Chapter 1, Essentials for College Success, discusses the benefits of the course and the textbook and resources available at the students’ academic institution to make a successful transition to college. The chapter emphasizes the benefits of a college education and introduces students to the concepts of purpose and goal setting with dedicated attention to academic planning.
Chapter 2, Cultivating Motivation, Resilience, and Emotional Intelligence, is new to this edition; it begins by exploring motivation and resilience and then offers expanded coverage of emotional intelligence (formerly covered in one short section in what had been Chapter 11 in the first edition). By presenting these topics in the second chapter of the book, students get the opportunity to explore them at a point early in the term when this self-awareness is critical and encounter them throughout the book.
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Chapter 3, Managing Time, Energy, and Money, presents students with strategies to coordinate the use of these valuable resources. The chapter starts with time-management techniques and continues to offer suggestions for managing energy and money in conjunction with time. Multiple worksheets are provided in the chapter to help students map their use of these resources.
Chapter 4, Discovering How You Learn, begins with a new and very approachable section on learning theories; introduces students to learning theories of Maslow, Bandura, and Schlossberg; and features a new figure, “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid.” Chapter 4 introduces students to the VARK Learning Styles Inventory, to help them identify their preferred learning styles, and discusses MBTI and multiple intelligences. The chapter also includes an updated section, discussing learning disabilities that affect many students in college.
Chapter 5, Getting the Most Out of Class, presents students with engagement strategies they can apply through listening, participating, and note taking before class, in class, and after class.
Chapter 6, Reading to Learn from College Textbooks, offers tips and tools for active reading, increasing comprehension, and understanding the differences in math, science, and social science textbooks. The chapter focuses on strategies for improving academic reading and vocabulary development.
Chapter 7, Studying, Understanding, and Remembering, provides memory improvement techniques and study skills that promote deep learning. The chapter includes a new tool for students to use to consider changes they are willing to make so that study time is more efficient.
Chapter 8, Taking Tests Successfully, is filled with strategies students can apply as they prepare for tests in various courses. In particular, the emotional aspect of test taking is discussed, and a test anxiety quiz is provided, allowing students to evaluate how serious an issue this is for them and to create a plan to overcome it. The chapter concludes with a discussion of academic honesty.
Chapter 9, Collecting, Evaluating, and Using Information, combines topics like information literacy and using the library (formerly in Chapter 8) with writing and speaking (formerly in Chapter 9) in a single streamlined and logically organized chapter. The authors have broadened the presentation of the “library” to heighten awareness of how central the library or a learning commons is to student life today.
Chapter 10, Thinking in College, has been significantly revised to give students a better understanding of what is involved in college-level thinking and to include practical strategies on how to achieve it. Students are clearly shown how concepts like fast and slow thinking, problem solving, creativity, and collaboration all relate to critical thinking. The chapter features a helpful visual guide to Bloom’s Taxonomy, which is important for students to understand as they develop insights into their own learning in college.
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Chapter 11, Maintaining Wellness and Relationships in a Diverse World, discusses multiple aspects of wellness—stress management, nutrition, exercise, sleep, emotional health—as well as caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco use; cyberbullying; and protecting oneself and others against sexual assault. The chapter offers strategies to help students effectively function within their diverse college communities and for getting involved in campus life, managing relationships, and appreciating diversity.
Chapter 12, Making the Right Career Choice, serves as a step-by-step guide to selecting a major and exploring careers; it presents strategies for career planning, enhancing marketability, developing the right mindset for creating a strong future, conducting industry and company research, gaining experience while in college, and job searching.