1: College Success Skills
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to achieve the following after reading this chapter:
- Understand the habits, behaviors, mindsets, perspectives and overall college success skills students need to practice to achieve academic goals.
- Use skills to communicate effectively, proactively, diplomatically, professionally, and in a timely manner with instructors and peers.
- Understand the top nine intellectual standards for quality thinking, speaking, and writing and apply them to college studies.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the differences between “growth” and “fixed” mindsets and of how to apply the growth mindset for greater college success.
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- 1.1: Introduction
- Students must learn the art of balance. Balancing life with one’s college career is challenging, but so is balancing life as an adult. If students value working in their desired careers, the college effort is worth the career rewards, along with the many subsequent benefits accrued over a lifetime. As former First Lady Michelle Obama said when she reminded students of the true and eternal value of taking academic strides:
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- 1.2: College Success Skills
- College students are expected to demonstrate independence, responsibility, and relationship-building skills. While elementary-school students are dropped off and picked up from school by adults, college students are now the adults and are on their own. Adults make decisions about being early or on time to classes and meetings; balancing the shifting priorities of home life, work life, and school life; and reaching their destinations even when their cars won’t start.
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- 1.3: Intellectual Standards for Quality
- The word “standard” is used to describe the level of quality that a given item possesses. So an “intellectual standard” is one that measures the overall value of a scholarly effort. Such standards apply to essays, reports, assignments, group discussions, and even notetaking. For overall success, students need to know their professors’ standards and need to develop their own standards, with the concept of “intellectual standards” at the forefront.
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