Home » Study skills » Studying at university » Academic standards

It may come as a surprise to you to discover that what people expect of you at university isn't always stated explicitly. You therefore need to assume that academic standards will be high because the main purpose of the university is to promote quality teaching, learning and research.

The foundation of any university therefore is knowledge. However, the emphasis at university is NOT on the reproduction of knowledge, but rather on:

• understanding
  
  
• thinking critically, and
  
  
• applying knowledge.

You won't be expected to simply regurgitate information and knowledge; indeed you'll be actively dissuaded from doing so. Instead, you'll be expected to think deeply about knowledge, look at it from as many different angles as possible, come up with your own ideas, and apply these in a variety of ways.

As you progress through your program you can also assume that the type of knowledge you'll be dealing with will become increasingly complex and sophisticated.