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Learning and Motivation Strategies for Achievement

Outline
AN INVITATION TO LEARNING AND MOTIVATION STRATEGIES FOR ACHIEVEMENT WHY TAKE A LEARNING AND MOTIVATION STRATEGIES CLASS? PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY Critical Thinking and Psychology: Thinking Well About Human Behavior Education and Psychology Equal Educational Psychology How People Learn: The Information Processing System Teaching for Learning Preferred Learning Styles HOW TO USE THIS COURSE PACKET Outlines Objectives Self-Surveys Examples Quickpractices Applications Assignments Self-Assessments Portfolios PREVIEW OF MODULES KEEP AN OPEN MIND USING AND EVALUATING WHAT YOU LEARN IN THIS COURSE

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Objectives

State the purpose of this course. Describe and explain the three bases for the strategies outlined in this course. Describe the four learning styles and possible ways that teachers can teach to benefit each one. State the purposes of Outlines, Objectives, Examples, Quickpractices, Applications, Assignments, Portfolios, Self-Surveys, and Self-Assessments.

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An Invitation to Learning and Motivation Strategies for Achievement

Going to college is different from high school. For example,

There are more distractions. There is more work. The classes are harder. The kids are smarter. You have to apply yourself more. You have to motivate yourself to study. You have to cut down on watching TV, playing video games, going out. You dont have Mom, Dad, or Grandma staying on your case. But succeeding in college is worth doing because it can Change your whole life. Change who you are, what you can become. Give you the chance to do interesting, self-fulfilling things. Help you to have a comfortable, rewarding life. Be a payoff for everything it took to get you there.

What you have to realize is that success is not just a question of working hard; its also a question of working smart. When it was easier back there in high school, you probably never noticed that there might be a better way. Maybe now weve got your attention. What is that better way? Its strategies, ways of going about something to get the best result, the edge. Everything you do requires strategies. You learn them as youre growing up. You watch people, especially successful ones, and see what strategies they use. Then, you try them yourself to see what happens and practice them till youve got them down. Watch yourself in your own territory and see how many things you do that are strategic. Decoying a defender with a head fake, smiling at someone at the right time, acting as if youre not good at something when you really are, going somewhere by yourself when you want to think things out: all are strategies. Many of the old high school strategies simply dont work in college. In high school, why bother to pay attention in class? It was pretty simple stuff. You could always ask a friend. Not in college, though. What the professor says in class is very likely to end up on the test. So, you should have a strategy for taking notes, and a strategy for using the notes to prepare for a test. This book is the strategy book. It has taken a great deal of new research to come up with these strategies. There is even a field of study that works on developing such strategies; it is called educational psychology. You may be a little surprised when, in the second module, you discover what these strategies are. This is not a remedial course. Taking this course does not mean you do not know how to study. It does not mean you lack motivation to succeed. It does not mean you do not care. In fact, taking this course means quite the opposite. You are here precisely because you are motivated and do care. And you do indeed know as much about how to study as any other student on campus. You are here because you have talent, not because you lack it. So why, then, are you here? Youre here because you and the people who advise you want you to be able to know and do things that almost no other students know and do. You are here because you and the people who advise you want to accelerate the rate at which you advance. To accomplish this, we are

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going to teach you some things we believe virtually no other students know or do. To learn these things requires that you be both talented and motivated. We believe you are. We challenge you to consider with an open mind what we show you to do and then to try to do it and see for yourself whether it works. The real challenge is not learning it, but being willing to make it part of the way you think and act. It is a tough challenge, but we believe youre up to it. We would like to teach this course to everyone on campus, but we can only teach it to those who choose to take it. You have chosen us; you have chosen the challenge we pose. Thats what makes us believe you can handle it.

isa was reluctant and nervous when she returned to college to begin her second term of her freshman year. Her first term was a major disappointment. She hadnt studied very well or very often, she had spent a lot of time partying with her new friends, and she got involved in an unhealthy relationship with a guy. The relationship ended right before term break. When she received her grades, much lower than she had grown accustomed to in high school, she had a nasty argument with her mother about self-initiative. Lisas academic advisor suggested she take a Learning and Motivation Strategies class to help her perform better her second term. During the term, Lisa learned better time-management skills, improved her study habits and her grades, and explored different career options. In reflecting on her second term, she credited her success to her hard work and the skills she learned in her Learning and Motivation Strategies class.

Why take a Learning and Motivation Strategies Class?

The purpose of this course is straightforward: It is to help you, the student, perform to the best of your ability in your college courses. The reason this course exists is that many students dont perform to the best of their ability, and theyve asked for advice. How can I do better? How can I improve my study habits? How can I increase my motivation to work hard in college? How can I manage my life in college so that I am in control and can make my own intelligent choices? How can I manage my personal relationships so that they allow me to succeed? All of these questions, and many others, will be answered in this course. It is not a surprise that many students dont perform as well as theyd like in college. Research consistently demonstrates that college freshmen have difficulty analyzing tasks, monitoring their comprehension, using memory-enhancing strategies, and reflecting on what they have read. College is harder than high school. There is no question about that. College-level academic tasks require more complex thinking skills and more independent learning. This course will help you develop these complex thinking skills and improve your independent learning strategies so that you can succeed. Where does information about how people learn and become motivated come from? Or, how do we know what to teach you? It comes from psychology and psychologistsnot the kind that people consult to overcome personal problems, but the kind that study human behavior.

Example

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Principles of Educational Psychology

CRITICAL THINKING AND PSYCHOLOGY: THINKING WELL ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOR
How often have you asked yourself, What was I thinking? You look at a returned test and are amazed at what you wrote. Or what about after you have had an argument with a friend? Why did I say that? you ask yourself over and over again. Or do you ever look back at a decision you have made and wonder how you could have been so shortsighted? On a daily basis we have a near continuous stream of different thoughts. Many of these thoughts are trivial, personal, or purely subjective. Other thoughts are more important. They determine our judgments and decisions, which in turn affect our actions. After taking a test, or going on a job interview, or having an important conversation with a loved one, or making an expensive purchase, you dont want to think to yourself, That was stupid! What was I thinking? Much of our thinking results in problems for us or for others. We want to avoid this as much as possible. Were thinking all of our waking lives; we ought to do it well. Critical thinking is a process used to improve the quality of thinking by systematically analyzing information and applying standards for evaluating information. Critical thinking, then, can be applied to any content or subject matterany information that is available to us. The goal of critical thinking is to avoid poor thinking. The outcome of critical thinking is that the thoughts we think, our ideas and our beliefs, are reasonably justified. That means there are specific and good reasons that justify the things we think. Often, we can identify the thoughts we think very easily, but not identify any reasons why we think them. Critical thinkers first identify the reasons provided to justify a thought, and then evaluate the quality of those reasons. Psychologists use critical thinking to understand human behavior and mental processes. By definition, psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and thought processes. Psychologists, then, justify their beliefs about human behavior and mental processes with scientific evidence and scientific principles. By scientific evidence, we mean that psychologists undertake controlled experiments and make controlled observations to best understand human behavior. This course will teach you scientific principles you can use to think critically about how to succeed in college. Lets take an example. Imagine two college roommates, one named Tad, the other Jon. One day, Tad, acting without much thought, accidentally breaks Jons remote. Jon retaliates by punching Tad in the nose. Why did Jon behave this way? (Or, what is the explanation for Jons behavior?) A psychologist would first acknowledge that there were likely many different variables that played a role in Jons behavior. The psychologist would examine one variable, say, Jons frustration with Tad for having broken his remote, and say that Jons frustration played a role in his aggressive behavior. This explanation would be reasonably justified based on scientific evidence, controlled observations, and experiments that have been systematically collected, analyzed, and examined by others. This evidence has demonstrated that, in general, people tend to act aggressively when frustrated. Tad, having lived with Jon, would be expected to have known Jons tendency to react aggressively when frustrated, and would have been prepared for the consequences.

EDUCATION AND PSYCHOLOGY EQUAL EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

So, what is educational psychology? Education is the field of study that is concerned with the processes of teaching and learning. Educational psychology, then, is the scientific study of human behavior and mental process as they pertain to the processes of teaching and learning. The principles outlined in this course are based on educational

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psychology. What that means is that the principles are based on scientific evidence of how people behave in an educational setting. Educational psychologists explain human behavior in these general terms:

Scientific evidence suggests that people in an educational setting, in general, behave this way for these reasons.

What this means is that numerous scientific studies have been done in educational settings that suggest that certain behaviors will happen for certain reasons. The reasons are the Learning and Motivation Strategies to which youll be introduced in this class. What are some of the behaviors of interest in this course? They are:

Performing well on exams Writing good college papers Giving good speeches Maintaining healthy and happy adult relationships

Educational psychologists use scientific evidence to understand human behavior in educational settings. Why is evidence important? Because, lets face it, someone can raise his voice, even yell and scream, smash things, stomp his feet, or threaten others, but Because I said so! will never earn anybodys honest respect. Say, for example, that you and a friend are debating the relative talents of two basketball players. You are trying to convince somebody who knows absolutely nothing about basketball which player is better. You are arguing for Player A. Your friend is arguing for Player B. You make the argument, Player A is a better basketball player than Player B based on the following evidence: She has two NCAA championship rings. She led the nation in scoring and rebounding for the past three years. And she won the league MVP the past two seasons. Your friend makes the argument, Player B is a better basketball player than Player A . . .

BECAUSE I SAID SO! AND IF YOU DONT BELIEVE ME, ILL YELL LOUDER!
Who will the third party witnessing the debate believe is the better basketball player? Our argument is not that the strategies outlined in the course will help you perform well in college just because we say so. Our argument is that the strategies outlined in this course will help you perform better, and scientific evidence supports our claim.

HOW PEOPLE LEARN: THE INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM

Educational psychologists and other cognitive scientists have done extensive studies on human learning and have proposed the model shown in Figure 1.1 to explain how people learn. When you read or hear something, it comes, through perception, into a part of your brain called the sensory register, where it is either disregarded or attended to. If you dont care about the information, it is disregarded. If you want to remember the information, at least temporarily, then it must be transformed into a form that will allow it to be remembered, that is, enter short-term memory. That transformation process is called encoding. If you want to remember the information for longer periods of time and be able to retrieve it when you need to, you need to store it in long-term memory. When you do this, we say that you have learned the information. When you are given a task to do or problem to solve, the information must be retrieved from long-term memory and transferred into working memory so that you can use it. The

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FIGURE 1.1
How people learn.
Sensory register Executive control processes

Perception

Encoding

Short-term memory Working memory

Storage Long-term memory Retrieval

result will allow you to say or do something, such as give a speech or write an essay, that reflects your use of the original information. All of these described processes are managed and guided by executive control processes that you have previously learned to employ. For example, when you repeat a telephone number over and over to yourself, you are employing an executive control process called rehearsal. You have learned that when you use the rehearsal process, you are more likely to remember something, at least until you can find a pencil and paper and write it down. When you want to get information into long-term memory, you are better served by using other executive control processes. Making up examples or forming images of the information are two ways to encode the information into a form that will allow you to store and retrieve it. Successful learning and performance requires the best executive control processes available. The problem is that teachers and schools do not necessarily know what they are, and even when they do, new ones are often being found through research. So, you are left to discover these processes on your own. In order to get through high school, you have discovered many effective executive control processes and made them work for you. But are they the best ones? Are they the newest ones? Perhaps not! In this book, we will give you the opportunity to learn what we think are the newest and best processes. Whether you learn them is up to you. The processes we will present are called strategies, and there are four of them. Each is further divided into two substrategies. You will be introduced to them in the next module and have the opportunity to use them throughout the remaining modules.

TEACHING FOR LEARNING

Because we propose to know so much about how people learn, based largely on educational psychology, then we should be effective in getting you to learn. If our principles work, and if we use them, then you should learn them. Knowing about learning should also mean knowing about teaching. We have a way of teaching, based on educational psychology principles, that we believe should help you learn what we would like you to learn. Our way of teaching, or what we call our instructional design, involves the following steps: 1. We tell you what we want you to learn to do. 2. We give you a sense of why we want you to do it.

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3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

We help you build on what you have already learned. We present you with some new ideas that will enable you to do what we propose. We show you how to use these ideas to do it. We give you an opportunity to practice using these ideas to do it. We give you feedback about how well you are doing it. We assess how well you have learned to do it. We help you to transfer what you have learned to do to other situations and materials.

In the module section entitled How to Use This Course Packet, you will see exactly how we have incorporated this instructional design into this course.

PREFERRED LEARNING STYLES

Although we all learn in many different ways, people have preferred learning styles. This means that the manner in which people prefer to learn varies from individual to individual. To determine your preferred learning style, complete Self-Survey 1.1, and when you are done, calculate your scores. People learn in at least four different ways. One way is spontaneous. This means learning from the experience of actually doing something, without it necessarily being in a teachinglearning situation. You may have learned to ride a bike this way, by just hopping on and pushing the pedals as quickly as you could. You may have fallen off a few times, but soon you got the hang of it. Spontaneous learning is physical learning, which means it requires hands-on manipulation and actual performance. The motivation for spontaneous learning comes from the excitement of it, often brought on by competition, risk, adventure, and the enjoyment of performing. Spontaneous learners, that is, people who prefer to learn this way, like action and the freedom to act, and tend to be easily distracted when in passive learning situations, like a typical classroom. The second way is organized. Organized learning, and the student who prefers it, require structure, sequence, and advance notice. A good syllabus and clear requirements are musts. Great opportunity for practice, frequent assignments, and clear grading criteria are equally important. Repetition and explanation are preferred. The third way to learn is conceptual. Conceptual learners require the opportunity to work independently, to pose questions and seek answers, to collect and classify data, to solve complex problems, and to try to understand, explain, and predict what they encounter. The fourth way is interactive. Interactive learners require the opportunity for interaction and communication with other people. They prefer subjects that deal with people and call for a personal focus, rather than more technical or detailoriented ones. They have much less interest in detail than in larger meaning. They like to create, speculate, write, and interpret.

WAYS OF LEARNING

Conceptual

Organized

Spontaneous

Interactive

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Self-Survey

1.1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

For each item, circle the number that best describes you, with 6 being most true and 0 being least true. 1. I prefer tasks requiring the operation, construction, or manipulation of objects or materials over ones requiring reading or writing. 2. I seek an organized structure, want lessons to be clearly spelled out in step-by-step order, and want to know the teachers expectations. 3. I keep a sharp focus on technical information and enjoy complex ideas. 4. I learn best in face-to-face dialogue and enjoy discussing the content of lessons with a small group of peers. 5. I focus on the immediate, am not interested in the past and future, and do not like to plan or prepare. 6. I place high value on good study habits, enjoy completing workbooks, and like practice and drill. 7. I like to experiment and invent, and enjoy analyzing and solving complex problems. 8. I am satisfied with an overall grasp of learning and am not good at mastering details or searching for facts. 9. I like competitive interactions more than cooperative ones and am more responsive to instructional games than lectures or discussions. 10. I have difficulty grasping abstractions and do best when learning the practical aspects of a subject. 11. I display a stronger desire to be capable and gain intelligence than to have freedom to act, social belonging, or meaningful relationships. 12. I am interested in and seem to have superior insight into what people think, feel, or want. 13. I respond to classwork only when I find it to be fun and entertaining, and become inattentive if it requires study and concentration. 14. I tend to be sensible, stable, and practical rather than imaginative, creative, or ingenious. 15. I have a preference for long-term independent projects, which I can carry out with little teacher help. 16. I enjoy the communication process and have a talent for expressing my feelings and thoughts. Enter your rating (06) in the following space for each item (116). Total each column. The highest total represents your preferred learning style.

SPONTANEOUS

ORGANIZED

CONCEPTUAL

INTERACTIVE

1. 5. 9. 13. Total

2. 6. 10. 14. Total

3. 7. 11. 15. Total

4. 8. 12. 16. Total

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Although all students can learn in more than one of these ways, the tendency is to develop a preference for one over the other three. Think of buying your first computer and bringing it home; then being faced with the task of learning to use it. Do you just start pushing buttons and try to figure it out as you go, or do you carefully read the manual and go systematically through the tutorial that comes with the machine? Do you take a course, buy a video, or ask your friends to help you when you run into an obstacle? The way you go about learning when you have the choice is a reflection of your preferred learning style.

T T

hink about how you originally learned to use a computer. Taking into account your preferred learning style, describe this process briefly. What if you were asked to learn everything you could about the law of gravity? How would you like to go about doing that? Again, reflect on your preferred learning style.

A P P L I C AT I O N

1.1
ASSIGNMENT

hink of a class in college (or in high school) that was taught in a way that you enjoyed and from which you learned a lot. Identify that class and describe as closely as you can exactly how it was taught. On a separate sheet or in a journal, write at least two complete paragraphs about which of the four learning styles was satisfied most in that class.

1.1

In this book, we will try to use teaching approaches that meet the needs of students of all four learning styles. We will be organized, but will allow opportunities for spontaneity, independence, and interaction as vehicles for learning. You can try to maximize your learning in any course you take by looking for opportunities within its teaching approach to apply your preferred learning style. For example, for a course that lacks the organization you may prefer, you can try to create your own structure and organization or ask the person who is teaching the course to help you. It is very important to note that throughout life, very often you will not be able to choose the environment in which you learn. When you take classes in college, or go to workshops and training sessions on the job, or even set up your new DVD player, your learning will be limited by current circumstances. Therefore, although you may have one preferred learning style, you should be able to learn in environments that are more conducive to other learning styles. Being able to learn in different settings is one of the most important skills that you can obtain in college; prospective employers will look for this ability.

How to Use This Course Packet

As you will notice almost immediately, this is not a traditional textbook. This is appropriate because this is not a traditional course. In fact, we dont even call this a textbook; we call it a course packet because it contains so many kinds of materials. Second, we have divided it up into modules rather than typical chapters. That is because each module is designed to stand alone as an entire learning experience. We will come back to this later in the module. Other important features of our course packet are described here.

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MODULE 1

This first module is designed to help you understand how this course works. The modules have been created so that you, the student, have many opportunities for interactionwith the course packet, with other students, with your instructor, and so on. This is not a passive course. The modules are designed to encourage active learning. You want to improve your skills so that you can achieve in college, and you cant do that passively. You must be willing to work in order to improve your skills. What exactly do you need to do? First, you need to understand how to use these modules, which have several unique features. Prior to beginning the modules that follow, work through this first module to develop an understanding of how to use these features:

Outlines Objectives Self-Surveys Examples Quickpractices

Applications Assignments Self-Assessments Portfolios

Each module includes an Outline, stated Objectives, specific Examples, Assignments, a Self-Assessment, and a Portfolio. Most modules have one or more Quickpractices, Applications, and Self-Surveys. What exactly are these features?

OUTLINES
The first page of each module outlines the material that will be presented in the module. Preview the Outline as you begin each module so that you have an understanding of the material to which you are being introduced.

OBJECTIVES
An Objective is a specific behavioral skill you will develop by working through the module. Objectives are listed immediately after the module outline. For example, the first Objective of this module is, State the purpose of this course. After completing this module, you will be able to perform that behavioral task. If asked what the purpose of this course is, you will be able to respond with something like, The purpose of this course is to help me perform to the best of my ability in my college courses. As you begin each module, preview the Objectives so you have some understanding of what specific behavioral skills you will develop by working through the module. Objectives are the targets that we want you to reach.

SELF-SURVEYS
Self-Surveys are questions or standard questionnaires that ask you to explore your beliefs about self, your beliefs about others, your skills, and your attitudes. Often, but not always, youll be provided with information to help you interpret your responses to the Self-Survey. Self-Surveys will help you develop a better understanding of the interactions among your behaviors, your beliefs, and your environment.

Self-Survey

Go to the following Web site: www.prenhall.com/tuckman Follow the link to the School Strategies Scale. Complete the School Strategies Scale and submit your responses over the Internet. The Web site will provide feedback. Print the feedback form to hand in to your instructor.

1.2

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EXAMPLES
As youve already seen in this module, an Example is exactly what youd guess it is. Some examples highlight specific skills to which youll be introduced. For example, in Module 3, Procrastination: The Thief of Time, you will learn how to avoid procrastination by dividing large tasks into small tasks. You will be asked to practice this skill by dividing one large task into several small tasks. But before you do this, we provide an example of how this is done. Other examples will describe people who are faced with a situation and use or fail to use a specific skill. For example, when learning about procrastination, you will read about students using or failing to use skills that help to avoid procrastination, and the examples will reveal the subsequent consequences.

QUICKPRACTICES
A Quickpractice is an activity that allows you to practice the specific skill that is being covered. Quickpractices are your first attempt at practicing a skill or understanding an idea. Your performance on the Quickpractices will not be evaluated. You will simply be credited with having completed them. Quickpractices are for your benefit. Remember, in order to improve your skills, you need to put forth effort. You need to develop individual learning skills. Quickpractices will help you do this. One important component of the Quickpractices is that they will help to prepare you for the Assignments. Your instructor has the suggested answers to each of the Quickpractices.

APPLICATIONS
An Application is much like a Quickpractice, except that it doesnt always have a single, correct answer. Very often, Applications simply bring up points to consider and discuss with a classmate or study partner. Other times, theyre designed to allow you to practice a skill (much like a Quickpractice), but in a setting where there may be several interpretations about how to use the skill in a certain situation.

e all have different motivations. All the students in this course registered for their own personal reasons. Take a moment to consider why you signed up for this course.

A P P L I C AT I O N

1.2

ASSIGNMENTS
An Assignment is very much like a Quickpractice, but your evaluation on the Assignment will be based on how well it is completed. In general, Assignments will require slightly more work than Quickpractices. Assignments ask you to perform a specific skill that is being covered. To begin, complete the following Assignments.

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ASSIGNMENT

1.2
ASSIGNMENT

n this course, you will be applying specific skills to your other content courses. In the Appendix, youll find a worksheet entitled Class Schedule. Provide all of the necessary information to complete the worksheet. Include all of your content courses and this course. For each course, include the full course name; where the class meets; what days and times the class meets; and the instructors name, office hours, and phone number or e-mail address. Also note whether the class format is lecture, discussion, lab, recitation, or some combination. Last, determine what type of exams each class will have and provide that information.

1.3

his Assignment will give your instructor a little more information about you. It will also get you involved with using the Internet, which is an important skill to develop in college. Complete each of the following items and e-mail your answers to your instructor. E-mail address: Local phone number: Classification (Freshman, Sophomore, etc.): Academic major: Current grade point average: What do you like to do for fun outside of class (hobbies, sports, etc.)? How did you find out about this class? What would you most like to accomplish this term?

SELF-ASSESSMENTS
Each module includes a Self-Assessment. Each Self-Assessment is designed to provide you with an indication of what you have learned and how prepared you are to continue to the next module. Each Self-Assessment returns you to the Objectives listed at the beginning of the module. Remember, the Objectives are specific behavioral skills you should acquire by completing the module. The Self-Assessment asks if you can complete each Objective and gives a specific example of what you should be able to do to demonstrate successful mastery of the Objective.

PORTFOLIOS
Portfolios are much more extensive than either Quickpractices or Assignments. Portfolios will ask you to apply the skills and concepts learned in this class to your other courses or your own life in general, rather than to a specific example. For example, in Module 6, Active Listening, you will learn a method for using your class notes to optimize exam performance. We first provide you with Examples, then ask that you perform Quickpractices and Assignments in which you apply the specific note-taking skills. Finally, in the Portfolio, you will be instructed to apply the note-taking skills to class notes from one of your courses. You will apply this skill to several pages of your notes, photocopy the pages, and turn in the photocopies for evaluation. You will then receive feedback on your use of the note-taking skills.

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You can see that the Portfolios require that you apply skills to practice what you are being taught and to solve problems you face at college. Other Portfolios focus on conducting interviews, writing papers, and preparing for exams. Portfolios will always require you to apply what you are learning in this course to other courses you are taking and other aspects of college life.

Preview of Modules
This course will cover several topics, all of which are known to affect success in college. Get ready to dive in. Here is an overview of the topics that will be covered.

MODULE 2, THE KEYS TO ACHIEVEMENT

In this module, youll be introduced to the general overall strategies that have been shown to enable people to be successful achievers. Scientific evidence suggests that people, in general, will succeed in college if they successfully use the strategies outlined in this module.

MODULE 3, PROCRASTINATION: THE THIEF OF TIME

In this module, youll be introduced to methods that will allow you to stop procrastinating and start managing the tasks that you need to complete. Scientific evidence suggests that people, in general, will decrease their tendency to procrastinate if they successfully use the strategies outlined in this module.

MODULE 4, BELIEVING IN YOURSELF: SELF-CONFIDENCE

In this module, youll be introduced to methods that will increase your selfconfidence about achieving in college, thus enhancing your motivation. Scientific evidence suggests that people, in general, will develop higher self-confidence and thus experience more motivation if they successfully use the strategies outlined in this module.

MODULE 5, TAKING RESPONSIBILITY: ITS UP TO YOU

In this module, youll be introduced to methods that will increase your sense of control over your life, thus enhancing your motivation to achieve in college. Scientific evidence suggests that people, in general, will feel more personal control and thus experience more motivation if they successfully use the strategies outlined in this module.

MODULE 6, ACTIVE LISTENING

In this module, youll be introduced to methods for successful note taking and for processing the material from notes. Scientific evidence suggests that people, in general, will comprehend more material from lecture classes if they successfully use the strategies outlined in this module.

MODULE 7, ACTIVE READING

In this module, youll be introduced to methods for reading and understanding text material. Scientific evidence suggests that people, in general, will comprehend more material from text readings if they successfully use the strategies outlined in this module.

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MODULE 8, PREPARING FOR EXAMS

In this module, youll be introduced to methods for organizing class information so that it can best be utilized during exams. Scientific evidence suggests that people, in general, will perform better on exams if they successfully use the strategies outlined in this module.

MODULE 9, USING CRITICAL THINKING TO PREPARE PAPERS AND SPEECHES

In this module, youll be introduced to methods for writing papers and giving speeches. Scientific evidence suggests that people, in general, will improve the quality of written and oral presentations if they successfully use the strategies outlined in this module.

MODULE 10, RESILIENCE: MANAGING YOUR LIFE IN SCHOOL

In this module, youll be introduced to methods for successful psychosocial adjustment to college life. Scientific evidence suggests that people, in general, will adjust better to the demands of the college experience if they successfully use the strategies outlined in this module.

MODULE 11, BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS THAT WORK AND EMBRACING DIVERSITY

In this module, youll be introduced to methods for developing and maintaining healthy adult relationships. Scientific evidence suggests that people, in general, will experience more satisfaction from their relationships with others if they successfully use the strategies outlined in this module.

MODULE 12, PREPARING FOR YOUR FUTURE

In this module, youll be introduced to methods for exploring potential career choices, thus increasing the motivation to achieve goals in college. Scientific evidence suggests that people, in general, will better understand the demands, necessary skills, and day-to-day experience of chosen careers, and thus feel more confident choosing a major, if they successfully use the strategies outlined in this module.

ASSIGNMENT

1.4

his is a look ahead to a Module 3 exercise. In Module 3, youll be introduced to strategies designed to help you manage your time better. Assignment 1.4 will require that you KEEP TRACK of your time, hour by hour, for one week. (In Assignment 3.4, youll need to write a short analysis of what youve learned from tracking your schedule.) For Assignment 1.4, take the How I Spent My Time This Week worksheet (labeled 3.4) from the Appendix. Then, throughout the week, keep a record of what you are doing on the form provided, hour by hour, for the entire week. Remember, you will need this information to complete Assignment 3.4 in Module 3.

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Keep an Open Mind

On the old TV game show Lets Make a Deal, host Monty Hall would present the finalist with three curtains. Behind one of the curtains was the prize most wanted by the contestantthe grand prize. The contestant would then choose one of the curtains to open. Before showing what was behind the chosen curtain, Monty would show the contestant what was hidden behind one of the remaining curtains, and it was never the grand prize. That left only two curtains, the chosen one and the other. Monty would then ask the contestant if he or she wished to stay with the original choice, or switch to the other curtain. Audience members would shout advice: Stick to your guns! Switch! What would you do? There is no way of knowing which curtain hides the grand prize. In any given situation, the contestant might have originally chosen the correct curtain, or might not have. But, in general, is there a preferable strategy? To switch or to stick to your guns? At first, it seems like a toss-up. There are two curtains left, so the odds are 5050 either way. Or so it seems. Although it is not intuitive, the best decision is to switch. Why? Even when it is explained, it is difficult to understand. But imagine the beginning, when the contestant chose one of three curtains. After choosing, the contestant has a 33 percent chance of being correct. There is a 66 percent chance that the grand prize is behind one of the remaining two curtains. Just because we now know what is behind one of those curtains, the odds do not change. There is still a 33 percent chance the prize is behind the chosen curtain, and a 66 percent chance that it is behind one of the other two. In general, the odds are in the contestants favor if she switches. Why is this important to keeping an open mind? Its simple. Sometimes, things that seem totally intuitive are wrong. Sometimes, all the evidence supports the counterintuitive answer. In this class, you will likely be introduced to concepts that appear counterintuitive. Youll think to yourself, Thatll never work. Or, The way I do it is better. Or, Ill never figure out how to do that. But realize that scientific evidence indicates that the recommended strategy will work, that its better than most other methods, and that most people figure out how to do it. You can try the argument, Itll never work, because I said so! but chances are that nobody will listen. Approach this class with an open mind, be willing to take risks and leave your comfort zone to try new things, and you will likely succeed in this class. Chances are, youll succeed in college, too. So open up, have fun, and get ready to start succeeding!

Using and Evaluating What You Learn in This Course

Anders Ericcson, a leading authority on the psychology of becoming an expert, provides evidence that the single most important ingredient in making yourself an expert in something is deliberate practice. This means using the necessary skills over and over until they become truly automatic. Ericcson studied musicians, athletes, and scientists and discovered that experts in each area spent substantially more time than the average performer in their field honing the required skills. Whether it was practicing musical scales, shooting free throws, or conducting experiments, experts devoted themselves to the basics until they became second nature. You will be learning many ideas and techniques in this course that you may not have encountered before. To develop the expertise to benefit from the things you learn, you must deliberately practice them. Even though you have been a student for

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12 or more years and probably believe you have seen and heard it all, you may be in for some surprises. We believe we can teach you better ways to learn and to motivate yourself than what you are doing now, provided you are willing to practice them. But we respect your right to be dubious. In fact, we encourage it. That is what makes you a good consumer. We invite you to avoid telling yourself that what you do works and that its good enough for you. You may not be performing up to your potential, in school or in life. That is completely understandable because you have fewer years behind you than you have in front of you. We think that you will learn approaches in this course that will make you more successful, in both school and life. But dont take our word for it. Prove it to yourself whether our way is better than your way. Heres how. In the portfolios, you will be asked to apply what you learn in each module to your schoolwork and life outside of this course. This enables you to spend time and effort practicing what you learn in this course while working on another course at the same time. That is efficiency, for one thing, but its more. We suggest you pick one of the other courses you are taking and use it for the portfolios. That way, you are applying what you learn in this course to the course you have chosen. At the end of the term when you get your grades, compare the results of the course you used for the portfolios to another course you have taken that you judge to be the same level of difficulty. We believe your results in the portfolio course will convince you to continue using the strategies you learn here, even though no one is requiring you to do so. You may think, How can I learn these strategies from a book? Books are dull! Books are irrelevant! Just take a moment to flip through the pages of this book. Does this look like an ordinary textbook? Absolutely not! Why not?

Because the words are not packed so tightly they make you dizzy. Because there are neat pictures, drawings, stories, icons. Because theres a Quest (youll have to read it to find out what it is). Because there are lots of things to do to keep yourself awake. Because there are questions to answer, stories to write, tests to take about yourself. And the best thing of all, because its short!

We have used this book over and over with many students like you. We didnt just sit down and write it, sell it to you, and wait to see what would happen. When we first decided to write it, we knew that what we wanted to do was different from all the other books, but we also knew we wanted to achieve better results than they did. So, we tried this book out on students, lots of them, from different backgrounds, then listened to what they said, observed what they did, and evaluated the results. This is what they told us they especially liked in our book:

Our techniques for overcoming procrastination (their biggest problem) Our approaches for taking and learning from lecture notes Our approach to outlining and remembering what they read Our charts and diagrams for studying for exams What we taught them about taking reasonable risk What we taught about goal setting and breaking tasks into bite-size pieces

But the final proof was in the results for the term they took the course. The Portfolios in the book made them use the strategies in their other courses. And it paid off. Their grades shot up! Will it do the same for you? Well, in large measure, thats up to you. Weve fulfilled our responsibility by writing this book. If you fulfill your responsibility by believing it can help you, investing your effort, and giving it your best, then we would say the odds are pretty high that it will.

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n three different midwestern cities, three very different college students read an article in the school newspaper that would change at least one of their lives forever. Marita, Hamilton, and Missy were all excited as they read about the search being held by the producers of Campus Alive. The TV show, building upon the success of other real-world programs, was the hottest new program on TV. The show was looking for real college students to join the regular cast members in both major and minor roles. The producers thought that having real college students would make the show more spontaneous and exciting. Each of the three students had already decided that he or she was going to be one of the new cast members. Marita had come from a very tough neighborhood in Detroit and had dreamed of being successful and famous. Missy had been the acknowledged princess of her wealthy suburban high school and saw the TV show as a break from her very unglamorous college career. Hamilton, the son of the first black president of the university he was attending, wanted to get out from under his fathers large shadow.

Quest

he Objectives that were listed at the beginning of this module appear here. Look at each one, and Just Ask yourself whether you can successfully perform the behaviors that follow each. 1. State the purpose of this course.

SelfAssessment

Can I write a paragraph setting forth what a student is expected to be able to accomplish after successfully completing this course? Can I write a paragraph (a) describing critical thinking, educational psychology, and the information processing system, and (b) explaining how critical thinking and educational psychology in general, and the information processing system in particular, provide the foundation for what I will learn in this course?

2. Describe and explain the three bases for the strategies outlined in this course.

3. Describe the four learning styles and possible ways that teachers can teach to benefit each one.

Can I write a brief description of the manner in which people having each of the four learning styles prefer to learn, and can I describe teaching methods that appeal to each style?

4. State the purposes of Outlines, Objectives, Examples, Quickpractices, Applications, Assignments, Portfolios, Self-Surveys, and Self-Assessments.

Can I tell how each of the components of this course packet is used to get the most from this course?

If you feel confident that you can successfully perform each behavior, youre prepared to continue on to the next module. If you do not feel confident that you can successfully perform each behavior, you should go over all or parts of this module again and create different personal examples to make the information more meaningful for you.

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P O RT F O L I O

eflect on your life to this point. Consider the choices you have made and the people who have influenced your choices. Focus on those choices that led you to decide to be a college student. In no less than two pages (at least 500 words), write an essay that answers the following question: What choices have led me to decide to be a college student? You may write in whatever style you wish.