The Discussion Section

The Discussion Section When I was coming to Illinois, the scariest thing to me was huge lecture halls. Who could blame me when I was used to a classroom that had a maximum of 25 students in high school? But what if I told you that you still get that in college Giphy.com During your first year or two at Illinois, you will be taking General Education requirements, commonly known as Gen Eds. These are requirements for your degree and make you more of a well-rounded student through learning about things and topics outside of your major. A lot of these classes with be introductory classes such as Introduction to Psychology. A lot of students are interested in this class so they have this class in a large auditorium where there can be hundreds of people. But dont be scared of the number of people you will see in this lecture. Theyre all feeling the same as you and are in the same position. You will be in those large lectures two days a week, while the third class that week, you meet in a small group setting more like what youre used to in high school. You will be with about twenty kids and a teaching assistant. This is whats known as a discussion section. A discussion section is a time to ask your teaching assistant questions because theyre an expert in everything that is taught by the professor or lecturer. People like me are more comfortable asking questions in this familiar setting. I have found I learn a ton in discussion sections and actually became great friends with people in my discussion sections. Youre able to have an engaging discussion and learn more about the information that was presented in lecture. So dont be scared of those big lecture halls because the world becomes very small when you become engaged with what youre learning, and that could not be more truth than in discussion sections! Daniel Class of 2018 I’m an Advertising major in the College of Media. I’m from a northwest suburb of Chicago called Buffalo Grove. I chose Illinois because it was the first university in the entire world to offer an Advertising major, which is pretty cool!