Thinking and Communicating in College Professor Haines Falmouth 301D (978)

Goals for our time today Propose an intellectual approach to college Prepare you to take action Encourage good communication with faculty Answer any questions you might have

So… what is a university? The word university is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, roughly meaning "community of teachers and scholars.”

The Gen. Ed. Learning outcomes represent the values of this community 1. Breadth of knowledge 2. Critical thinking* 3. Clear communication* 4. Diversity 5. Ethics* 6. Self-direction and collaboration* 7. Information literacy * We’ll be practicing these items in just a minute!

How do those goals relate to the classes I’ll be taking? Course goals Course content Modes of instruction Types of assignments Evaluation techniques

How will I know if I’m doing what I need to do to meet my professor’s expectations? DON’T ASSUME! Let your Syllabus be your guide!

“A syllabus is a tool and a contract.” What does a syllabus communicate? Course requirements How your grade will be determined Course policies The faculty member’s expectations What you can expect of your faculty What work is due, and when Guidelines for making informed decisions about how you approach your work

What do faculty want from you? Be CURIOUS and & seek out COMPLEXITY! Discover the holes in your knowledge. Feel curious about the cause, consequence, purpose, function, or value of what you encounter. Learn how to evaluate evidence and understand how to draw conclusions. Consider contradictions between different perspectives. Note discrepancies between the ideal and the real, between people’s stated values and their actions, and between how things are and how you want them to be.

What your professors want you to know about learning 1. You have to be lively and engaged in order to get anything from a class. 2. You are responsible for the quality of your education. 3. Learning involves risk. If you are not a little anxious about what you are studying, you are probably not engaging it deeply enough. 4. Being an active participant in your classes (asking questions, reading well, critically engaging with ideas) requires real courage. Be brave.

What your professors want you to know about learning 5. Reading well and listening well are fundamental skills. You might find that you do not yet know how to do either of these at the level required in college, so be prepared to work on these skills. 6. A first step in learning is to find out what you don't know, so keep your mind open. 7. Expect complexity. Avoid oversimplifying big ideas. 8. Look for shared ideas and concepts in disparate courses. Don't compartmentalize. That’s why you’re at a University!

What your professors want you to know about learning 9. Successful students place their learning at the top of their priority list. Don't settle for turning in work that you know is mediocre. 10. We are really serious about academic integrity.

The thing about college is… As faculty, we need to set the stage for the whole class to do well. However, practically speaking, the responsibility for taking the initiative to move beyond a functional faculty-student relationship to a really productive faculty-student relationship often falls on the student!

Seeking out these relationships takes some effort. Faculty appreciate students’ being invested enough in their coursework to take advantage of office hours, especially before there’s a problem!

On to the interactive portion of our session…. Are you ready?

What’s wrong with this phone call?

“Professor Haines, my name is Helen Copter, and I'm calling to speak with you about my son, who is…”

What’s wrong with this phone call? “Hi, I'm calling because I need to get into your 10:00 class, but it's full, so I need a permission number. Thanks. ”

Student role-play round: Complete this voic message! “Hi, this is from your 10:00 College Writing class. I broke my arm yesterday….”

What’s wrong with this ?

From: Sent: Monday, August 11, :35 PM To: Haines, Paula Subject: writing Hi, Paula-

What’s wrong with these s? From: Sent: Saturday, March 24, :34 PM To: Haines, Paula Subject: paper Prof. Haines, I have a question about the paper that’s due in class on Tuesday. How may works cited references are we supposed to include? From: Sent: Monday, March 26, :34 AM To: Haines, Paula Subject: fw: paper Prof. Haines, I am going to need an extension on my paper because I haven’t heard back from you about my last about the works cited.

Faculty role play round! Student: “I missed class on Tuesday. Did we do anything?” Prof.:

Take-home messages Adopt the academic values of the UML community Avoid making assumptions Be curious and seek out complexity Establish good communication with your faculty Enjoy the rest of your summer!