CLASS NOTES

Chapter 1

Strategies for Success

No matter your age, no matter your background, the fact that you enrolled mean you realize the importance of a college education and if you complete college how it can change your life for the better.

WHAT ARE SOME WAYS A COLLEGE EDUCATION CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE?

Yet, many entering students dropout or flunk out.  The dropout rate is highest among students entering the first year.

SUCCESS STRATEGIES

The text has packaged a group of strategies that can help you succeed when appropriately utilized.

PLAN AHEAD - TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR LEARNING 

SHARPEN YOUR SKILLS – GET CONNECTED – KNOW YOURSELF

HOW DO YOU ACCOMPLISH THESE STRATEGIES?

Planning Ahead

·        Be on time for class

·        Have work done on time

·        Set up a weekly schedule

·        Limit your work if you are a full time student

·        If stressed, enroll part-time.

Take Charge of Learning

·        Discover how you learn best

·        Improve your study habits

·        Develop critical thinking skills

·        Improve your writing and speaking

Sharpening Your Skills

·        Participate in class

·        Learn how to remember more from every class

·        Learn from criticism

·        Take workshops on how to study

·        Learn to use the Library and computers to conduct research

 Get Connected

·        Study with a group

·        Get to know a least one person on campus who care about you

Know yourself

·        Take your health seriously

·        Have realistic expectations

·        Learn how to be assertive, yet tactful

·        Be proud of your heritage

FIRST YEAR COMMITMENT – HANGING IN

What are some of the reason listed in the text as to why so many students drop-out the first year?

·        Self Doubt

·        Newfound Freedom, get caught up in school activities

·        Max Out Credit Cards, lack of clear cut goals to begin with

·        Student of color who felt out of place at predominately white school

·        Returning Students who could not balance school, job and family

·        What Problems have you faced as a student, if any?

RETURNING STUDENTS VS TRADITIONAL STUDENTS

Which of these two groups are most likely to succeed? 

WHY?

·        Returning students tend to work harder

·        Generally speaking, tend to take studies more seriously

·        Age brings a wealth of wisdom that assist in meeting goals

THOSE WHO START AND THOSE WHO FINISH

In the 1900 less than 2% of Americans of traditional college age attended college.

Today, more than 60% of high school graduates go on to college, with over 4,100 colleges serving more than 15 million students (nearly half beginning at a two year institutions).

IT PAYS TO GO TO COLLEGE

Table 1.1 in you text gives these figures for Median Earning by Educational Attainment for year round Full-time workers age 25 +:

Professional degree                         $100,000

Doctorate                                             96,880

Master’s degree                                   78,541

Bachelor’s degree                                68,728

Associate degree                                  51,970

Some college, no degree                      45,854

High school graduate                           36,835

Less than high school diploma             22,718   

Source:  Bureau of the Census, 2003

SETTING GOALS FOR SUCCESS

Setting goals, both short term and long term is very important as you plan your college career. 

Short Term Goals might be:  Deciding to read 20 pages from you textbook twice a week in preparation for an upcoming exam.

Long Term Goals might be:  Begin planning which courses I must take that will help me fulfill my career goals. 

Its okay if you don’t know which career to pursue: more than 60% of college students change majors at least once.

As you set your goals, be specific about what you want to achieve: and   when setting your goals remember to:

Be Realistic:  Be sure your goals are achievable

Examine Your Values:  Be certain you want to achieve this goal.  Don’t set out to work toward something only because you feel you should.  Be certain your goals are consistent with your values.  WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?  Criminal Attorney who does not believe in Capital Punishment, Doctor who believes in Euthanasia, Accountant who hates working with numbers.

Overcome Obstacles:  Identify and plan for difficulties you might encounter.  Find ways to overcome them.

Make a Plan:  Design strategies for achieving the goal.  How do I begin?  What comes next?  What should I avoid?  Set timetable for completion.

One of the best ways to succeed in College is to know yourself.  Know how you learn best and what comes easiest for you

CONITIVE PROFILE

Did anyone attempt to do the Cognitive Profile Inventory?  This is an inventory that helps you determine your Learning Style.

The inventory consists of 60lpairs of words.  You were to look at each pair and choose which appealed to you most, or described you best.

None of the answers are better than any other.  The best answer is the one that is right for you.

The more thoughtful and honest you are in the self evaluation, the more helpful the resulting profile will be for you.  See Inventory on pages 10 and 11 of your text.

After doing the inventory, you were to plot the numbers to obtain a score which would give you a profile based on where you fell on the quadrant map.  This would give you your dominant quadrant, or in simpler terms how you best learn.  Did anyone attempt to do this exercise?

It is fairly time consuming, so we won’t do it in class, but it would be well worth your time to read and do the exercise.  It could help you better understand your particular Learning Style.

Let’s try and briefly summarize the Inventory Profile Model:

Your Learning Style is either:

ST   =   Sensor Thinker

SF   =   Sensor Feeler

NT  =    intuitive Thinker

NF  =    intuitive Feeler

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

SENSOR THINKER  =  Works from details, need material to be organized step by step.  Have need for feedback on his/her work.  Answers are either right or wrong.  Easily frustrated when presented with materials without explicit directions.

SENSOR FEELER  =  Like to talk about what he/she is learning.  Need to process information orally.  Must talk through what is being learned and study best with another person.

INTUITIVE THINKER  =   The intuitive thinker dwells mostly on the abstract.  Prefer grasping concepts before dealing with the trivia of details.  Once they have the global concept, the pieces fit in naturally.  The intuitive thinker is best suited for a career in research science, and often does not find academic success early due to the natural dislike of repetition and memorization which is so characteristic of our schools today.

INTUITIVE FEELER  =  The intuitive feeler is a creative learner.  Often lacks aptitude for both logic and memorization.   Relates strong to “causes” and may be active in efforts to save the whales, the trees, mankind or the ozone layer.  They may be described as those who march to a different drummer.

WHICH OF THE FOUR BEST DESCRIBES YOUR LEARNING PROFILE?

Regardless of your learning Profile there are Five Critical Skills students must master for college success and to be come a Leader.  These skills are:

(1)  Writing, (2) Critical Thinking, (3) Learning in Groups

(4) Planning, (5) Reflecting and taking action.

GROUP EXERCISE

I believe there are critical skills students must master for college success, such as:

Writing, Critical Thinking, Learning in Groups, Planning, Reflecting and taking action are all skills students must master.