College Success Exhaustive Study Guide

Foundational Perspectives on College Success: Why College?

  • The Decision to Attend: Choosing to go to college is a key decision regarding one's future. It is a transition where responsibility is an inherent component of self-advocacy.
  • Chapter Outline 1.1 - 1.4:
    • 1.1 Why College?
    • 1.2 The First Year of College Will Be an Experience.
    • 1.3 College Culture and Expectations.
    • 1.4 It’s All in the Mindset.
  • Initial Self-Assessment Survey: Students are encouraged to rank their ability to meet college expectations on a scale of 1 to 4:
    1. Full awareness of college expectations and how to meet them.
    2. Clarity on why they are in college and specific goals.
    3. Responsibility for learning new and challenging concepts.
    4. Comfort level working with faculty, advisors, and classmates.

The Six Areas of Adjustment for First-Year Students

  • Intellectual Adjustment:
    • Engaging in intellectual discussions.
    • Openness to new ideas, subject areas, and career choices.
    • Integrating new ideas into existing belief systems.
    • Experiencing ‘a-ha!’ moments as a rewarding part of college.
  • Social Adjustment:
    • Joining clubs or organizations.
    • Forming supportive, healthy relationships.
    • Understanding the impact of peer pressure.
    • Managing conflict in relationships.
  • Emotional, Financial, Cultural, and Academic Adjustment: These areas also require navigational strategies and utilizing campus resources.

College Culture and the Hidden Curriculum

  • The Unique Language of Higher Education:
    • Office Hours: Specific hours a professor is in her office to meet with students (e.g., Mondays and Wednesdays from 11 to 33 p.m.), distinct from general business hours.
    • Syllabus: Often referred to as the ‘contract of the course,’ providing a roadmap for success, expectations, and policies.
    • Attendance Policy: Describes expectations for class presence; read the syllabus to check for penalties.
    • Final Exam: A comprehensive assessment at the end of the term requiring long-term preparation.
    • Learning: In college, most learning occurs outside the classroom. Professors only cover main or challenging ideas in class.
    • Plagiarism: Using others’ words/ideas without attribution; carries serious consequences.
    • Study: The process of using strategies to recall information; requires more time and effort than high school.
    • Acronyms and Spaces: Schools use terms like ‘Quad,’ ‘Union,’ or ‘TLC’ (The Learning Center) which may feel alien initially.
  • The Hidden Curriculum:
    • Defined by sociologists as the unspoken, unwritten, or unacknowledged rules students are expected to follow.
    • Unwritten Rule Examples:
      • Before Class: Review the syllabus, read assigned chapters, take notes, and record questions.
      • During Class: Focus attention (put away distractions), take detailed notes, and ask critical thinking questions.
      • After Class: Review/organize notes, connect to previous lectures, and test yourself on the material.
      • Absences: Commmunicate with the professor and get notes from classmates; avoid asking ‘Did I miss anything important?’

Faculty Relationships: High School vs. College

  • Roles of College Professors: Much more diverse than high school teachers. Responsibilities include teaching, research, mentoring graduate students, writing/reviewing articles, campus committees, national organizations, grant administration, and advising.
  • Relationship Comparison:
    • Training: High school faculty usually have teaching certifications; college faculty often have no formal teaching training, typically holding advanced degrees in their specific subject matter.
    • Communication: College faculty cannot communicate with parents/families without permission due to the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
    • Responsibility: While high school teachers maximize student progress, college faculty provide content and assessments of mastery.
    • Importance of Relationships: Professors provide internships, letters of recommendation, honors nominations, and job references.

Academic Differences: High School vs. College

  • Grades: High school grades are based on many small assignments; college grades consist of fewer assignments, meaning low initial scores are harder to recover from.
  • Learning: High school is teacher-led; college learning happens mostly independently (outsideoutside of class). Students must track their own progress.
  • Getting Help: High school identifies students in need; college requires self-advocacy. Students must identify struggles, access resources (on-campus or online), and use them.
  • Tests and Exams: High school tests cover small amounts of material with study guides provided; college exams are fewer, cover more volume, and require deeper understanding.

Ownership of Learning

  • Core Components of Ownership:
    • Motivation: Staying driven to complete boring or challenging tasks.
    • Deliberate, Focused Effort: Determination is required since the majority of work is done independently.
    • Time and Task Management: Controlling one's calendar to block out study time.
    • Progress Tracking: Monitoring the quality and completion of work.

Rhythms and Milestones of the First Semester

  • August: Expanding social circles; adjusting to the pace of college; nervous/excited jitters.
  • September: Completing first tests/projects; experiencing homesickness or ‘imposter syndrome’ (the fear of not belonging).
  • October: Feeling more confident about abilities; earning ‘lower-than-usual’ grades as a wake-up call; planning for next semester.
  • November: Balancing college with holiday/family obligations; dealing with relationship issues; staying healthy.
  • December: Focusing on finishing strong; handling finals stress; managing the transition back home for break.

Campus Resources for Success

  • Academic: Struggles with homework → Campus Tutoring Center → Peer/professional help.
  • Health: Extreme tiredness/illness → Health Center → Licensed care.
  • Social: Loneliness/no group membership → Student Organizations/Interest Groups → Networking/friendship.
  • Financial: Costs not covered → Financial Aid Office → Information on funding options.

Mindset: Performance vs. Learning Goals

  • Performance-Based Goals:
    • Primary concern is appearing intelligent to others.
    • Leads students to ‘play it safe’ and avoid challenging work.
    • Questions asked are meant to impress the instructor or ‘stump the teacher’ rather than seek clarification.
  • Learning-Based Goals:
    • Primary concern is gaining knowledge.
    • Actively seeks challenges and expanding existing knowledge.
    • Willing to ask honest questions and step out of the comfort zone.
  • Fixed vs. Growth Mindset (Carol Dweck, 1988):
    • Fixed Mindset: Belief that talents/intelligence are unchangeable. Correlates with performance goals.
    • Growth Mindset: Belief that effort leads to improvement. Correlates with learning goals.
    • Grit and Persistence: Growth mindsets see failure as a successive step toward mastery. If you believe you can learn, you improve your ability to learn.

The Learning Process and Research

  • Rita Smilkstein’s Natural Learning Process (2011):
    1. Motivation.
    2. Beginning practice.
    3. Advanced practice (building foundation for control/creativity/abstract thinking).
    4. Skillfulness.
    5. Refinement.
    6. Mastery.
  • Neuroplasticity: The brain’s ability to reorganize neural pathways in reaction to learning. Practice and failure during learning actually physically change the brain.
  • Emory University Study: MRI scans showed that reading causes biological changes in brain conductivity that linger.
  • Cunningham & Stanovich Findings: Reading volume is a significant contributor to vocabulary, general knowledge, spelling, and verbal fluency.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

  • Higher vs. Lower Levels:
    • Remember (Lowest): Recalling terminology/steps (e.g., memorizing the Krebs Cycle steps).
    • Understand: Explaining concepts in your own words.
    • Apply: Using concepts in new contexts (e.g., math formulas in new problems).
    • Analyze: Examining patterns, comparing, and contrasting.
    • Evaluate: Judging the quality of ideas or choosing the best concept.
    • Create (Highest): Recreating or producing new work based on learning.

Effective Reading Strategies

  • Types of Reading:
    • Introducing New Content: Requires looking up terminology and frequent stops to ensure grasp.
    • Comprehending Familiar Content: Involves skimming for gaps and new perspectives; requires resisting overconfidence.
  • Determining Reading Speed: Time 5 minutes of reading. Multiply result by 1212 to find pages per hour.
  • Reading Pacing Examples:
    • Marta reads 4 pages in 5 mins (→ 4848 pgs/hr). To read 500 pages, she needs 10.510.5 hours.
  • Recursive Reading Steps:
    • Access prior knowledge.
    • Ask questions (Why is this important? Why was it assigned?).
    • Infer (evidence-based conclusion) and Imply (indirect hints).
    • Evaluate the text (Scan title, identify audience/biases).
    • Apply knowledge to new tasks.
  • SQ3R Strategy:
    1. Survey: Scan titles, headers, and graphics.
    2. Question: Turn headings into questions.
    3. Read: Find answers in chunks and take notes.
    4. Recite: Speak the answers/summaries out loud to engage auditory memory.
    5. Review: Re-read sections to capture missed points.
  • Primary vs. Secondary Sources:
    • Primary: Original documents (letters, legal text, first editions).
    • Secondary: Scholar's perspective on primary sources. Beware of bias; read the primary source in conjunction with the secondary when possible.

Note-Taking Systems

  • The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve: Without active review, most students forget 60%×75%60\% \times 75\% of material within 2 days.
  • Cornell Method:
    • Notes Column (Right): Record main points using abbreviations.
    • Recall Column (Left): One- or two-word cues/main ideas added post-lecture.
    • Summary Area (Bottom): 2-3 sentences summarizing the page.
  • Outlining: Uses Roman numerals (I,II,IIII, II, III), letters (A,B,CA, B, C), and numbers (1,2,31, 2, 3) to show hierarchy.
  • Concept Mapping: Visual/graphic depiction showing connections between ideas; radiates outward from a center topic.
  • Shorthand Symbols:
    • w/o\text{w/o}: without
    • &\text{\&}: and
    • b/c\text{b/c}: because
    • diff\text{diff}: difference
    • ASAP\text{ASAP}: as soon as possible
    • impt\text{impt}: important
    • P\mathbb{P}: new paragraph

Annotating and Reviewing

  • Highlighting Logic: ‘Less is more.’ Read selection first before highlighting to identify truly critical takeaways.
  • Review Rule: Review notes within 2424 hours of taking them to ensure meaning is captured before memory fades.
  • Interleaving: Mixing up content during a study session (e.g., studying Ch 1, then Ch 3, then Ch 2) leads to better long-term retention than blocked study.

Memory and Study Strategies

  • Spacing: Studying a little bit each day rather than one long session.
  • Practice Testing: Recalling information from memory by covering material or using flashcards.
  • Cramming Side Effects: According to Dr. Susan Redline and John Medina, cramming affects metabolism, inflammation, and immune response. The brain wanders after approximately 1010 minutes of a single stimulus.
  • Mnemonics:
    • Acronyms: (e.g., FACE for music notes).
    • Acrostic Sentences: (e.g., "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally").
    • Memory Palace: Placing items in an imagined physical room.
  • Fluency Illusion: The false belief that you know something well because you have reread it, rather than practiced retrieving it.

Test-Taking Mechanics

  • Preparation: Replicate urgency by using timed study sessions.
  • Test Day:
    • Arrive early to settle mind.
    • Scan the whole test first; allocate time based on section weight.
    • Answer confident questions first to trigger memory for harder ones.
    • Always read directions for optional questions (e.g., "choose 2 of 4").
  • Test Anxiety: Can manifest as nausea, sweating, or racing thoughts. ADAA research notes it can lead to underperformance. Combat it with controlled breathing and positive visualization.
  • Metacognition: Self-awareness of one’s learning process. Use feedback (grades/comments) to adjust strategies.

Group Work and Relationships

  • Tuckman’s Model of Group Development (1965):
    1. Forming: Individuals are polite; learning the task.
    2. Storming: Roles assigned; conflict arises; leader emerges.
    3. Norming: Members work collectively; aware of supporting roles.
    4. Performing: Competence/confidence to complete goals.
  • Group Roles:
    • Leader: Ensures objectives are met.
    • Recorder: Takes/shares notes.
    • Critic: Provides feedback; play's devil's advocate.
    • Timekeeper: Ensures deadlines are met.
    • Finisher: Checks work against rubric; proofreads.
  • Conflict Management: Groups should create a contract. Strategies include naming behavior immediately, citing the contract, and in extreme cases, removal from the group.
  • Family Boundaries: Part of adjustment is managing conflict where families may not understand changes. Setting boundaries is essential for mental health.

Digital Tools for College Success

  • Trackers/Reminders: My Study Life, Evernote.
  • Goal Setting: Strides (SMART goals).
  • Brain Training: Lumosity.
  • Networking: LinkedIn, Internships.com.
  • Mental Health: Personal Zen (stress reduction).