Striving for Excellence in College

by Browne, M. Neil; Keeley, Stuart M.

• ISBN13: 9780130220585
• ISBN10: 0130220582
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

Enhancements to the Second Edition include: bull; bull;The addition of "Speed Bumps" as a caution for the areas where the reader may miss a crucial point. bull;Increased material on active learning, including more tips and illustrations. bull;Streamlined explanation of note taking, and an emphasized importance of a body of knowledge as the platform for active learning.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Mountains Must Be Climbed To Reach The Other Side	1	(8)
PART I: Attitudes
Taking Charge Of Your Own Learning	9	(10)
Resisting The Need To Be Entertained	19	(10)
Resisting Mental Habits That Interfere With Active Learning	29	(8)
Taking Pride In Doubt	37	(8)
PART II: Knowledge
Asking Questions to Help Make Sense of The Reasoning	45	(12)
Asking Questions To Evaluate The Reasoning	57	(10)
Asking Questions That Make Connections	67	(8)
Preparing For A Class Where Active Learning Takes Place	75	(8)
Taking Notes For Active Learning	83	(10)
Searching For Clarity In Texts, Lectures, Discussions, and Assignments	93	(10)
PART III: External Conditions
Finding Peers Who Respect Active Learning	103	(6)
Adjusting To Professors Who Seem Not To Encourage Active Learning	109	(8)
Discovering Multiple Perspectives	117	(10)
Epilogue	127

Excerpts

PREFACE We can all learn how to improve our mental performance. We wrote this book to help you become more like the learner you want to be--productive and engaged. Besides encouragement, what we have to offer are tips that skilled learners already know and use to their benefit. We want you to know them, too. We have faith in your curiosity and desire for self-improvement. But you need specific guidance from experienced learners to move your natural inclinations along. Learning is a process that uses particular skills and attitudes to expand your awareness and appreciation. These skills and attitudes do not fall into place just because you go to school or get a little older. We all need teachers to give us the clues and strategies that will allow us to reach a point where we can feel confidence about our capability to learn on our own. This book is a gift to you from two teachers who are your partners in learning. In fact, as we wrote the book, we found ourselves reminded of many tips that we needed to use more frequently as we, too, continue to learn. For example, we both get lazy at times just like any learner and forget to take careful notes when we hear a wonderful speaker, read a moving passage, or discover for the first time a creative scientific experiment. We included so many tips for learning that we guarantee you will find several that will jumpstart your own learning. We hope this is a book that you will want to keep as a reminder of the many ways in which you can be a better learner tomorrow than you are today. The aim of the book is not just learning, but excellence in learning. By excellence, we do not mean some lofty goal that only a few geniuses can hope to reach. Instead, we mean steady improvement toward your learning goals. As you read this book, latch onto those tips that seem especially useful to you. The book is full of helpful hints, but you are the best judge of which ones will be beneficial as you continue to learn. We wrote the book so that college students, regardless of their current abilities, would finish the book with an expanded ability to think and learn more effectively, both during and after college. This second edition has benefited from the constructive criticism of a number of students and teachers who used the first edition as a guide to excellence in college. In response to their suggestions and our own re-thinking, we have made the following changes in this new edition: More examples of the active learning that Striving recommends. Speed bump boxes that attempt to model how an active learner is always trying to think against the grain. Active learning boxes that suggest how readers can practice what we are urging. End-of-the-chapter web sites and supplemental reading. Additional tips for active learning. More emphasis on the joy of active learning. With these changes and the help of our readers, old and new, we offer this celebration of the active learner. M. NEIL BROWNE STUART M. KEELEY