Your College Experience Concise

by Gardner, John N.; Barefoot, Betsy O.

• ISBN13: 9781319029197
• ISBN10: 1319029191
• Edition: 12th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2016-10-14
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

Your College Experience Concise gives you the practical help you need to triumphantly transition to college.

Author Biography

John N. Gardner brings unparalleled experience to students as an author. The recipient of his institution's highest award for teaching excellence, John has over forty years of experience directing and teaching in the most widely emulated first-year seminar in the country, the University 101 course at the University of South Carolina (USC), Columbia. John is universally recognized as one of the country's leading educators for his role in initiating and orchestrating an international reform movement to improve the beginning college experience, a concept he coined as "the first-year experience." He is the founding executive director of the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition at USC, as well as the Policy Center on the First Year of College and the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education (www.jngi.org), both based in Brevard, N.C.

 

Betsy O. Barefoot is a writer, researcher, and teacher whose special area of scholarship is the first-year seminar. During her tenure at USC from 1988 to 1999, she served as co-director for research and publications at the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. She also taught University 101 and graduate courses on the first-year experience and the principles of college teaching. She conducts first-year seminar faculty training workshops around the world and is frequently called on to evaluate first-year seminar outcomes. Betsy is co-director and senior scholar in the Policy Center on the First Year of College and Vice President of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education both in Brevard, N.C. In her Policy Center role she led a major national research project to identify institutions of excellence in the first college year. She currently works with both two- and four-year campuses in evaluating all components of the first year.

Table of Contents

Part I Foundations
1. Why Go to College?
     The Value of a College Education
     The College Experience
     Exploring Purpose and Setting Goals
     Academic Planning
     Build your Experience
2. Time Management
     Managing Your Time
     Using Time-Management Tools
     Procrastination
     Setting Priorities
     Appreciating the Value of Time
     Build your Experience 
3. Emotional Intelligence
     What Is Emotional Intelligence?
     Emotional Intelligence in Everyday Life
     Developing Emotional Intelligence
     How Emotions Influence Success
     How to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence
     Build your Experience
4. How You Learn
     Learning Styles and the Tools Used for Measuring Them 
     When Learning Styles and Teaching Styles Conflict
     Learning Disabilities 
     Build your Experience

Part II Preparing to Study
5. Thinking in College
     College-Level Thinking: Higher and Deeper
     Becoming a Critical Thinker
     Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy
     Build your Experience
6. Reading to Learn
     A Plan for Active Reading
     Strategies for Reading Textbooks
     Improving Your Reading
     Build your Experience
7. Getting the Most Out of Class
     Become Engaged in Learning
     Prepare for Class
     Participate in Class
     Take Effective Notes 
     Build your Experience
8. Studying
     Studying in College: Making Choices and Concentrating
     How Memory Works
     Improving Your Memory
     Studying to Understand and Remember
9. Test-taking
     Getting Ready . . .
     Tips for Test Taking
     TYPES of Tests
     Types of Questions
     Overcoming Test Anxiety
     Cheating
10. Information Literacy and Communication
     Information Literacy
     Choosing, Narrowing, and Researching a Topic
     Using the Library
     Evaluating Sources
     Using Your Research in Writing
     The Writing Process
     Using Your Research in Presentations

Part III Preparing for Life
11. Diversity
     Thriving in Diverse Environments 
     Seeking Diversity in College
     Overcoming Discrimination, Prejudice, and Insensitivity on College Campuses
12. Money
     Living on a Budget
     Understanding Financial Aid
     Achieving a Balance between Working and Borrowing
     Managing Credit Wisely
     Planning for the Future