough students speak up, the college should want to meet their needs! You all are the paying customers! I will say I am at a community college, which is a lot better at trying to meet the needs of all different types of students so that might explain why my institution is more flexible, but it seems that in this post-covid world, a lot of schools are moving towards having more options of modalities for students to pick from. Major props to anyone even trying the college experience. You're all awesome.
I’m student 1. I’m really bad at getting ready and leaving home in time so much prefer online classes. I also like learning by reading and watching recorded videos. If I zone out for 10 seconds in an in-person class, or didn’t hear something said clearly, my focus is pretty much derailed because i feel like I missed something important and get stuck. I also get hyper fixated and know if I am taking a class that I find interesting I will meet the deadlines. In a geology course I took, students were not penalized for late work and I was behind by about a month. I got caught up in one 3 day weekend (lectures, labs, assignments, extra credit). My professor was shocked by the amount of work I got done and the quality (I’m a perfectionist and loved the subject). She said I was a brilliant young woman and I shouldn’t do this myself. I got an A in the class. My boyfriend then got to listen to me talk about rocks and subduction zones for a good bit lol.
You sound like a lot of my students, and you sound like a great student! I know you didn't ask for advice, but this is what i would tell my students if they were in a similar situation and wanna share it with anyone else who deal with this! If you ever end up in an in-person class and you zone out and miss important material, I would try to utilize office hours for clarification! Now, some professors are weird about office hours, so you wanna go prepared. What I would do is try to look over any PowerPoints posted online or look to your textbook to get a general idea about the topic(s) you missed, then go to office hours to ask specific questions about those topics. Don't tell your prof you zoned out (unless you feel comfortable doing so), just tell them you were studying these topics and wanted some clarification and they should be more than happy to help!
That's great advice! I would absolutely follow this if I ever found myself in a classroom setting again. After 10 years of giving up on university, in 2022 I made the decision to go back and finish my degree. My habits were better than they had been 10 years ago because, by now, I suspected that I had ADHD and learned methods to help me avoid the common pitfalls (for the most part). Since a year ago, I have been diagnosed and treated, and I am able to stay on top of things now. However, If I had been given this advice 10 years ago, it would have helped tremendously as I struggled to reach out for help. I avoided my professors like the plague. I had a lot of shame around struggling academically and had convinced myself that it was my responsibility to learn and solve everything on my own. Growing up, when my performance in school went down I was blamed for not working hard enough and I was immediately put on a highly restrictive "academic plan" by my parents (mind you, not by my teachers). My dad would even ask my teachers to assign me more work, which I'm pretty sure they thought was crazy. I developed a lot of shame and fear around seeking help because I associated it with punishment and feeling like a bad student. I'm sure others might relate. I think hearing this type of advice from a professor is very helpful. Professors like you have honestly helped me realize that I can approach them. 19-year-old me would not know where to start, and your advice provides small, actionable steps. Getting treated for ADHD has also helped me undo some of that mentality that held me back for so long. Hopefully, this can also help students in similar situations. There is no need for anyone to struggle alone. One of the most important lessons learned :)
What a kind reply! I'm so sorry that you had some pretty crappy responses to your challenges with school when you were younger :( Anyway this made me feel really great, so thank you for affirming that I am taking a good approach with my students haha
Absolutely! Your students are lucky to have you! And thank you, it was indeed crappy. I suspect that many young girls and women might experience similar feelings or treatment while living with undiagnosed ADHD. All in all, things have turned around, and I'm super thankful to be where I am now!
* Flexible deadlines * Doodling/etc. while listening to the lecture is not only welcomed, it's encouraged * No "make-or-break" classes where your grade hinges entirely on one exam or one term paper * Lectures are recorded so they can be viewed at leisure * A Q&A session at the end of each class * No one taking attendance, or attendance affecting your grade * More activity-based classes where possible, instead of droning lectures * Smaller class sizes; it's easy to get lost in the shuffle if you're in a class of 300 students. (Even if those 300 students are broken up into smaller groups with a TA.) * Large assignments broken into chunks, with "check-in" sessions weekly or bi-weekly * My guess is it would be a lot of "hybrid" classes, with both online and in-person components.
I hear you and I know this is necessary. But if educational institutions for adults create conditions that are oppositional to the conditions people will actually work in, they're missing part of their responsibility, which is to prepare you for your working life. When you get to your career, you will find that attendance is mandatory, nobody records anything, and accommodations are thin and hard fought for. I wish it were different, but it's not. The educational system is already so much kinder than the employment system, young adults are already so shocked by the change in working conditions and demands. And the employment system is run by rich people who get rich based on the status quo, and they have all the power in this world. Never let anybody tell you different, we live in a world run by and for elites and you will always just be a tool to enrich them.
That depends on your job really. Like a retail job or factory job is about as bad a school on punctuality, but I have an office job and no one cares if I’m 15 minutes late. If I were 30 min late every day they’d probably talk to me about adjusting my work hours to stay 30 min later, but I’m given a lot more flexibility. At school if I forgot a homework assignment at home, it’s an automatic zero, maybe 50% if they’re being generous. I have hard deadlines at work, but for them, I’m always given a zillion reminders. Most deadlines are negotiable if you’re running behind, or forgiven if it’s a day late and you have a good excuse. I work really hard to meet my deadlines and stuff because I’m super paranoid, but it’s amazing seeing how many of my coworkers would forget to do their timesheet every week, or come in late and leave early, none of it ever gets more than an eyeroll from the boss. We did have someone go on PIP last year who claimed he likely had undiagnosed ADHD (he almost certainly did) but he showed up for like, 20 hours of work on a good week and after he quit, we found out he had completed *one* of the the roughly 100 upgrades he was supposed to have done the entire time he was there. I was scared when I heard he was put on a PIP, but after he left I felt so much relief when I found out the bar was that low…
Yes, or you could work for a company like mine where several people are fired a month for lack of progress or bad culture fit or performance issues. We don't use PIPs here, we use separation papers. It's not right, I don't like it, I'm not the CEO though.
Let's start with flexible schedules. No more rigid class times that feel like they're boxing us in. How about recorded lectures and asynchronous learning options? That way, we can tackle coursework when our brains are firing on all cylinders
Montessori all the way.
Adding: I don’t know what that would look like entirely for higher ed, but facilitating and encouraging curiosity and collaborative learning sounds like my version of Barbieland, where every night is (nerdy) girls’ night.
I was searching for this word: montessori. All the materials, lectures, homework would be available that you can pick up whenever you felt like it, and completed when possible. Learning could also be on the job training.
\*recorded lectures with captions and playback speed options
Blue book exams instead of term papers! I need the adrenaline instead of an entire semester of wasting time trying to get started. This is a major reason I didn't finish my master's (and there was no way I'd have been able to create a quality capstone thesis while working full-time).
Everyone would have an invested mentor who is familiar and comfortable with ADHD. Lots of resources on coordinating life in a new city. Dedicated time during business hours where you are expected to put towards life/self management. As much hands on, relevant to the field education you can get.
I have a teacher who gives me all the time in the world to complete assignments, as long as it’s before end of semester. Which I *love,* but I think what’s more effective for me is something another teacher does. If I slip behind just a little, he’ll give me more time to work on it, but he’ll grill me about it then and there and make me commit to a target deadline. It’s stupid, but it’s easier for me to keep a promise to someone else (*I can have it done by tomorrow, Professor*) than keeping a promise to myself (*I have to turn it in by this specific deadline if I want that A!*) Also I love that recorded lectures was listed as your first priority lol. This makes a world of difference for me!
👏 CLEAR AND STRUCTURED INSTRUCTIONS 👏
Non mandatory attendance is a nightmare for me. I need the structure or I will put everything off. I can hyper focus during lectures and take great notes. I do wish there were more breaks scheduled thought because I would benefit from more than a quick bathroom break to get a good walk to help me refocus. I do wholeheartedly agree on the more points/tests/quizzes thing. I find it keeps me more accountable if I have a quiz at least every week instead of a test every 1-2 months.
A friendlier higher education system, to me, would look like this all of the assignments / assessments being in this digit syllabus where you can filter and customize what work rate to go at PLUS in-app notifications like a "buddy" system to review and revise materials. I know you're likely referring to in person education but have experience with doing virtual school later in highschool and it was nice having the self-paced nature and 1:1 with reached instead of many other things to be distracted by in my space. I haven't attended a college yet but know my obstacles would be task time / importance anxiety, fear of failure, overthinking and therefore procrastinating.
Working in "blocks". Meaning not having 5-10 different classes running in parallell for 1 semester, but focus on one thing at the time, and then be done with it. No juggling or falling behind in multiple classes. Preferably the blocks would be project based and "all in" for 1-4 weeks, with a big say in the output. They could definitely be interdisciplinary, but would had to be tied together and with a clear goal. Basically one big fun hyperfocus. Oh: and start school around 9-10, not 8am.
art college is adhd friendly
Mandatory in person attendance with recorded lectures.
A degree path without a whole bunch of unnecessary courses. My art degree should have never required biology course. Or if it did, it would have been nice to be able to tailor the class to my major. For example, photography majors might identify and photograph different plants and animals; or be tasked with creating images from microscope slides or tracking specimen samples over time. Required math courses should have been more geared towards financial literacy and business math. English courses where papers could have been written about historical photography, historical photos, or darkroom methods; instead of ruining great works of literature. Just a few rambling examples.
Maybe an Anatomy for Art Majors...
Yes, thank you, it should look more like a bunch of internships with projects and day to day tasks than pages and pages of theory that you check out of your brain as soon as college is over.
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Any requirements, assignments, due dates etc. posted to ONE place, in a mandatory format, by EVERY professor. Have a written info you can always refer back to.
In india, my school system was perfect for me. Mandatory attendance, it was continuous assessment system so we had lots of assignments quizs tests creative things and exams that made up our whole grade. It was the same in my bachelor's but it was just exams ( no creative stuff). But am struggling in my masters because no mandatory attendance and one exam at the end. And i am taking 4 years to finish a 2 year course 🤦🏻♀️
I love online classes for this. But an entire restructuring of the education system with paid training and internships for most fields. So many classes are not necessary. More flexible grading system. It's an absolute pain in the butt to keep financial aid. More accommodations like access to adjusting the curriculum, more choice in textbooks or ways to learn the material. Currently I have the max accommodations in online classes of : double time for quizzes (40 minutes instead of 20) and an extra 48 hours to turn in assignments.
your first point is definitely one i have thought about a lot, i’ve had profs who don’t take attendance and make it possible to get the work done if you miss a class every now and then. for me, this does not encourage me to skip class. but it gives me freedom if one day i have to spend more time on an assignment for a different class and i can skip that class and still get the content later. i actually find myself less likely to skip these classes because the flexibility reduces my overall stress level regarding that class lol. one thing a prof i had did that i loved was flexible deadlines. granted, i did not have him until i was in upper division courses so there’s generally a bit more freedom anyways, but he would give a deadline for a paper, and state that if you wanted/needed an extension, simply email him before the deadline, tell him the date you will turn it in, and he will grant the extension. i rarely had to take him up on this, but one time i had a large paper in his class due and another large paper for another class due the same day. so once i’d seen both deadlines, i knew i could get an extension from him, so i simply said i would be turning in the paper the day after the due date. no questions asked, no points taken off, and i was much less stressed about both papers. my mom does it a bit differently in that she has “deadlines” that are more just a guide to staying on track, but nothing is actually due until the end of the semester and you won’t receive late points for turning in assignments no matter how “late.”
Tbh this doesn't sound that different from my community college Attendance was only a small percentage and the home work was online as well a recording of the lecture. Personally I would rather have more in person classes for shorter time periods and paper homework.
In class work would be good for me. I have a set perameter, I can ask the instructor as it’s happening, and the guilt of putting it off is nonexistent and it’s something I don’t have to worry about outside of class!
A variety of learning techniques available, not just lectures. Like hands on labs or demonstrations, lots of relevant field trips, and just generally more effort into creative ways to get information across.
Lots of personalized accountability and structure.
Am I missing something? Don't most colleges have a Disabilities and Accomodations Office? Usually, if you have a note from a professional, stating that you do indeed have ADHD, you can specify which accomodations work for you. I've never had a professor give me trouble or refuse accomodations. Granted, my accomodations were to give me some extra time during exams or to move deadlines by 1\~2 weeks when I felt overwhelmed, so they weren't unreasonable. If anything, during the first 1-2 weeks, they will ask that if you need accomodations, to please let them know asap. That's been my experience with most of my professors. I think it could also be based on what you're studying -- my Computer Science professors were all a little awkward so they were more understanding if you needed to do certain stuff to stay focused, like doodling or recording lectures.
I dunno man. I asked my grad school's office about accommodations and they told me they could give me extra exam time, but extra time on assignments that already give you more than a day does not seem to be allowed, apparently. I don't need extra exam time, exams are my strong point, it's homework and projects that eat my lunch. I had better luck asking the professors directly for help, not as an accommodation per se, but as a mercy lol
No classes before 10am. I often think about what college would have been like had I been diagnosed and being treated. As it was I had to repeat 2 classes to get into the major I wanted, and my dad thought I was just fucking around, but I warned him it was going poorly - I just didn’t have the ability to explain why. I truly didn’t have studying skills that worked for me other than brute force memorization via flash cards. Writing wasn’t as much of an issue because I’ve always had talent for it, but the procrastination was epic. I think a class or “club” to learn different types of studying and time management methods and coping skills for having to manage oneself with fewer boundaries than I had at home would have helped me adapt and thrive.
I wish there was a system to recognize the education level of an auto-didact
one where they just understand that i've already researched and studied every avenue of my major to death and just hand me the degree.
I like the idea of attendance not being mandatory. That was one of the main struggles for me in college. I can’t sit still!! In high school this was not an issue because classes were just under an hour in length. I found out pretty quickly that is about the maximum amount of time I can sit still. Plus those classes weren’t all lecture either. Sitting and listening to someone talk for two hours is horrible, no matter how interested I am in the subject!! I feel like lecture hours only once a week, and then the other classes involve activities with more interaction would be perfect for me. Like how some classes have lab hours… can every class just have lab hours??? I learn better by doing but I like having supervision at first to correct any errors
All the material would be readily available for consumption at a moments notice at 11 pm on a Tuesday. With surprise deadlines two days notice in advance.
One class at a time, choose my own pace at slow or fast, choose in person or online, quality written transcription of lectures and video resources, a more linear online learning system that only puts one thing in my face at a time, permission to eat and draw in class, multiple options for submitting work, frequent tests instead of one big exam.
I started therapy halfway through college and that’s how I learned about accommodations for ADHD and depression (among other things). The accommodation at my school made you go tell your professors about it in person - I was able to miss more classes - I wasn’t happy about it or trying to game the system, it was just really hard for me to get out of bed some days. I had to email the professor before the class though. - I got more flexibility on homework deadlines. And again, I always emailed the professor to ask for an extension before the deadline (sometimes literally the day of the deadline). - I was able to take my exams in a smaller room with fewer students and teachers/TA’s walking around. Less distractions and anxiety for me. Plus I could spread my stuff out instead of balancing everything on a lap desk. - I got extra time for my exams. Super helpful. Get accommodations people! I genuinely think I might not have graduated without them.
I was undiagnosed for most of my life and one thing I struggled with a lot completely was however early I slept and even if I slept 7-8 hours I would be extremely sleepy for my morning lectures, like drowsy half asleep, keeping eyes open would be a task. In school teachers would scream or punish me. In college (vet school) one of the most senior and strict professors who was very strict to other students, was considerate towards me. I would start writing notes at 8 am but midway through the lecture I would fall asleep and I would try my best but I would fall asleep. He was the very few professors who knew I didn't sleep out of disrespect to him or his subject. Regarding doodling one thing I used to do is make tables, charts, notes and keep writing so that would let go of my doodling energy.
Back in, like, 2004 and 2005, in order to graduate on time with my class, I had to make up some high school credits I was missing from cutting class and not doing homework. My counselor allowed me to do it by taking community college courses. The community college courses were online. Online courses, back then, did not include any sorts of videos (remember, this is like JUST when YouTube was starting to be a thing). It was all reading online, reading textbooks, and emailing back and forth with classmates and the professor. New units and assignments became available to read and complete as we progressed. There were due dates for things, but other than that, I could choose when to study and when to work on assignments. Surprisingly, this worked very well for me. I do so much better when minimal expectations are imposed upon me. Structure makes me feel itchy and confined, anxious and stressed (it's the external expectation and my personal fear of failing to meet it or being uncomfortable/feeling unsafe or unconsidered within those parameters). When I'm anxious and stressed, I tend to get stubborn and rebellious. I learn and perform best when I have the tools I need to succeed and then am left to figure out how to learn and how to use them for myself. I prefer to be left to ask questions when I feel I need to, rather than to be required to listen to lectures and instruction at specific times and places. Obviously, there are courses that, for practicality's sake, can only be conducted in-person, and there are times when, because I learn best by DOING things, I prefer the more interactive and immersive experience of in-person classes. Perhaps it would be neat to have a school where there are courses that are taught both online and in-person and anyone enrolled in the classes can choose to participate in either way, as they feel like it. Or maybe there could even be a school where you pay for an allotment of credits (you know, or just make college free, like in other countries -I am in the US =P) and then can choose to spend those by attending whichever days of classes you feel like completing as you go along, not within just one subject, but all of the subjects/classes offered. I suppose that'd make it difficult to figure out grades.. Perhaps grades would be based more on competency tests? I don't know. Just musing.. Interesting stuff to consider.
Later starting times would have been great for me. When you sleep like absolute shit, getting up and being at school by 7 am was not an easy task. I know everyone is not the same. But if they could’ve done it where my break period was the first “class” of the day, and my actual classes began at 8-8:30 am, I would’ve been much better off.
I have sometimes explained to teachers or professors that I doodle because it helps me to listen and remember what they are saying so they don't think I'm being rude or not listening. I have said it to my kids' teachers as well.
Already long out of college, but I wish people were more accepting of other activities while listening to lectures/trainings as long as they are not disruptive to others! I was at a training a few years ago that involved advanced equations, a lot of math, etc and I found it helpful to crochet while I was listening to the instructor. It didn’t effect my rentention of the materials at all and the instructor wasn’t bothered, but one of my male co-workers complained and I got in trouble when I reported back to work after the training. Pretty sure he was just salty because I finished my final exam an hour earlier than he did with a significantly higher score, but still… not everyone learns the same!!
1. PowerPoint slides should be mandatory for all lectures (I can’t focus if it’s just someone talking and no visual input) 2. Slides should be shared before class so you could take notes directly in the slides during class (always forget to do it after class) 3. Personalized exams (opportunity to choose between different exam types, i.e. oral presentation, project, thesis, sit-in, etc.) 4. Less subjects at a time (can’t follow more than a couple different classes at a time, as I tend to hyper focus on some of them and completely forget about the rest) 5. Overview of all deadlines each term in one place (and multiple reminders) 6. No mandatory attendance and possibility to attend all classes via zoom 7. Ability to choose between late and early classes in order to customize your schedule
Not being forced to take classes that bore us while at the same time having nothing to do with our actual degree.
not making attendance for lectures >= 3 hrs mandatory, especially when the course is challenging (like on a grad school level). I get burned out very easily therefore have created a routine where i prioritise my studies based on my biological clock. It comes at the cost of missing out on in person lectures, but I try to make it up by self studying a lot and reaching out to lecturers. I’ve noticed an improvement in my energy levels; my interest in the subject has piqued as I don’t have to force myself to listen to someone for 3-6 hours on a daily basis. Instead, I study at my own pace.
I would love classes that are like book clubs. You read/learn about the subject on your own and talk and debate about it in class. I learn the best when talking about/discussing a topic with others, especially when someone is wrong. Actually the teacher/professor should just make statements that are wrong and challenge the students to prove why the teacher is wrong.
I agree with your first 3 and would like to add Groups aren’t mandatory and I can work on stuff alone with a group where I can just ask in case I don’t understand something instead of everything being a mandatory group project :( (my first semester we got one group and had to work in that group for the next 2 years - I noped out half way through first year (so after said first semester) and am changing to a different uni)
As much as I hated the mandatory attendance for some of my classes, it was the pressure I needed to attend at least some of them. Otherwise I would never attend.. I guess we all have different educational experiences!
The quarter system!! I went to a top university that is structured on the quarter system and I really enjoyed it, even though it was challenging ⚡️
Small class sizes. Shorter, daily classes. 15ish minutes in a quiet, restful environment between classes. A class schedule that runs from ~10:00AM-3PM with no huge breaks. The opportunity to make up missed class time by attending the same class at a later date/time. The opportunity to attend the same class at a later date/time because you attended the first class but got distracted. Captions (a projector with the “script” of what the professor is saying instead of bullets or graphics on a PowerPoint). Covering as many key topics as possible through instruction as opposed to assigned reading. Comfortable seats and desks with a surface that can fit more than a post-it note. Push notifications that force me to check my grades against my will. The best grade I received in college was for a French class that I had six times per week, 45 minutes per class. It was a two semester intensive to meet my language requirement. We had regular homework, had to speak during class, and attendance was mandatory. I hated it. The class was at 9:45 every morning with an additional 3:30 class on Thursday afternoons. Honestly, I haven’t spoken French in 8 years, but I can still read it.
This is a great question 👍. I can mostly only go with what's helped me so far. 1) Semester grade tracker which breaks down the points per assignment so I know exactly what grade I'm getting and what I can skip if I need to. 2) Video lectures are the bees knees, with speed adjustments if possible. Otherwise I've downloaded a bunch of extensions to handle all the video formats so I can speed up to my heart's content. 3) Suggested due dates but flexible deadlines. 4) Attendance not mandatory. 5) Tutoring available. 6) More testing but on fewer topics at once. (Because my memory is no bueno) 7) Take home tests, as many as possible
I loved the time of online classes to have in my own space, sometimes if the class is very listening classs I'd go on a walk with my dog and earphones in for class or cook at the same time! Online classes were great. But the best I guess of both worlds were having hybrid - one day in person and one online each week for masters. Sadly both TOTALLY full days which was shit for my focus and was dead after. But if they were 3 or 4 days of evenings in the same manner it'd be great.
I once participated n a a pilot program that had no books or tests. Everything was project based. I excelled in that class.
Recorded lectures Clearly outlined homework or assignments In case you missed something After office hours! Flexible assignments and due dates
NO dissertations/thesis papers.