Succeeding in College: Study Skills and Strategies - Softcover

Reynolds, Jean

9780205160419: Succeeding in College: Study Skills and Strategies

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0205160417 ISBN 13: 9780205160419

Publisher: Pearson, 1996

This student success book is designed for use in 2-year and 4-year colleges and universities in a freshman orientation or study skills program. Time management, study methods, reading skills, and research skills are covered through a variety of hands-on activities, collaborative exercises, engaging text, readings, photos, and visual aids.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

TO THE STUDENT

Your college years will have a powerful effect on the rest of your life. Your college achievements will help shape your career, and the interests you develop and the friends you make are likely to stay with you for many years. Succeeding in College: Study Skills and Strategies is designed to help you enjoy and benefit from your college experiences.

Three strategies can increase the usefulness of this book. First, acquaint yourself with its pages. Read the table of contents, browse through the chapters, and scan readings that look interesting. Many reading selections are designed to stand alone. Three-quarters of the way through this book you may find an idea that will help you with an issue you're facing right now.

Second, mark up this book. Some activities call for responses right in this book; others suggest you use a separate sheet or journal. In addition, you can—and should—underline, circle, star, and mark up the margins on any page. (Some instructors even give extra credit to students with well-marked books!) Adding your own ideas and experiences to a book makes it your own; you're also increasing its usefulness to you later, when you reread it.

And rereading is what the third suggestion is all about. Plan to keep this book to refer to again and again. Although it's primarily intended as a guide to college success, its ideas can help you in any endeavor. (You'll be reading success stories about athletes, performers, professional men and women, and leaders in many fields.) Remind yourself often of John Dewey's words: "Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself."

Enjoy your college experience, and may your future exceed your most cherished dreams.

TO THE INSTRUCTOR

You're one of the special people who help college students achieve their dreams. No book can substitute for the role you play in your students' lives as a model, guide, and resource. What this book can do is offer information and activities that help you structure, deliver, and reinforce the knowledge you want to share with your students.

Three central principles helped shape this book. First, active learners have the best chance of success in college. Every chapter in this book emphasizes critical thinking (also covered in its own chapter) and connections between reading, writing, and learning. Every chapter has freewriting suggestions and a reading selection that includes writing activities for preparation and reinforcement. In addition, Chapter 6 suggests ways to mark up a book or article, and Chapter 7 offers nine more ways to use a pencil as a learning tool. A "Why College?" activity in every chapter helps keep students' motivation high; "Thinking & Writing" exercises encourage active understanding and remembering. Other aids to active learning include collaborative activities, student-made memory aids, checklists, and review exercises.

Research suggests that the unique demands of mathematics and science courses present special challenges to students. This book features separate chapters and motivational content for both subjects, including study tips, activities, problem-solving techniques, critical-thinking skills, and insights into science and mathematics. In addition, separate chapters cover research and language skills.

Second, both students and instructors have limits on their time and energy. In addition to an extensive chapter on time management, this book includes many timesaving features. To facilitate reading and remembering, each chapter begins with a preview and ends with review exercises ("Using What You Have Learned") and a progress check ("Evaluating Your Progress"). The abundance of activities facilitates planning and saves preparation and classroom time. For example, a collaborative in-class introductory activity at the beginning of each chapter serves as an icebreaker, warm-up, and motivator. "One-Minute Checklists" throughout the text help students monitor their progress and quickly get back on track, if necessary. The Instructor's Manual offers still more activities, along with practical suggestions for structuring the course, presenting content, incorporating technology, and evaluating students' progress.

Most important, both students and instructors thrive in a stimulating environment. Although you and your students are the primary creators of the learning atmosphere, this book can make an important contribution as well. Lively multicultural readings, examples, and anecdotes describe skills, ideas, events, and people that students may meet again in other courses. A Sherlock Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle helps students see the value of math; educator Richard Rodriguez explains the importance of mastering a "public language"; physicist Stephen Hawking discusses public perceptions of scientists. Although some names may be familiar to your students (Walt Disney, Oprah Winfrey, Joe Montana), others may not (David Fairchild, Marsha Sinetar, William James).

All of these people share a common trait: They have knowledge and experience to share with your students-as—do you. The semester ahead offers you the opportunity to help students change their lives. I hope you will find this book both practical and inspiring in that extraordinary endeavor.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.