This page serves as a guidebook to promote students' academic success at St. Lawrence. We have collected a variety of resources to help students break down major assignments, read actively, take advantage of advising and engaged learning opportunities, and to become more focused learners in the classroom. These items may also help students manage their time better, become accustomed to setting and striving towards academic goals, perform well on exams and papers, and maintain good study habits. Students who would like to know more about these issues or any other questions that are arising in their academic work are encouraged to seek out the Coordinator of Academic Support.
Please see the following attachments for our guide "How Should I Get Ready to Read?" and Dr. Mark Busser's highly useful set of "Active Reading Symbols."
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Busser - Active Reading Symbols.pdf | 443.57 KB |
| How Should I Get Ready to Read.pdf | 30.07 KB |
Please see the following attachment for our piece "How Can I Develop a Reading System for Each of My Classes?"
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| How Can I Develop a Reading System for Each of My Classes.pdf | 27.54 KB |
Please see the following attachment to see our guide and worksheet for "Breaking Down Big Papers."
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| How Can I Avoid Last.pdf | 154.33 KB |
STUDY TIPS FOR TRAVELING STUDENT ATHLETES
The temptation to stick in your ear buds and zone out for a bus trip may be eminent, but it is a waste of valuable study time!
· Be prepared BEFORE you leave for an away game.
o Organize pertinent notes, practice quizzes, and reading assignments the night before you leave. There is no reason to lug a bunch of unnecessary materials while traveling. You don’t want to be shuffling through a pile of unorganized papers, nor do you want to be schlepping around more than you need.
o Create your own flash cards before you get on the bus or at the hotel. A bumpy ride will result in illegible hand writing.
o Download your reading assignments from Sakai and the web before leaving.
· A dark bus is not a good enough excuse to put the books away. Invest in a head lamp. They are as inexpensive as $5 on the Walmart website…shipping is only $ .97. That is about $6. That is well worth it for a few extra hours of study time!
· Chances are some of your teammates will be taking the same classes as you. Form a study group on the bus or in the hotel room. Quiz each other, discuss projects, papers and readings together. You may realize that your strength is a team mate’s area of weakness and vice versa. You can help each other.
· Bring your laptop (with a fully charged battery for the bus) and start an outline or paper. Give yourself a productive and realistic goal before checking facebook or your email. For example: “I am going to complete my outline and write the introduction with a strong thesis statement before creeping on facebook.”
· For those of you who suffer from travel sickness, consider a book on tape while traveling. Check to see if any of your readings in Sakai (or anywhere on the web) have an audio option. You could also have a team mate give you a verbal quiz on the bus if you promise to repay the favor back at the hotel.
· Study in shorter but more frequent segments. According to Jessica Brondo, research has shown that students tend to remember better what they’ve read or studied first or last. The middle part of a study session does not always resonate. Study for a while and then take a short walk or stretch. Quiz yourself before starting each new session to brush up on the main points.
· SLEEP!!! 8 hours IS possible if you do not put off everything until the last minute and manage your time wisely. You have most likely observed your non-athlete friends have more freedom with their time. They can pull off the all-nighters (not that they should, but we all know it happens). As a student athlete, you really do not have that option if you want to perform well in the classroom AND on the field, court, track, course, etc.
· Create a schedule and stick to it. Practice healthy eating and an exercise regimen all year long so you do not completely fall out of your routine and getting back into your season will not be such an adjustment.
Written by Katie J. Spencer, Coordinator of Academic Development
The short answer is that drug and alcohol abuse can be devastating to a person's health and academic performance.
To be more specific, getting intoxicated can have a negative impact on cognitive functions (concentration, memory, attention) for 48 hours. This means that if you get intoxicated on the last Friday of classes, your ability to study for finals on both Saturday and Sunday will be impaired; this in turn could have a negative impact on your ability to perform during your Monday exams.
The recovery from smoking pot is more complex, and is described below in more detail, along with a more detailed discussion of the impact of alcohol.
While by no means should this list be considered exhaustive, the following are some ways in which commonly used substances can be particular problems for college students. While several problems can accompany substance use and abuse, this list focuses on those drugs that impact two domains that are clearly barriers to academic success-anxiety and cognitive functioning.
Alcohol
There can be lingering cognitive deficits up to 48 hours after a night of drinking.
Heavy drinking by students can lead to positive blood alcohol levels the next day, affecting whether or not they even get up for class and, if they do, the quality of how information is processed and ultimately stored.
Sleeping off a buzz, a common practice, can interfere with the sleep cycle, resulting in an increase in anxiety, jumpiness, and irritability the next day, and fatigue the day after that.
Marijauna
With evening use, marijuana has the same impact on sleep that alcohol has, throwing off the sleep cycle and impacting how a person feels for at least two additional days.
Marijuana suppresses neuronal activity in the hippocampus, resulting in problems with attention, memory, and concentration.
There is increasing evidence that there is an impact to motivation following marijuana use. This could be due to the effect of THC in the body blocking the passage of nutrients through cells, the neuronal suppression in the hippocampus, or the decrease in energy accompanying the fatigue that follows night time use.
Marijuana significantly increases heart rate, weakens the heart muscle, and affects blood pressure- the increase in heart rate can be a concern for someone already dealing with anxiety ( and particularly panic).
Ecstasy
Ecstasy (MDMA) damages neurons in the brain that use serotonin, translating to memory problems in humans
Source: Dr. Jason Kilmer, Research Scientist for the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington and an Addictive Behaviors Specialist at Evergreen State College in the state of Washington. He is a nationally known speaker on the subject of reducing the harm associated with college drinking and drug use.
A Study Indicates That Alcohol Has a Far-Reaching Impact on Memory
Although most people take for granted that alcohol impairs memory of events that occur during intoxication, alcohol consumption has further-reaching effects on memory and learning ability, a Duke University study suggests. Intoxication is produced by temporary impairment of brain receptors key in creating long-term memories in the hippocampus, said Jeff Georgi, a coordinator at the school's Alcohol and Addictions Program. "If you study for four hours...then go drinking, it affects this anchoring process," he told Duke's Chronicle. Alcohol also disrupts sleep, which interferes with long-term memory formation.
In addition, young adults seem to have more trouble than older adults learning while drinking, the study suggests. After study subjects drank two drinks in one hour, subjects aged 21 to 24 fared worse on a test of verbal and visual memory than subjects aged 25 to 29.
Source: Recruitment & Retention in Higher Education, November 2001 Vol. 15 No. 11
Written by Dr. Ginny Schwartz, Coordinator of Academic Support (2001-2008)
At some point in one's college career, a student is likely to engage in peer review, both as a reader and as a recipient of feedback. This is a good practice since, at its best, peer review can provide readers and writers with an opportunity to identify strong points and overall values in a paper, describe what they understand as a text's main purpose, ask important questions, and suggest points to revise throughout the writing process (Chisholm 11-12). It is also an effective and widely-used tool in the workplace. Occasionally, a writer may be surprised to find that her intended main argument isn't carrying across to the reader or that there is special value in a particular claim or theme that calls for greater emphasis in future drafts. Here's a list of guiding questions that may help peer reviewers provide the most helpful assistance possible, especially as they look to avoid a process that focuses solely on local concerns, like punctuation and verb agreement. Such a system engages in constructive criticism but also emphasizes a text's strengths.
Guiding Questions for Peer Review:
Global concerns first….
1) In one sentence, what do you think is the main point of this paper?
2) What are some apparent goals that the author has successfully accomplished within this paper?
3) Do you have any major structural or big-picture suggestions? For example:
-Does the author use appropriate evidence to back up his or her points? Briefly draw out what
you understand to be the text’s thesis, claims, and evidence model or other governing
structure(s) employed by the author.
-Are the sources and citation format appropriate for this type of paper?
-Are there areas that the author needs to reconceive in the revision process?
-Are the ideas presented in the opening and closing pages of the draft effective in engaging
the intended audience?
4) How does this paper relate to other topics within the class? Does the author establish the broader implications of what he or she is writing about?
5) What thematic questions does this paper raise for you? Is there anything that is unclear?
6) Are there areas of strength that beg for further development? Conversely, are there pieces that should be faded into the background?
And then local…
7) Are there are stylistic recommendations that you would make? (e.g., tone, word choice, sentence structure)
8) Are there any recurring grammatical, spelling, punctuation, and/or syntax issues that need to be addressed? Don't go through and copy-edit, but identify major problems and talk about the rules that the author could use to correct them.
Works Cited: Chisholm, Richard. "Introducing Students to Peer Review of Writing." Writing Across the Curriculum, Vol. III, no 1.
Written by Matt McCluskey, Coordinator of Academic Support
The Pre-Game: Good Study Habits
1. Keep up with your work. If you attend class regularly, keep up with readings, and take notes conscientiously, studying can be a relatively pain-free process. Make sure to review and expand upon class notes regularly throughout the semester. Consider developing a glossary or collection of note cards for vocabulary review in each class. Many students find that preparing for an individual class for 60-90 minutes per day, five or six days per week, will leave them well-prepared at exam time. To assist students with organization at finals time, we have compiled a couple of time management tools that are included with this page.
2. Don’t cram at the last second. Building off our previous entry, try studying for 60-90 minutes per day for a week leading up to an exam. All-nighters simply don't work for most people, and students experience declining returns on their efforts when they attempt to study for four and five hours straight.
3. Complete a mock test. So many social science, natural science, and foreign language text books contain hundreds of questions at the end of chapters that never get answered. Why not set aside an hour, and try to answer these questions on paper without using your notes? If you complete a mock test 3-4 days before an exam, you’ll then know where to focus your studying. You may also combat pre-test jitters by demonstrating to yourself what you know. For the humanities, try answering a couple of potential essay questions on a timed, closed book basis and see how you do. Another simple way to conduct a mock test is to ask a friend or classmate to give you an oral quiz based on concepts in the textbook or in either of your notes.
4. Do not multi-task while studying. Set aside time to study in advance and then follow through. For most people, that means leaving your dorm room and turning off visual/auditory distractions, including iPods, Facebook, and music with lyrics.
5. If you have outstanding questions, go see your professor or tutor at least three days before the exam. If you’ve given yourself a mock test in advance, you’ll be able to go to office hours with an agenda.
6. Think about what written questions might be on the exam; Outline each potential essay as a form of pretesting and practice.
7. Find a group of dedicated students with whom to study. A group study session is an ideal time to review and compare notes, ask each other questions, explain ideas to one another, discuss the upcoming exam and difficult concepts, and, when appropriate, delegate study tasks. Do set an agenda and a specific time frame for your group study session, so that your work together doesn't veer off-topic.
8. Keep your ears open in class. Your professor will sometimes come right out and tell you about the exam or present study strategies. You need to be in class every day to receive such help. This is particularly true as tests and final exams approach. Use review sheets thoroughly.
9. Review your class notes every day. Add keywords, summaries, idea maps, graphs, charts, discussion points, and questions where applicable. Take the time to organize lecture notes after class, adding key examples from labs and course readings.
10. Take notes on the course readings. You should also review these notes on a regular basis. Again, create visual enhancements when possible (e.g., compare/contrast charts, timelines, etc.). Use both your course notebook and the text's margins to record valuable information. Please see our entries on reading for further information on this topic.
11. Make sure to get plenty of sleep. Sleeping hours are often the time when we completely synthesize information, especially topics we’ve covered in the couple of hours before bedtime. You want to be as fresh as possible and able to fully engage your working memory when you take the exam. Also, don’t stop exercising or taking time for yourself, even at final exam time.
12. Find ways to apply materials from class. Think about how course topics relate to your personal interests, societal problems and controversies, issues raised in other classes, or different experiences in your life.
Game-Day: Performing Well on the Exam
1. Develop a good ‘morning-of’ routine. Eat a healthy breakfast. If music gets you going, go ahead and play something upbeat. Get a bit of physical exercise, even if it’s a brief stretch or brisk walk. If you’re feeling nervous, record your fears on paper or use mental imagery to envision doing something that you enjoy and then apply those feelings towards the exam. Think of preparing like an athlete before a contest or a musician before a performance.
2. When you first receive the exam, glance over the entire test before you start. Create a plan of attack. Write down any key terms or formulas that you’ll need before starting. Think about how you’ll use the time allotted.
3. Read the directions carefully. If something doesn’t make sense to you, ask the professor. Remember that many questions at the college level have multiple queries or prompts.
4. Write out a brief outline before beginning essay questions.
5. Use the process of elimination on multiple-choice and matching questions. Also, for multiple choice questions, you may wish to cover the options first and try to answer the question on your own. That way, you’ll find the answer options less confusing. As you prepare for multiple choice exams, make sure to be aware of context, relationships and positionality among concepts, and multiple definitions of terms. A deep understanding of vocabulary is a key to success on multiple-choice exams.
6. Leave the most time-consuming problems for the end, especially those with low point values.
7. Focus on the question at hand. If you complete the test one step at a time, you are much less likely to find it to be overwhelming.
8. If you are stuck on a question, bypass it. Mark the question off, so you can return to it at the end of the exam.
9. Show as much work as possible. This is particularly important for math exams. Make sure that you're answering each part of the question.
10. If you have time at the end of the exam, go back and proofread your work and look over multiple-choice questions again. Check to see that you have answered every question before you turn in the exam. But remember, your first answer is usually your best answer. Be extremely cautious about changing answers later on.
11. Some people benefit from conducting a memory dump when they first receive a test. That is, they jot down a comprehensive list of concepts, formulas, vocabulary, and details at the beginning and revisit these ideas as they're progressing through the test.
12. See if there is a way to draw a picture or otherwise create a visual description of the question you are trying to answer.
Post-Game: Reviewing Your Performance
1. If there was a part of the exam on which you struggled, go see your professor. This is likely not the last time you’ll see the concept covered.
2. Hold onto your notebooks. You never know when the information you’ve learned will be useful in another situation. The same rule goes for many of your books.
3. Take a moment to review your test preparation strategies. Take account of what worked and what needs improvement. In particular, take a moment to gauge whether your study group was helpful. If you feel like your test-preparation strategies need work, go see your professor or the Academic Advising Office.
4. Reward yourself. If you’ve studied conscientiously for a week or more, you should take a bit of time to relax before getting started with your studies again.
Written by Matt McCluskey, Coordinator of Academic Support
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| FinalsGantt.pdf | 74.27 KB |
| FinalsTemplate.pdf | 17.98 KB |
How you and your faculty advisor should work together:
Because a strong advisor-advisee relationship is central to your success at SLU, it is important to think about how you can make the most of your relationship with your faculty advisor. The keys to being a good advisee are thinking carefully and intentionally about all four years of your SLU experience and providing your advisor with honest and complete information about what skills you have, what sort of help you need, and what you are really interested in. Look at the catalogue, think about your interests, and be prepared to give direction to your choices.
Your faculty advisor can:
• Help monitor your progress toward your degree
• Help you select and register for courses
• Serve as someone you can talk to when you need advice or assistance
• Serve as a link to other faculty and staff who can provide information and assistance that your advisor cannot
• Provide you with information about, and help you understand, university policies or direct you to those who can provide that information and assistance
• Sign important paperwork for registration, changing courses, and other purposes
The student's responsibility in academic advising:
• Making all final decisions
• Knowing your advisor's office hours
• Scheduling periodic meetings with your advisor, especially prior to advising week (advising week is a time set aside for students and academic advisors to discuss academic goals and future course choices with their advisors)
• Coming to meetings prepared by reading the course schedule and catalogue ahead of time
• Being aware of, and respecting, registration and major/minor declaration deadlines
• Keeping track of your courses, requirements, and your progress towards your degree
• Completing all the necessary degree requirements and associated paperwork
• Informing your advisor about any Co-curricular activities you are involved in that might affect your academic choices or academic performance
• Contacting your advisor as soon as you are having difficulties
• Being forthcoming and honest with your advisor
• Considering carefully your advisor's suggestions
When to see your advisor:
• To discuss academic requirements and progress toward a degree
• To discuss academic progress
• To discuss any problems that affect your academic performance
• To discuss major and minor interests
• To select courses
• To add or drop a course, take a course pass/ fail, or withdraw from a course
Written by Dr. Ginny Schwartz, Coordinator of Academic Support (2001-2008)
1) Seek out each of your professors
-They all have office hours and are available to make appointments.
-They want to see you and answer your questions.
-It’s OK to walk in and say, “Hi, I’m ______ in your _________ class and I just wanted to introduce myself”.
-A first meeting is also a good chance to have a preliminary discussion about written assignments.
-You may want to talk about specific reading, research, or note-taking techniques applicable to a certain topic or discipline.
2) Go to every class and activity
-There’s no surer route to academic peril than skipping class.
-If you are legitimately ill, make sure to touch base with your professors and get notes from a friend. Also, if you are that sick, you need to visit the Health Center.
3) Find a note-taking system that works for you
-You need to have a good organizational system for each of your classes. At minimum, that would include a notebook and folder for each class and an overall calendar for general planning
-You can visit the Academic Advising Office if you have questions about notebook organization.
-You may wish to explore the Cornell Method, outlining, and mapping techniques for your notebook.
-One important thought: your notes should not be a strict transcript of every last word said in the class. You're sure to miss important information should you take this approach, not to mention having a very sore hand from frantic scribbling. Your task instead should be to jot down enough keywords and symbols to spur your memory later that day when you take time to review and piece together your notes.
-In some cases, you may wish to take time after class to record lecture notes in outline format and integrate materials from readings into your course notes.
-Take time regularly before and after class to review notes from the previous few weeks of classes.
-Compare notes with a classmate and quiz one another on your recollections.
-4) Go to Bed
-Going to bed on weeknights at 2:30 AM when you have a slew of 8:30 classes is not going to do much for your class participation and attendance. Plus, no one functions as well when they are regularly getting less than 7 hours of rest per night. If you don't believe us, check out Professor Pamela Thacher's research on sleep deprivation that she has done as a member of the St. Lawrence Psychology Department. Make sure to take advantage of daylight hours, too, especially during the short days in the winter.
5) Begin your research papers now
-Visit the library research staff early in the semester
-Talk about your research ideas with your professors
-Leave time in your time management plan for revision-- at least a week for longer papers.
-DO NOT put yourself in a situation where you are pulling repeated all-nighters in November and December. Both the quality of your work and your health will suffer.
6) Read your syllabi and think about how you'll manage your time
-Professors put a great deal of work into their syllabi and expect their students to know them inside and out. Syllabi are the most important time management tool you have. Take time at the beginning of the semester to figure out how you will manage your time to meet the listed course requirements. Think now about where you'll study, when you'll read and review notes, and what strategies you'll use to prepare for each class. Generally, you should plan on setting aside six-nine hours each week to prepare for each of your classes. Use your syllabi to get an early start on longer assignments, so that you're not overwhelmed at the end of the semester.
7) Learn about resources on campus
-It doesn’t hurt to pay a visit to the QRC, Word Studio, and Academic Advising Office right now to see what each office offers.
8) Be ready to participate in class
-Come prepared with questions that the course texts raised for you. If you are reading from a laptop, don't forget that programs like Adobe Acrobat and others offer the opportunity to annotate readings on-line (e.g., taking notes in the margin, listing questions as they arise, creating links to background materials, highlighting and underlining key sections)
-Listen actively to others; build off of their points.
-Non-verbal cues are important, too: Make eye contact with the speaker, sit up straight, and take notes. Be careful about smirking, whispering to friends, using electronic devices for non-academic purposes, and rolling your eyes. These are quick and easy ways to alienate your professors and classmates.
-Bring course readings and your notes, annotations, questions on them to class.
9) What are some of the things the Academic Advising Office can offer?
-Access to the peer tutor program
-Time management, syllabus mapping, and note-taking seminars and tutorials
-Help with critical reading and study skills questions
-Assistance on any general questions you may have
Written by Matt McCluskey, Coordinator of Academic Support
Guidelines for Writing a Good First-Year Research Paper in the Social Sciences
Adapted from "America's Suburban Landscape" First-Year Seminar Course.
Note: If you are writing your paper one section at a time, it often makes sense to do your main arguments first and then circle back to the materials you want to cover in your introduction. This list of guidelines is best employed while engaging in a thorough and patient revision process.
Writing a Good Introduction: (5 pages or so)
-Establish what the problem or conflict is.
-Find a way to grab your reader’s attention.
-Define important terms.
-Show what is at stake and why the issue is important.
-Provide a broad historical context and background for the issue.
-Describe the setting and context in which your issue is being debated.
-Introduce the actors affected by this issue (e.g., individuals, governments, businesses, non-profit organizations).
-Establish different schools of thought.
-Describe the processes through which decisions will be made and who the decision-makers are.
-Who’s paying the bills?
-Provide a concise, targeted thesis statement that is focused, important, researchable, and arguable.
Writing a Good Literature Review and Research Design (not required): (would be 3 pages or so-----this is not required for your papers, given our heavy emphasis on using other people’s research, but helpful to see for the future);
-Outline how you are going to test your hypothesis in an unbiased fashion – think of the scientific method.
-Provide a road map for your research and for your paper.
-Introduce your most important sources to the reader. Establish their authority.
-Talk about any specific research methods you plan on using. (e.g., statistical analysis)
-Trace the history of scholarship on this topic. How will you be building off this work? Describe the on-going conversation about your subject. What are some areas of tension or disagreement?
Writing a Good Main Argument: (7 pages or so)
-Back up your thesis with a series of claims and related evidence. (Revisit our notes on the Smyrna, Tennessee chapter as needed)
-Tell a story. While using your sources, make your argument in your own words and through your own design. Remember our discussions in class about paraphrasing. Direct quotations should be used sparingly, in such cases as recording rhetorical emphasis, making a historical notation, or where another person’s definition or observation is crucial to the audience’s understanding. Make sure to dig into a variety of sources throughout this section.
-Make a persuasive, cogent argument. In the first sections of the paper, you are simply a dispassionate observer describing a problem. Here you have a specific point to make and you may demonstrate your conviction about a particular issue.
-Use Evidence: statistics, primary sources, historical examples, archives, map/photo/image analysis, case-studies, interviews with experts, modeling (comparing the situation with others like it), logic, other people’s scholarly research (a key in the FYS), and perhaps a few popular articles to help put things in context.
-Stay on task: Don’t stray from your thesis.
-Address your detractors’ arguments in a serious and fair manner. Discuss why you ultimately reject their conclusions.
Writing a Good Conclusion: (2 pages or so)
-Briefly review and restate your main arguments.
-Discuss the broader implications of your research and the issue.
-Describe how things might look in 20 years with regard to this problem.
-Explain why your findings are important.
-Think about where future research might lead.
-In some cases, you might make policy suggestions based on your findings.
General Writing Tips:
Vary your language choices and sentence structure.
When possible, keep your sentences and paragraphs short---Hacker provides some good ideas on how to eliminate needless words that can clog up a sentence.
Watch out for excessive passive voice. In some cases, you can fix this problem by simply moving the primary subject to the beginning of the sentence.
Use precise language.
Make sure your citations are complete. Remember that we cite to give credit to others, to prove that our work is authentic and trustworthy, and to provide a "road map" our audience and other researchers.
Remember how to use (and not use!) the comma.
Work with your outline and/or idea map nearby.
Don’t use fallacies in your work.
Written by Matt McCluskey, Coordinator of Academic Support
Excerpt from High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter
By George D. Kuh
A Brief Overview
The following teaching and learning practices have been widely tested and have been shown to be beneficial for college students from many backgrounds. These practices take many different forms, depending on learner characteristics and on institutional priorities and contexts. On many campuses, assessment of student involvement in active learning practices such as these has made it possible to assess the practices' contribution to students' cumulative learning. However, on almost all campuses, utilization of active learning practices is unsystematic, to the detriment of student learning. Presented below are brief descriptions of high-impact practices that educational research suggests increase rates of student retention and student engagement. The rest of this publication will explore in more detail why these types of practices are effective, which students have access to them, and, finally, what effect they might have on different cohorts of students.
First-Year Seminars and Experiences
Many schools now build into the curriculum first-year seminars or other programs that bring small groups of students together with faculty or staff on a regular basis. The highest-quality first-year experiences place a strong emphasis on critical inquiry, frequent writing, information literacy, collaborative learning, and other skills that develop students' intellectual and practical competencies. First-year seminars can also involve students with cutting-edge questions in scholarship and with faculty members' own research.
Common Intellectual Experiences
The older idea of a "core" curriculum has evolved into a variety of modern forms such as a set of required common courses or a vertically organized general education program that includes advanced integrative studies and/or required participation in a learning community (see below). These programs often combine broad themes - e.g., technology and society, global interdependence - with a variety of curricular and cocurricular options for students.
Learning Communities
The key goals for learning communities are to encourage integration of learning across courses and to involve students with "big questions" that matter beyond the classroom. Students take two or more linked courses as a group and work closely with one another and with their professors. Many learning communities explore a common topic and/or common readings through the lenses of different disciplines. Some deliberately link "liberal arts" and "professional courses"; others feature service learning.
Writing-Intensive Courses
These courses emphasize writing at all levels of instruction and across the curriculum, including final-year projects. Students are encouraged to produce and revise various forms of writing for different audiences in different disciplines. The effectiveness of this repeated practice "across the curriculum" has led to parallel efforts in such areas as quantitative reasoning, oral communication, information literacy, and, on some campuses, ethical inquiry.
Collaborative Assignments and Projects
Collaborative learning combines two key goals: learning to work and solve problems in the company of others, and sharpening one's own understanding by listening seriously to the insights of others, especially those with different backgrounds and life experiences. Approaches range from study groups within a course, to team-based assignments and writing, to cooperative projects and research.
Undergraduate Research
Many colleges and universities are now providing research experiences for students in all disciplines. Undergraduate research, however, has been most prominently used in science disciplines. With strong support from the National Science Foundation and the research community, scientists are reshaping their courses to connect key concepts and questions with students’ early and active involvement in systematic investigation and research. The goal is to involve students with actively contested questions, empirical observation, cutting-edge technologies, and the sense of excitement that comes from working to answer important questions.
Diversity/Global Learning
Many colleges and universities now emphasize courses and programs that help students explore cultures, life experiences, and worldviews different from their own. These studies - which may address U.S. diversity, world cultures, or both - often explore "difficult differences" such as racial, ethnic, and gender inequality, or continuing struggles around the globe for human rights, freedom, and power. Frequently, intercultural studies are augmented by experiential learning in the community and/or by study abroad.
Service Learning, Community-Based Learning
In these programs, field-based "experiential learning" with community partners is an instructional strategy - and often a required part of the course. The idea is to give students direct experience with issues they are studying in the curriculum and with ongoing efforts to analyze and solve problems in the community. A key element in these programs is the opportunity students have to both apply what they are learning in real-world settings and reflect in a classroom setting on their service experiences. These programs model the idea that giving something back to the community is an important college outcome, and that working with community partners is good preparation for citizenship, work, and life.
Internships
Internships are another increasingly common form of experiential learning. The idea is to provide students with direct experience in a work setting - usually related to their career interests - and to give them the benefit of supervision and coaching from professionals in the field. If the internship is taken for course credit, students complete a project or paper that is approved by a faculty member.
Capstone Courses and Projects
Whether they're called "senior capstones" or some other name, these culminating experiences require students nearing the end of their college years to create a project of some sort that integrates and applies what they've learned. The project might be a research paper, a performance, a portfolio of "best work," or an exhibit of artwork. Capstones are offered both in departmental programs and, increasingly, in general education as well.
Source: Association of American Colleges and Universities Publications.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| academic planning form.pdf | 65.61 KB |
| Study Log.pdf | 5.5 KB |
| time_management14.pdf | 86.8 KB |
| time_management24.pdf | 81.02 KB |
| Copy of COURSE PROGRESS.pdf | 250.1 KB |
| Fall 2011 study inventory.pdf | 12.73 KB |
| BigPaperGantt.pdf | 172.86 KB |
| Weekly Goals List.pdf | 8.52 KB |
| General Biology_ Strategies for Success.pdf | 116.26 KB |
| SyllabusMaps12-13.pdf | 302.03 KB |
| Sample Schedule.pdf | 630.52 KB |
| Dec6FYPStuff.pdf | 5.76 KB |
Abu Shihab, Ibrahim. "Reading as Critical Thinking". Asian Social Science 7.8 (August 2011): 209-218. Web.
http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/view/9561/8076
Balduf, Meg. "Underachievement Among College Students." Journal of Advanced Academics 20 (2009), 274-294. Academic Search Complete Database.
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=15&sid=8c22...
Belluck, Pam. "To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test". nytimes.com. New York Times, 20 Jan. 2011. Web.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/science/21memory.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=%2...
Branson, Po and Ashley Merryman. "Why Can Some Kids Handle Pressure While Others Fall Apart?" nytimes.com. New York Times, 6 Feb. 2013.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/magazine/why-can-some-kids-handle-pres...
Brouse, Corey H et al. "College Students' Academic Motivation" College Quarterly 13.1 (Winter 2010). Web.
http://www.senecac.on.ca/quarterly/2010-vol13-num01-winter/brouse-basch-...
Carey, Benedict. "Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits". nytimes.com. New York Times, 7 Sept. 2010. Web.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?scp=1&sq=Stud...
Fried, Carrie B. "In-Class Laptop Use and Its Effects on Student Learning." Computers and Education 50 (2008): 906-914. Science Direct. Web.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131506001436
Graham, S., and Hebert, M.A. (2010). Writing to read: Evidence for how writing can improve reading. A Carnegie Corporation Time to Act Report. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education. Web.
http://carnegie.org/fileadmin/Media/Publications/WritingToRead_01.pdf
Horwitz, Steven. "A Guide to Writing an Academic Paper". washingtonpost.com. The Answer Sheet Blog by Valerie Strauss. 20 Jan. 2012. Web.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/a-guide-to-writing...
Kover, David J. and Frank Worrell. "The Influence of Instrumentality Beliefs on Intrinsic Motivation"
Journal of Advanced Academics 21:3 (Spring 2010). ERIC Database. Web.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ906113.pdf
Mack, Dinah and Holly Epstein Ojalvo. "Briefly Noted: Practicing Useful Annotation Strategies."
nytimes.com. The Learning Network Blog of the New York Times, 7 Mar. 2011. Web.
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/briefly-noted-practicing-us...
Paul, Annie Murphy. "The Upside of Dyslexia". nytimes.com. New York Times, 4 Feb. 2012. Web.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/opinion/sunday/the-upside-of-dyslexia....
Pope, Justin. "Colleges open their eyes: ZZZs are key to GPA" bigstory.ap.org The Associated Press. 30 Aug. 2012. Web.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/colleges-open-their-eyes-zs-are-key-gpa
Shellenbarger, Sue. "Toughest Exam Question: What Is the Best Way to Study?". wsj.com. Wall Street Journal, 26 Oct. 2011. Web.
(Note: our previous link didn't work, but you can ask Matt for a copy of the Wall Street Journal article or Google it)
"Study Finds: Students Transfer Bad Study Habits from Paper to Screen." sciencedaily.com. ScienceDaily, 10 Aug. 2010. Web.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100810094617.htm
Yahalom, Tali. "College Students' Performance Suffers from Lack of Sleep." usatoday.com. USA Today. 17 Sept. 2007. Web.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-09-16-sleep-deprivation_N.htm
Closer to Home:
From Matt McCluskey:
"A Cheap and Fantastically Useful Tool for the New Semester." huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post. 8 Jan. 2013. Web.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-mccluskey/a-cheap-and-fantasticall...
"Developing the Right Reading System." huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post, 28 Sept. 2012. Web.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-mccluskey/college-course-readiness...
"Strategies for the First Year." adirondackdailyenterprise.com. Adirondack Daily Enterprise, 10 Aug. 2012. Web.
http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/532296/S...
"The Instructor's Side of the Reading Covenant". huffingtonpost.com. Huffington Post, 24 Oct. 2012. Web.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-mccluskey/college-reading-_b_20073...