update-academic-hurdles - Learning and Wellbeing

Not feeling ready for school?
Find out what’s holding you back.
September 2022 | The Learning and Wellbeing Team

It’s the beginning of the school year at colleges and universities all over North America. Despite the excitement of meeting new people and starting something new, a lot of students don’t feel ready for school — especially given their experiences in the pandemic years.

Not feeling ready isn’t new. Results of a large 2019 (pre-pandemic) survey of incoming students from a number of universities in Canada showed that approximately 25% of students report difficulties with a variety of skills and activities.

Results of this study are presented in the graphic below. Lack of confidence in writing critical reviews was reported by almost 50% of all students, difficulty studying for tests was reported by a third of all students, and difficulty with time management was reported by 30%. Unfortunately, these are skills that you are going to need in the first few weeks of starting your studies. Some of these, such as writing critical reviews, will be harder to learn. However, some of these, such as difficulties identifying grammatical mistakes, will be much easier to fix (with the use of good editing software, such as Grammarly).

What these results mean: Results of this study show that many students experience a wide range of difficulties. But, these findings also show that some areas, such as critical reviews, are more of a challenge than others.

Take the survey: The Academic Difficulties Questionnaire was designed to help you understand what kind of difficulties you are experiencing and where you should focus your efforts first. You will be provided detailed results in a report that you can download and save.

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