The pre-college summer school programs are gaining huge popularity among the high school students in India and abroad. We have earlier discussed the advantages of attending pre-college summer programs. In this post, we will look at how to make most out of the pre-college summer programs.
A pre-college summer school program offers high school students the opportunity to take classes at a college or University and experience college life during the summer. Many programs offer a residential option. So, students can stay in dorms with their peers. Typically, the summer school programs last from one to eight weeks in duration.
During these programs, not only are students able to take classes from college professors or visiting scholars, but they’re also able to listen to lectures from alumni and participate in social activities. These programs offer you an opportunity to experience living on-campus, meeting students from all over the place and learning something new. It is always good to take a summer program in your area of interest.
A pre-college summer program is a great option for the transition from high school to global higher education. Additionally, a good summer school program also helps with college admission and self-discovery process.
How to Make Most Out of The Pre-College Summer Programs
Advice by Jindal Global Summer School (JGSS) for the High School Students
How do the summer school help the students with formative assessment and personalized learning?
The summer schools are designed as an orientation programme for the transition from high school to global higher education. The summer school will help students to find answers to the following questions about higher education and their future career.
- What does a residential global college campus look like?
- What kind of interdisciplinary programmes and courses are taught there?
- What kind of experiential learning pedagogy is followed in global college campuses?
- What kind of education and skills are necessary for the 21stCentury?
- What kind of higher education and career opportunities are out there in the 21stCentury?
The summer school is not designed to make students learn any particular subject.
The JGSS has got a Large Class. Won’t it be a barrier to Personalized Learning?
The summer school might consist of 100+ or 300+ cohorts. But, our summer school is designed in the model of small interactive classrooms.
Each section is capped at maximum 30-35 students. At JGSS we recognize the fact that large classrooms act as a barrier for the personalized learning environment for students. So, even though we now have 3,500+ students, our regular undergrad classes are also divided into small sections.
How can the high school students get engaged in new things?
During the summer school, the students will work on group projects making a business plan, work on community-based projects, create blogs and art projects and, participate in moot court. These activities will give them an opportunity to learn about different kinds of higher education and career opportunities.
How can the students take advantage of the summer school in order to become the skilled workforce of the future?
Our mainstream education system is very much geared towards just gaining academic knowledge. There is little focus on social and emotional learning. During the summer school, we will organize a number of ice-breaker sessions and sporting events for students, so that they will gain the necessary social and emotional skills to work with each other as a team across differences of age, gender, school board and cultures.
Often in real life workplace, we need to work together as a team with a diverse group of people. The residential summer school will provide this opportunity to students coming from different states of India and from multiple grades (9-12) to learn from each other. They will work together in small group projects and play together in play-ground. In the process, the older students will learn to mentor juniors.
Foreign summer programs are 4 – 8 weeks; whereas Indian programs are 2 – 4 weeks. How does JGSS differ from the elite programs in the US?
In the US, most summer programs are often connected to faculty research projects. The programs are longer and advanced level students get hands-on experience in research inquiry-based learning to include the summer school experience as part of their application portfolio for undergraduate admissions at University.
Since the school education system in India is very different, the summer schools here are being designed differently. Often students from the mainstream schooling system struggle to transition into a global higher educational space, where experiential learning, creativity, and critical thinking is given more importance than rote-learning static knowledge from textbooks. The aim of the JGSS is to orient students towards a more global higher education in the 21st Century.
In today’s age, only academics is not good enough anymore. Extracurricular activities matter a lot. What are your thoughts on this?
Absolutely, the idea of keeping studies and extracurricular activities separate is a very old archaic concept. It is not very useful. JGSS will involve learning about different interdisciplinary academic programs available for undergraduate studies, as well as many sporting and cultural activities. These activities are part of the integrated curriculum of the summer school.
How important is the interdisciplinary nature of a summer school programs?
The JGSS is primarily aimed for the Students interested in Non-STEM. But, we also had students who are interested in STEM subjects. At JGSS, students learn about interdisciplinary social science and humanities-based curriculum offered for undergraduate students at our University.
Around the world, there is increased awareness about the need for integrated STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Maths) education in the age of sustainable development. Just scientific and technical knowledge gained through STEM education is not enough for the future sustainability of life on this planet Earth.
In the past several decades and centuries since the first industrial revolution, we have seen the ravages that narrowly-focused scientific and technological knowledge has unleashed on the planet and the living species. The two World Wars, Climate Change, and growing international Terrorism are signs of the global problems that narrowly-focused education can unleash. Increasingly, education experts around the world are asserting that a strong liberal arts curriculum is necessary for responsible use of scientific and technological knowledge.
Even in business schools, literary works of Shakespeare and other noted authors are being taught for students to learn about ethics, human values and strategic management of people and organizations. In that sense, JGSS will also benefit students, who would like to pursue higher studies in STEM field.
Related Posts:
How to leverage your summer break for college admissions?
Top Summer Schools in the US for Indian High School Students
Mistakes Done by Parents & Students while Choosing the Right Summer School Program
This article is part of Stoodnt’s CollegeConnect – engagement initiative for colleges to connect with students.