Tag Archives: College Freshman

Is Passing The Course Enough?

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© Stephen Coles on flickr

Having been in higher education for almost forty years, I have heard many reasons for students to go to college – some good and some not so good.  The focus is pretty much on getting a good paying job after graduation.  To do that, students take and pass courses until they’ve completed their requirements for graduation, so this is the focus – not learning anything or being able to use what was learned in the real world or even how to use it.

As an educator, I think we must shoulder some of the blame for this.  Too often, we present information to the students without really helping them understand why it’s important other than that it may be on the next test.  Because of this, the students retain information well enough to repeat it on the test and then forget it never really understanding its value.

This is not what we should do and this is not how learning takes place.  I tell my students that they are smart enough to learn the material, my job is to put it into context for them so they know how it fits with what else they should have learned and how to use the information after they graduate.  Put another way, I want them to be able to recognize an application of knowledge they obtained and know how to use that knowledge to solve real world problems and answer real world questions.  In the long run, this is what makes them valuable to an employer and to society in general – not what grades they got in college.  A few years after graduation, no one will ask them about their college experience any more.  They will want to know what they’ve done with what they learned since graduation.  Graduating may get them employed but what they learned while they were in school and how well they can use it will keep them employed.

GradeUP! Challenge #14: Knowing The Art Of No-ing

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When to say noMillions of you are headed back to campus for the final weeks of the semester. During the first part of the semester you may have experienced how challenging time management and staying focused is, and will be, throughout your college careers. Through personal experience and conversations with my students, I’ve learned that mastering the skill of setting priorities and learning how to say “No,” can help you manage your time and sharpen your focus with great results. How well you deal with requests from other people for your time and effort will determine how successful you are at staying on course to graduation. This is especially true for if you’re doing well in school. Everyone wants a bit of your brilliance so you have to be careful not to burn yourself out.

Jill, a student of mine who was doing well came to see me just before the end of last semester. She flopped down in a chair in front of my desk, exhausted and stressed.

“I just can’t keep up with everything. It’s just too much,” she said. “I’m taking 15 hours to stay on track to graduate in four years, it takes a lot of time to do well in all my classes. I’ve made many friends that I like to go out with a lot. Then there are extracurricular activities I’d like to be involved in. There just isn’t enough time for everything I need to do, want to do or other people want me to do. Now, I don’t know what to do. ”

I told Jill, “I understand. I’ve got more to do than time to do it as well. Each activity or person outside of your course work wants just a little bit of your time but all of those little bits add up to more time than you have to give. The first thing you must remember is that your classes comes first. That is your priority; it is what you’re in college and paying for. Your education ensures your future. Plan any other activities around that fact. During each semester, I want you to plan each week in the semester by what you need to get done in your classes; then refer to that plan before committing to anything else. You’ll see right away which weeks your study load will be lighter than others – those are times you’ll have more time to play. You’ll know in advance when you’ve got two papers due, a research project and an exam, that’s when you’ll  have to say ‘no’ to any one and anything that tries to knock you off track.”

“That’s easier said than done,” Jill said “my friends can be pretty persistent, sometime they wear me down.”

“Then you’re going to have to learn how to say “no,” empathetically or emphatically.”

“What does that mean?” Jill asked.

“The empathetic no lets your friends down easy, ‘I’d love to go with you but I just can’t. I know you’re going to have a great time and I really wish I could be with you but I have to put this time in to pass this class.’ The emphatic no is just NO – you pull this out when the empathetic no doesn’t work.”

Jill laughed, “I’m going to have to use the emphatic no a lot.”

“Not necessarily,” I said. “The beauty of having your study schedule mapped for the semester the way I suggested, is that you can actually see where you can move some things around so that you can do other things, and still get everything done. That’s knowing when and how to say no.”

“I’m going to use this,” Jill said. “Thanks, Dr. Sawyer! Or should I call you, “Dr. Know.”

“Is that ‘k-n-o-w’ or ‘n-o,’” I asked.

“Both,” she said as she left my office smiling.

GradeUP! Challenge #4: Go To The Source – See The Decision Maker

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Exit from labyrinthYou are going to need help to complete college successfully. Everyone does. If you’re in college to earn a degree and graduate with great job prospects, you’ll need some help along the way. Be it academic, career planning, social or emotional issues – stuff comes up during the semester and there are resources on campus to get you the help you need. To access the right advice at the right time the following rules always apply:

Never hesitate to ask for assistance. If you think you need help, ask. If you think you’ve got this, ask anyway. In college you are surrounded by a wealth of information; access as much of it as you can, whenever you can. At no other time in life will you be in a place where the primary goal and objective of everyone there is to help you succeed.

Go to the source. When you need information that’s important to your success always go to the source of that information and, when you can, go to more than one source to verify what you have been told. Don’t go the source that is convenient or that will give you the information you want to hear – like your roommate, Facebook, the Internet or people who can only tell you what they’ve “heard.” Remember, an opinion spoken and repeated twice becomes fact. The first time it’s “I think” the second time it’s “I heard” and the third time it’s a fact! Don’t be misled this way. Go to the person who is responsible for creating and disseminating the information you need. You’ve been to see your advisor – (Challenge #1) and you should have talked to your professors (Challenge #3). Visit the registrar to confirm you’re on track to graduate on time. Register with the career office to get information on the job market. If you didn’t get the information you seek directly from the source – it’s all just hearsay.

Go to the decision maker. Make sure you are always dealing with the decision maker and that they are empowered with the authority to make a decision and stand by it. No one else can give you the definitive answers you need. Others can tell you about decisions that have been made in the past or what they think about the decision; but if they are not the decision maker, they can’t ensure your outcome and the only one with something at risk is you. Don’t take chances with your college success. Always go to the person with the authority to make a decision you can count on – preferably in writing.

Knowing when, where and who to ask for advice is key to success in college and in life.

Next GradeUP! Challenge post on Tuesday, February 17.

GradeUP! Challenge #3: Go See Your Professors

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student-talking-to-college-professor - croppedIf you haven’t yet visited the professors for the classes you’re taking this semester, Go Now! Make sure your teachers know you and understand that you’re serious about doing well in their classes. If they know you as more than just a name— you give your professors the opportunity to respond to you as a person, not just a name or number on the class roll.

See every teacher from every course, outside of the class time, at least once during the semester. The biggest chunk of the money you spend on college pays for your professors, so go see them, make them know you, let them help you and get your money’s worth!

When you go to see your professor, you’re not just going to introduce yourself – try to accomplish the following:

  • Be prepared! Show your instructor that you have read and thought about the material you’re covering in class. If you don’t understand something, formulate reasonable questions beforehand so the meeting will be beneficial for you and your instructor will gain more appreciation for you as a scholar.
  • Ask open-ended questions about the class. For example, “What can I do, other than the assignments, to improve my performance in class?” or “ Are there things you can tell me that I should avoid doing in this class to improve my performance?”
  • Ask your instructor how he/she thinks you are doing in class and whether he/she can project a grade for you based on your performance so far. This is the assessment that counts. Find out how it is being made and the best ways to monitor/influence your performance in a positive way.
  • Act on the advice you are given. If your instructor suggests that you do something to improve your performance in class, do it and make sure he/she knows you did it.
  • Be grateful. Make sure your professor knows you appreciate the help and advice you are given. Saying thank you, and meaning it, is important.

Get more information and advice on the benefits of talking to your professors and, read about the time a visit to a professor saved my grade in Good Players Talk to the Coach, Chapter 15 of College in Four Years. If you don’t yet have College in Four Years, during the GradeUP! Challenge you can purchase the book for $14.99 (normally $19.99), a special 25% discount. I’ve set up a special College in Four Years storefront that will only be open during the Challenge and it is the only place you can buy the book for $14.99.

To get the discount enter the code BBQ86MXV at checkout from the special College in Four Years GradeUP! Challenge storefront. Use this direct link to the storefront.
If you prefer an eBook, you can purchase it for $9.99 on Amazon.com.

Next GradeUP! Challenge,Thursday, 2/12: Why your professor isn’t the only person you need to see.

 

GradeUP! Challenge #2: Make Your Syllabus Your Action Plan

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Syllabus from Flickr by Grace KatRead the syllabus for each class you’re taking. Really read them – all of them. Find out what is expected of you and when, then use a planner – paper, electronic, virtual – and plan out what you need to do and when you plan to do it so you stay current in all your classes. If you don’t have a system for scheduling your time – get one NOW! Don’t get behind because trying to catch up and keep up at the same time is a losing proposition.

From the syllabus in every class you should:

  • Confirm the location and time for class – be there on time from the first day forward.
  • Learn the instructor’s name, office location, contact information and office hours so you’ll know who to contact and how to contact them when you have questions about class;
  • Find out what you need for class – the textbook (if it’s required) and any other material or equipment, (calculator, software package, etc.) you’ll need to be successful. Get everything now, not having the materials is not an excuse for not doing your work;
  • Understand the assignments for each class including reading, homework, projects, reports – know when each is due then schedule when you plan to tackle that assignment so you can turn it in on time;
  • Know when exams are scheduled and what they will cover so you can plan when and how to prepare for them;
  • Find out how you’re going to be graded in class so you’ll know how you’re doing at any time during the semester (more about this in a subsequent post;
  • Note any other information about how the class is going to be run and what is expected of you; and
  • Find out anything that you think you need to know to get the most out of each class, now is the time to ask for it.

The next Challenge posts on Tuesday, 2/10/15. Learn more about the GradeUP! Challenge here. 

To let me know what you think about this post and the GradeUP! Challenge, please leave a comment below.

GradeUP Challenge #1: Talk To Your Advisor

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Academic advisor - croppedOne of your most valuable and probably most under-utilized resources is your academic advisor. They do more than sign your advisement form. Your adviser actually has the best view of your academic future  – no crystal ball needed. With access to your academic past (what courses you’ve already taken), present (what courses you’re taking now) and future (what you’ll need to graduate) and the experience they’ve gained from successfully shepherding other students through the college experience – they have some valuable skills.

Meet with your advisor as early in the semester as possible – before the drop/add date in case you need to make changes to your schedule. When you see your advisor do the following:

  • Talk to them about your performance last semester. Discuss why you got the grades you did and how to keep doing what you did right or how to fix what didn’t work. They actually have the answers to these questions.
  • Ask them to review with you what your curriculum is going forward and what if any changes you need to make or accommodate.
  • Look at your present course load – are they aware of any particular challenges? Should you arrange or rearrange what you’re taking this semester?
  • Talk to your advisor about scheduling classes so you’re not trying to take a spring course in the fall or a fall course in the spring.
  • Talk to you advisor about when you should take your courses to ensure you meet all the prerequisites when you want to take a course that requires them.

Get more information and advice on working with your advisor in Chapter 9 of College In Four Years.

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Let me know what you think about this post and the Challenge.  Please leave a comment below.

The next Challenge posts on Thursday, 2/5/15. Learn more about the GradeUP! Challenge here. 

 

Study Together, Fail Alone: The Fallacy of Study Groups

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College Study Group by Meesha-Ray Johnson (Flickr)

Contrary to popular belief, the value of a study group is not to share notes and study together – it  is to test your knowledge of material you acquire for yourself. The best way to actually learn and assimilate information is to study alone – by taking your own notes in class, in discussions with your professors or reading assigned material. It is a fallacy to believe that you can use someone else’s notes and knowledge to assimilate knowledge for yourself. Information you seek to acquire from  actions taken by others – is proprietary; you can’t buy it, borrow it or steal it, here’s why:

* The person that took those notes learned and assimilated information, then made notes best suited to their learning style, not yours.

* Your learning process did not kick in, no matter how carefully you read their notes. Why? Because you didn’t put in the time on those notes; the person who created them did.

If all you need to do is memorize, then you can probably use someone else’s notes. If you need to understand the material at a deeper level and use it formulate answers to questions and/or solutions to problems, you must do more, you have to know it for yourself.

Let me tell you a story from my book, “College in Four Years,” to illustrate how studying together, might end in your failing alone. Seven students in a class I was teaching formed a study group. They divvied up taking notes and making outlines from class. They met regularly and exchanged notes and problem solutions to study for exams that covered all the material they were responsible for. They all ended up failing my class.

After talking extensively to  them as a group, as well as individually, I figured out that they had each mastered about 1/7th of the information in the class – equal to the notes and material that they had been responsible for in the study group. Some students knew more than others but none of them knew much more than they had studied for themselves. If you master just 14% of the class material, there is no legitimate way you’re going to pass.

I explained to them that the value of a study group is to test your understanding of what you already know. Needless to say, the students were skeptical of my theory. So I asked the students to bring me their group notes for the course, with each set identified by the student who made them. I asked the group questions; however, the student who took the related notes could not answer. For the most part, the students did not know or only partially knew answers from notes made by their counterparts. They were surprised.

“We read through every set of notes,” they said, “We were sure we knew the material.”

These students found out the hard way that group knowledge is not the same as individual knowledge. They took a shortcut and relied on the study group to split up the work so each person could do less. A better way would have been the two-step strategy for study groups:

1.Gather and learn information independently by taking your own notes which summarize study material in a meaningful way that you understand and can use.

2.Then, get together and ask one another questions to test everybody’s understanding of the material.

This is how your study group becomes a valuable resource. Your study partners can test your understanding of the material studied much better than you can on your own. The students who do less get less for it – when students do more, they get the most out of it.

When You Choose A College Major Is As Important As What College Major You Choose

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Nashville Public Radio career options, choices, decisionson the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR)  push to do away with undecided majors. The goal is to have all freshmen declare a major – in other words, require 18-year-olds to declare what they want to do with the rest of their lives. While early declaration of a major may be good for some students, it is not the right choice for all students. In NPR’s report, a spokesman for Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) said  the school recognizes that exploration is important but that they still want to get students into a declared major as soon as they can. I think that TBR and MTSU are doing students a disservice by not giving them the time and the opportunity to make a more informed decision about a major.

Most college and universities, including MTSU,  have a general education core of courses that all students must take their first two years. These courses cover all disciplines and give students a strong liberal arts foundation that introduces them to many areas of study so they have a better idea of what they want to major in. Taking this opportunity away from students is not a wise decision. It will result in more students changing their majors during the first two years or worse, staying in a major they really don’t want to be in – just because they declared it before they really knew what they were interested in.

In my book, College in Four Years, I dedicate an entire chapter to the process of choosing a major – it is that critical to a student’s progress toward graduation. My recommendation, use the first two years of college study to make a decision about a major. Then, begin studies in that major in the third year of college. This approach helps students know better what major to choose  and why they are choosing it. It also helps them avoid  taking courses that won’t count toward graduation because the major they declared at 18 doesn’t fit the future of a more educated and experienced 20-year-old.

College Is An Entrepreneurial Venture

Coaching, First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Mentoring Students, Non-traditional Students, Success In College, The Costs and Benefits of Higher Education, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Josh Smith, Granville Sawyer and Molly Matthews on Biz Talk with Josh
Josh Smith, Granville Sawyer and Molly Matthews on Biz Talk with Josh

Molly Mahoney Matthews and Dr. Granville M. Sawyer were recent guests for two shows on CBS Radio’s Biz Talk With Josh. Host Joshua I. Smith interviewed Matthews and Sawyer and the topic was Bookends, an innovative approach to college as an entrepreneurial venture that prepares college students to graduate in four years with business and entrepreneurial skills. Bookends pairs the higher education experience of Dr. Granville M. Sawyer, Jr. with the entrepreneurial/business management success of Molly Mahoney Matthews using the information and insight from Molly Matthews’ book, Unsinkable: Find A Job, Create A Career, Build A Business and Dr. Granville Sawyer’s book College in Four Years: Making Every Semester Count.

Click the player to listen to an excerpt from the show:

Interested in learning more about Bookends for your organization or institution? Complete the contact form below.

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Five Tips to Help College Freshmen Start Smart

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theory into practiceThis fall more than 8-million freshmen* started their college careers on campuses all across the country. The first semester will be one of the most exciting in their college career; it will also be their most difficult. Everything is new, different and confusing. They are in a place where they have so much in common with so many people; there are bound to be distractions. Then there’s the added pressure of being responsible for figuring everything out for themselves.

As a university professor and advisor, I’ve greeted 33 freshmen classes so I know a few things about helping incoming students start college the right way. Here are five tips that will help set priorities and give this year’s freshman class insight into the smart way to start their college career:

  1. Start off with the right attitude, know how special college is. Sixty-eight percent of college age students in the U.S. start college and four years later, only 19 percent graduate with a degree.* You’re special – act like it.
  2. You are going to have a lot of questions – get good answers. Bad information can derail your college career. Get accurate information by going to the source: not a friend, Facebook, Twitter or something overheard in the student center. Advisors, professors and school administrators have the right advice and information. You may have responsibility for your college career but your advisor will help you take control of your college experience. They can help you figure out the classes you need, and assist you in scheduling classes so you stay on track throughout your college career.
  3. The catalog for your incoming freshman class is your contractual agreement with the college or university; it gives you a clear path to graduation. If you haven’t looked at it– now would be a good time! Your catalogue clearly specifies all the conditions for graduation and the right sequence enabling you to graduate in four years. Read it, no, study it as soon as you arrive on campus and refer to it when you plan your classes with your advisor.
  4. Make sure your teachers know you. Be more than a name on the class roll — put a face, personality and potential to your name. Professors respond better (as in grading) to a   person. In your first semester (and every semester thereafter), see every teacher from   every course outside of your class time. Office hours are one of the most under used resources available to students. Most of the money you spend on college goes to pay your professors, so get your money’s worth by getting some one-on-one attention.
  5. Run with the Big Dogs. The Big Dogs are not the students that are most attractive, socially popular, most personable or the best dressed. The Big Dogs are the best students in your classes and they always eat first! They eat the professor’s attention, the best internships, the best jobs, salaries and the best opportunities in life.  

These five tips will get a student going, but graduation is the goal. Start smart and use these resources to stay smart every semester thereafter.

*U. S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics – Projections of Education Statistics to 2020, 39th Edition