Last name: |
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First name: |
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__/__/2019-Spring |
Success is possible but it—in my experience—has
to be “intentional” and thinking about Risk and Reward has saved me many times.
The Risk-Reward Continuum (As
Taught by an Old Prof of Mine) |
Balancing Risk and Reward (Click here for the
Rewards of College) |
1. What does WCJC’s Orientation for Students Say about
Success and Risk?
Place an X
in the __ to the
left of EACH row to confirm you understand or will ask for help.
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“Estimate 2
-3 hours of study time outside of each classroom hour (more may be needed for
certain classes).” Example: if you are taking 12 credit hours each week, you need to spend 24 (12 X 2) hours in study.
That means 12 + 24 = 36 per week
on college. If you need 3 hours of study, 12 +36 =
48. For the source, click here.
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“The more
hours you work, the less classes you may want to take.” Example: if you are
taking 12 credit hours each week, the “Maximum Hours Outside Employment” is
“20-hours/week or less.” For the source, click here. |
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“NOTE: You
must maintain 15 credit hours every semester (or attend in the summer) in
order to complete an Associate’s degree within two years.” For the source,
click here. |
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“Do not
take more than you can be successful
in or you will risk lowering your GPA or losing financial aid. Manage
your time wisely.” For source, click here. |
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College
and high school are different in many ways, including who pays for it and who
manages your time. “High School is mandatory
and free.” “College is voluntary and you pay for it.” In high school, “your
time is structured by others”; in college, you manage your own time.” For the source, click here
and look at the 1st table. |
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‘You can
graduate only if your final average for all classes is at least a 2.0 or
C. Next semester registration or transferring to a university may be
prevented if your grade point average (GPA) is below a 2.0. Classes
with a grade of D often won't transfer.” For the source, click here
and look at the bottom of the last table. |
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Student loans
(FYI: Bankruptcy is not an easy solution.) For a Department of Education
source, click here. |
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Six Drop
Rule – a Texas requirement about the maximum number of drops. Syllabus
Search Word: Six |
URL for rows 1 4: http://www.cjbibus.com/College_orientation_hours_taken_of_study_of_outside_work.PNG
URL for rows 5-6: http://www.cjbibus.com/College_orientation_differences_high_school_and_college_4tables.htm
URL for row 7: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/bankruptcy
2. No Risk on 240 Points and Lowered Risk on
430 Points - But You Will Need “Grit,” Good Habits, and Self-Management
Place an X in the __
to the left of EACH of the statements to confirm you understand or will ask for
help.
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You can pre-earn 240
points—200 with Learning Quizzes on history concepts and 40 Evidence Quizzes.
If you just click, it will not make a big difference in your life, but, if
you try to understand, it can. |
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You can pre-learn about 30%
of the Exam questions (3 exams at 100 points each). Click here for a definition of concepts and 2 examples. Syllabus
Search Word: pre-learn |
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You have useful exam questions to help you understand history as whole
rather than repeat bits of stories. Syllabus Search Word: Goal of Exam Questions. Click
here for the type of questions on the exams. |
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You have a review for the Final Exam. Syllabus
Search Word: Final |
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Self-Management
grade – 30 points for each Unit or 90 of the total 1000 points (nearly 10% of
your grade) Syllabus Search Word: the letters Manag |
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Thinkers who may help you think about success and thinking: ·
What’s “grit”?: Click on this
video of a Ted Talk by Angela Duckworth (URL: https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance) ·
"Teach Students How to Learn: Metacognition is the
Key!" by Saundra McGuire. Click here for 5 abilities you need to think well,
with the last being “know what you know and know what you don’t know.” |
3. Why Does History Matter?
Place an X in the __ to the left of EACH of
the statements to confirm you understand or will ask for help.
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“Why Historical Thinking
Matters”-Click on this “interactive presentation where
Professor Sam Wineburg discusses how historians investigate what happened in
the past.” (URL: http://historicalthinkingmatters.org/why/)
Wineburg researches how thinking works. He explains what history is: “Boring
names, facts, dates - this is history for a lot of people. But historians
think about history differently. They see themselves as detectives, often
unsure about what happened, what it means, and rarely able to agree amongst themselves. This process of trying to
figure out things you don't already know is as different from mindless
memorization as you can get.” |
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Figuring out things is the
hard part of writing (and earning a living). For example, over 60% of
students since 2011 usually did not know basics such as being factually accurate
when writing about real things until this course. Click here to see
what past students said they did not know before. |
4. What Is the History Department Supposed to Help You
Accomplish? History is a “gateway course,” not a gatekeeper.
Place an X
in the __ to the
left of EACH of the statements to confirm you understand or will ask for help.
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Student
Learner Outcomes for the History Department – including requiring that
students use primaries and “historical evidence” and they
analyze (not just repeat). Click here for details about those terms. Syllabus Search Word: Outcomes
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The
Department requires that instructors’ courses consist of a minimum of 25%
written assignments. With 25% specific written work,
you must do some written
assignments—or—only want a C for the course and always make 100% on each objective assignment (a risky plan). Syllabus
Search Word:
25% If
you don’t understand, click here to see examples of the math |
5. What Your History Instructor Is Trying to Do to Help
Varied Students Succeed at Meeting History Requirements
Place an X
in the __ to the left
of EACH of the statements to confirm you understand or will ask for help.
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College
and high school are different in many ways, including in how teaching works and office hours as times instructors want
students to come, and what passing is. For the source, click here. |
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Heading
in the Syllabus: How This Course Tries to Help Varied
Students Succeed in Writing about History—an experiment to help students Syllabus
Search Word: Writing about History Click here for how the separate Good Habits for Evidence grade can raise your
grade a letter and help you practice skills you
need. Click here for how improvement in the 3-Part Writing can replace a weak
grade. What are the 5 Good Habits for Evidence?
Click here for Practical Examples How the World Would Not Pay You If You Do
Not Have These Basic Habits. |
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Heading in the Syllabus: 3-Part Writing Assignments—another
experiment to help students |
6.
Policies can
be restrictions, but they are also guidance on how to succeed.
Place an X in the __ to the left of EACH
section in the syllabus to confirm you understand or will ask for help.
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Academic
Honesty Policy. Syllabus
Search Word: Honesty |
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Attendance
Policy and “active attendance”(the only way your average might climb so read
it with care) Syllabus Search Word: Attendance or Active |
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Syllabus Search Word: Lock |
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Class
Behavior Policy – Syllabus Search
Word: Behavior |
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Dropping a
Course with a Grade of “W” – including how instructors in the History
Department cannot drop students. Syllabus Search Word: Dropping |
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Late Work
Policy – including no make-ups and
having to have valid written excuses
(such as a doctor’s note) Syllabus
Search Word: Late with a blank space after it. Caution: Make-ups are on the date of the Final Exam.
With no written excuse, the score is 0. Late is not a choice: do your best
and submit on time (even if it is 11:59 PM). |
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If there
is anything incomplete about an assignment, your instructor enters 1.11 as a
placeholder for the grade and posts a comment with that grade telling you
what you need to do. You must check Blackboard for your grades. |
Section 1 on
page 1 is full of the risks of college—but only if you do not make your work “intentional”
and plan for it. But what are the rewards of college?
FYI: When I say
the word college, I do not just mean
a 4-year degree. In this economy and for you as an individual any of these
paths could be not only a good decision but also exactly what you want to do:
·
Technical program in a community college—but be sure you take
history.
·
1st Year Plus a Technical program
·
1st 2 years of college
·
4 years of college
1.
Some
employers require specific courses or programs for specific jobs.
2.
Some
employers want to know that you have been able to teach yourself enough to pass
college courses. Think of it this way. If you were paying someone money for
work, you would want proof that person had all of these traits that you will be
practicing if you do the work in Section 2:
·
“Grit”
·
Good Habits
·
Self-Management
3.
With a
history course requiring primaries and evidence, you can gain from mentored practice in figuring something out. (See the phrase
with Wineburg in Section 3.) A mentor is “a trusted counselor or guide.”
Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mentor
Practice in figuring
something out matters for your success:
·
To be able to
figure something out is a survival skill now that you are the manager of
your own life.
·
To be able to
figure something out is a skill employers will pay for—and employers will keep
you in a job when they have to layoff others.
·
To figure something out
is to experience joy. If you have not had that feeling
yet, it is time to try it.
4.
College
provides the general knowledge
to protect your future. The required
courses for a freshman program are based on the establishment of a curriculum
called the liberal arts. The phrase
liberal arts is not about politics, but freedom.
The phrase liberal arts means these things:
·
"1745-1755; trans. of L arts liberals - works befitting
a free man” [bold added-
a person who was not a slave or serf.]
·
Root word of liberal: "1325-75; ME <
L liberalis of freedom; befitting
the free, equiv. to liber free + alis A]
·
“liberalis of freedom, befitting the free”
Source: Merriam Webster‘s Unabridged
Dictionary.
In the late 1700s (think about that famous date of 1776), 3/4s of
world population was a slave or a serf. Only 1/4 profited from their own
labor--and learning. You want to be a free person and
college can help you.
5.
As part of
your college experience, history can help you because it is the vocabulary of
our nation. As Wineburg says, history is not “boring names, facts, dates.”
Instead, history introduces you to the basics of:
·
Demographics
·
Economics
·
Government
·
Knowledge, including science, technology, culture, arts, and how
we transfer knowledge to the next generation
·
Religion
·
Sociology
The more you learn, the more you can learn. That is
history’s greatest gift to you. Click here for
vocabulary and the “Mathew effect” on learning.