Substantive features throughout the text increase the probability of your students’ success in college.
The hallmark Gardner and Barefoot focus on, self-assessment of strengths and goal setting, helps students focus on purpose and motivation and combats disengagement in this course. A section on goal setting in Chapter 1 gets students thinking immediately about this important skill. Assessing Your Strengths and Setting Goals boxes in each chapter ask students to set goals, and Stay on Track exercises at the end of each chapter ask students to assess how to apply strengths to current and future academic work.
New! Four part-opening quizzes get students thinking about the topics that are going to be covered in the upcoming chapters in a fun and dynamic way. Student responses are reviewed briefly so that they get a sense of their existing knowledge and where they need to really focus.
Chapter-opening profiles that help students see themselves in the text. Each chapter of the text opens with a true story of a recent first-year student who has used the strategies in the chapter to succeed in college. The profiled students come from diverse backgrounds and attend all kinds of colleges around the country. The eleventh edition features several new profiles.
Thought-provoking images and exercises in every chapter that encourage critical thinking. Features, photos, and exercises include activities to help students master concepts and think critically about the material.
Coverage of technology and learning is highlighted in a Tech Tip feature in every chapter, many of which are new in the eleventh edition. These features introduce critical technology skills that span the classroom and real life such as “Email Etiquette” in Chapter 1, “Say Yes to Twitter” in Chapter 3, “Research Wisely” in Chapter 5, “Embrace the Cloud” in Chapter 8, and “Conducting Industry Research” in Chapter 15.
Models (including digital models) let students see principles in action. Because many students learn best by example, full-size models—more than in any competing book—show realistic examples of annotating a textbook, creating a mind map, multiple styles of note taking, and other strategies for academic success. This edition includes digital models to reflect the tools students will be using in their everyday lives.
Where to Go for Help boxes connect the student to campus, faculty, and other students. To help students take more control of their own success, every chapter includes a quick overview of further resources for support, including learning assistance centers, books, Web sites, and fellow students—with a prompt for students to add their own ideas.
Your Turn collaborative learning activities foster peer-to-peer communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. These activities can be used in class, as homework, or as group activities to strengthen the bond between students and their college communities. They are organized into four types based on what students are asked to do: Work Together, Write and Reflect, Think about It, and Discuss.
New! Is This You? boxes speak directly to students who are likely taking first-year experience courses. Look for these special messages to first-generation college students, returning students, veterans, students with children, student athletes—as well as students encountering common first-year issues such as the temptation to cheat, weight gain, financial problems, and the clash of new ideas with old beliefs. The feature points to specific content in the chapter these students should read and heed.
New! First-year students report… charts help students assess their own college experience. Data from the Higher Education Research Institute’s 2012 Your First College Year survey is presented in pie charts. Each chapter poses questions that allow students to find common ground among their peers such as, “Do you frequently feel overwhelmed by all you have to do?,” “What’s the likelihood that you’ll participate in student clubs or groups?” or “Do you have any concerns about your ability to finance your college education?”
New! In the Media features in many chapters encourage students to think critically about a current topic. These boxes use examples from movies, television, articles, books, or the Web. For instance, the In the Media feature in Chapter 3 uses the film Silver Linings Playbook to discuss handling emotions; the In the Media feature in Chapter 5 looks at how advertising often appeals to false authority; and the In the Media feature in Chapter 13 discusses a 2013 article from The New York Times, about junk food addiction, “Are Doritos the Perfect Food?”
Skills-based practice exercises provide hands-on, point-of-use reinforcement of major concepts. Students use these exercises to practice skills that they can then apply to their other academic courses. For instance, the time management chapter includes a tool for students to calculate their Procrastination Self-Assessment; and the test-taking chapter includes a new Test Anxiety Quiz.
Retention Strategies in every chapter of the Instructor’s Annotated Edition (IAE) offer best practices from John Gardner and Betsy Barefoot to help students persist in the first year. In addition, a 16-page insert at the beginning of the IAE includes chapter-specific exercises and activities designed as retention strategies to support writing, critical thinking, working in groups, planning, reflecting, and taking action.