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Understanding Your College Experience
Third Edition ©2020 John N. Gardner; Betsy O. Barefoot; Kimberly A. Koledoye Formats: Achieve, E-book, Print
As low as $47.99
As low as $47.99
Because every student counts.
Understanding Your College Experience addresses the needs of the widest possible range of students through its content coverage and organization, assessment, and design. Informed by decades of research on the first-year experience, the author team provides students who need the most support with the practical help necessary to flourish academically, personally, and professionally. Now available in Macmillan Learning’s online course solution, Achieve, with a 2024 Digital Update featuring the latest research, expanded coverage, and new activities on learning science, mental health, and test-taking strategies and tools.
Success Stories
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Here’s why educators who use Achieve would recommend it to their peers.
Authors
-
John N. Gardner
John N. Gardner brings unparalleled experience to students as an author. The recipient of his institutions highest award for teaching excellence, John has over forty years of experience directing and teaching in the most widely emulated first-year seminar in the country, the University 101 course at the University of South Carolina (USC), Columbia. John is universally recognized as one of the countrys leading educators for his role in initiating and orchestrating an international reform movement to improve the beginning college experience, a concept he coined as "the first-year experience." He is the founding executive director of the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition at USC, as well as the Policy Center on the First Year of College and the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education (www.jngi.org), both based in Brevard, N.C.
-
Betsy O. Barefoot
Betsy O. Barefoot is a writer, researcher, and teacher whose special area of scholarship is the first-year seminar. During her tenure at USC from 1988 to 1999, she served as co-director for research and publications at the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. She also taught University 101 and graduate courses on the first-year experience and the principles of college teaching. She conducts first-year seminar faculty training workshops around the world and is frequently called on to evaluate first-year seminar outcomes. Betsy is co-director and senior scholar in the Policy Center on the First Year of College and Vice President of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education both in Brevard, N.C. In her Policy Center role she led a major national research project to identify institutions of excellence in the first college year. She currently works with both two- and four-year campuses in evaluating all components of the first year.
-
Kimberly A. Koledoye
Kimberly A. Koledoye is a professor of academic student success and serves as the academic student success program coordinator for the Houston Community College system. Additionally, she teaches developmental and credit-level English. Her work has made a tremendous impact not only on the institution but also statewide, as a leader of development teams for first-year-experience courses and developmental English redesigns. She holds a bachelor of arts in English, a master’s degree in education administration, a graduate certificate in rhetoric and composition, and a doctorate in higher education leadership.
Table of Contents
Part One: WELCOME TO YOUR COLLEGE EXPERIENCE
1: The Essentials for College Success
The College Experience
Exploring Purpose and Setting Goals
Self-Exploration and Career Planning
Academic Planning
Making the Transition by Connecting with Others
2: Cultivating Motivation, Resilience, and Emotional Intelligence
The Importance of Motivation, Attitude, and Mindset
Resilience and Grit
Understanding Emotional Intelligence
3: Managing Time, Energy, and Money
Managing Your Time
Managing Your Energy
Managing Your Money
4: Discovering How You Learn
How People Learn
The VARK Inventory
The Myers−Briggs Type Indicator
Multiple Intelligences
When Learning Preferences and Teaching Methods Conflict
Learning with a Learning Disability or Challenge
Part Two: SUCCEEDING IN COLLEGE
5: Getting the Most Out of Class
Become Engaged in Learning
Prepare for Class
Participate in Class
Take Effective Notes
6: Reading to Learn from College Textbooks
A Plan for Active Reading
Strategies for Reading Different Kinds of Textbooks
Improving Your Reading
Midterm Check In
Introduction
Mid-Term Check In Audit
7: Studying, Understanding, and Remembering
Studying in College: Making Choices and Concentrating
How Memory Works
Improving Your Memory
Studying to Understand and Remember
8: Taking Tests Successfully
Getting Ready . . .
Taking the Test
Types of Tests
Types of Questions
Test Anxiety
Academic Honesty and Misconduct
9: Developing Information Literacy and Communication Skills
Information Literacy
Choosing, Narrowing, and Researching a Topic
Using the Library
Evaluating Sources
Using Your Research in Writing
The Writing Process
Using Your Research in Presentations
Part Three: YOUR PATH TO SUCCESS IN COLLEGE AND BEYOND
10: Thinking in College
College-Level Thinking
Developing Strong Thinking Skills
Applying Your Critical-Thinking Skills
Bloom’s Taxonomy and the First Year of College
11: Maintaining Wellness and Relationships in a Diverse World
Understanding Wellness
Managing Your Relationships
Thriving in Diverse Environments
12: Making the Right Career Choice
Careers and the New Economy
Planning for Your Career
Getting Experience
Job Search Strategies
Skills Employers Seek
Staying on the Path to Success
Product Updates
2024 Updates - New/updated Achieve features and resources are available for this title:
- New content modules on test-taking and study strategies, mental health, and learning science
- The Summer 2024 Digital Update introduces three new instructor activity guides designed to reinforce and expand upon the skills in Achieve’s goal-setting and reflection surveys, alongside an instructor guide on how to use the survey results to engage students in meaningful conversations about their goals.
- The Fall 2024 Digital Update introduces a module featuring video activities focused on the benefits and limitations of AI and student success, fostering awareness and ethical considerations around AI use.
You can access this new content through your existing Achieve course — no need to create a new one.
New! Achieve courseware for Understanding Your College Experience sets the standard for driving student learning in your college success course with powerful learning content, engaging activities, and actionable insights and analytics. Achieve brings together an interactive e-textbook, LearningCurve adaptive quizzing and other assessments and activities, plus extensive instructor resources–all within a new, enhanced technology platform carefully built over the past five years. In order to support students’ self-regulated learning and success, Achieve includes Goal-setting and Reflection Surveys. This series of quick, actionable pre-built surveys is designed to get students to set goals for themselves and reflect on their learning throughout the semester.
- An increased emphasis on career development and accessing career opportunities. This third edition empowers students to access the information and resources they’ll need to make their college experience fulfilling and meaningful, make good choices, and set themselves on a successful career path.
- Chapter 1 now spotlights career coverage right up front, including a discussion of career pathways and a subsection on how self-understanding enables career exploration.
- Each chapter includes a new "Develop Your Career Story" activity, which empowers students to develop their professional selves and access career opportunities. These activities help to scaffold the often-difficult tasks students are asked to do when writing resumes or going on interviews, such as reporting on their strengths or weaknesses, summarizing their skills and interests, or describing a time they overcame adversity. Each activity provides students with a key building block to their professional portfolio, so that by the end of Chapter 12, students will have worked toward developing the confidence and skills to get the most out of their career center resources, land an internship, and pursue a successful career.
- A fully redesigned opener that begins each chapter. Openers touch on each of the three main areas that are important to students—college, life, and career—and spotlight concrete ways that upcoming material is relevant and useful. Each opener features:
- A colorful, full-page photo
- An "In this chapter…" section that highlights chapter coverage and includes reflection questions to help students connect with the chapter topics
- Interesting statistics on both academics and the workplace, as well as an inspirational quote about life, perseverance, and the human experience.
- New Midterm Check-In feature. This new feature, which is located immediately after Chapter 6 (roughly in the middle of the term), is designed to help students stay on track and recognize the necessary interventions they may need to take to finish the term successfully. On the first page of the feature, students receive tips to help them finish strong, and on the second page, they complete specific activities based on these tips to set themselves up for success.
- Key content updates keep this edition current, engaging, and relatable for students. Specific updates include the following:
- A reorganized section on time-management techniques in Chapter 3, plus new coverage of locus of control, the importance of attending college now rather than later, and an expanded discussion of working versus borrowing.
- A revised and expanded "Become Engaged in Learning" section in Chapter 5 that includes a new assessment asking students to reflect on their level of engagement in learning.
- An expanded section on previewing in Chapter 6, which includes a new Table 6.1 that helps students estimate how long their reading will take.
- A new discrete subsection in Chapter 8 on how to reduce the likelihood of problems with academic honesty.
- A retitled Chapter 9 (now "Developing Information Literacy and Communication Skills") that better emphasizes the two main topics being addressed in the chapter.
- New illustrative photos and earlier examples of how students use critical thinking in their everyday lives in Chapter 10, which help to demystify an otherwise abstract concept.
- New wellness coverage in Chapter 11 on prescription drugs, vaping, and anxiety; and new and updated diversity coverage on nationality and citizenship, sex and gender, and microaggressions.
Updated sections in Chapter 12 on the characteristics of today’s economy, developing the right mindset, planning for your career, and marketability
Instructor Resources
Instructor Resources
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John N. Gardner; Betsy O. Barefoot; Kimberly A. Koledoye | Third Edition | ©2020 | ISBN:9781319263157
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Authors
-
John N. Gardner
John N. Gardner brings unparalleled experience to students as an author. The recipient of his institutions highest award for teaching excellence, John has over forty years of experience directing and teaching in the most widely emulated first-year seminar in the country, the University 101 course at the University of South Carolina (USC), Columbia. John is universally recognized as one of the countrys leading educators for his role in initiating and orchestrating an international reform movement to improve the beginning college experience, a concept he coined as "the first-year experience." He is the founding executive director of the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition at USC, as well as the Policy Center on the First Year of College and the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education (www.jngi.org), both based in Brevard, N.C.
-
Betsy O. Barefoot
Betsy O. Barefoot is a writer, researcher, and teacher whose special area of scholarship is the first-year seminar. During her tenure at USC from 1988 to 1999, she served as co-director for research and publications at the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. She also taught University 101 and graduate courses on the first-year experience and the principles of college teaching. She conducts first-year seminar faculty training workshops around the world and is frequently called on to evaluate first-year seminar outcomes. Betsy is co-director and senior scholar in the Policy Center on the First Year of College and Vice President of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education both in Brevard, N.C. In her Policy Center role she led a major national research project to identify institutions of excellence in the first college year. She currently works with both two- and four-year campuses in evaluating all components of the first year.
-
Kimberly A. Koledoye
Kimberly A. Koledoye is a professor of academic student success and serves as the academic student success program coordinator for the Houston Community College system. Additionally, she teaches developmental and credit-level English. Her work has made a tremendous impact not only on the institution but also statewide, as a leader of development teams for first-year-experience courses and developmental English redesigns. She holds a bachelor of arts in English, a master’s degree in education administration, a graduate certificate in rhetoric and composition, and a doctorate in higher education leadership.
Table of Contents
Part One: WELCOME TO YOUR COLLEGE EXPERIENCE
1: The Essentials for College Success
The College Experience
Exploring Purpose and Setting Goals
Self-Exploration and Career Planning
Academic Planning
Making the Transition by Connecting with Others
2: Cultivating Motivation, Resilience, and Emotional Intelligence
The Importance of Motivation, Attitude, and Mindset
Resilience and Grit
Understanding Emotional Intelligence
3: Managing Time, Energy, and Money
Managing Your Time
Managing Your Energy
Managing Your Money
4: Discovering How You Learn
How People Learn
The VARK Inventory
The Myers−Briggs Type Indicator
Multiple Intelligences
When Learning Preferences and Teaching Methods Conflict
Learning with a Learning Disability or Challenge
Part Two: SUCCEEDING IN COLLEGE
5: Getting the Most Out of Class
Become Engaged in Learning
Prepare for Class
Participate in Class
Take Effective Notes
6: Reading to Learn from College Textbooks
A Plan for Active Reading
Strategies for Reading Different Kinds of Textbooks
Improving Your Reading
Midterm Check In
Introduction
Mid-Term Check In Audit
7: Studying, Understanding, and Remembering
Studying in College: Making Choices and Concentrating
How Memory Works
Improving Your Memory
Studying to Understand and Remember
8: Taking Tests Successfully
Getting Ready . . .
Taking the Test
Types of Tests
Types of Questions
Test Anxiety
Academic Honesty and Misconduct
9: Developing Information Literacy and Communication Skills
Information Literacy
Choosing, Narrowing, and Researching a Topic
Using the Library
Evaluating Sources
Using Your Research in Writing
The Writing Process
Using Your Research in Presentations
Part Three: YOUR PATH TO SUCCESS IN COLLEGE AND BEYOND
10: Thinking in College
College-Level Thinking
Developing Strong Thinking Skills
Applying Your Critical-Thinking Skills
Bloom’s Taxonomy and the First Year of College
11: Maintaining Wellness and Relationships in a Diverse World
Understanding Wellness
Managing Your Relationships
Thriving in Diverse Environments
12: Making the Right Career Choice
Careers and the New Economy
Planning for Your Career
Getting Experience
Job Search Strategies
Skills Employers Seek
Staying on the Path to Success
Product Updates
2024 Updates - New/updated Achieve features and resources are available for this title:
- New content modules on test-taking and study strategies, mental health, and learning science
- The Summer 2024 Digital Update introduces three new instructor activity guides designed to reinforce and expand upon the skills in Achieve’s goal-setting and reflection surveys, alongside an instructor guide on how to use the survey results to engage students in meaningful conversations about their goals.
- The Fall 2024 Digital Update introduces a module featuring video activities focused on the benefits and limitations of AI and student success, fostering awareness and ethical considerations around AI use.
You can access this new content through your existing Achieve course — no need to create a new one.
New! Achieve courseware for Understanding Your College Experience sets the standard for driving student learning in your college success course with powerful learning content, engaging activities, and actionable insights and analytics. Achieve brings together an interactive e-textbook, LearningCurve adaptive quizzing and other assessments and activities, plus extensive instructor resources–all within a new, enhanced technology platform carefully built over the past five years. In order to support students’ self-regulated learning and success, Achieve includes Goal-setting and Reflection Surveys. This series of quick, actionable pre-built surveys is designed to get students to set goals for themselves and reflect on their learning throughout the semester.
- An increased emphasis on career development and accessing career opportunities. This third edition empowers students to access the information and resources they’ll need to make their college experience fulfilling and meaningful, make good choices, and set themselves on a successful career path.
- Chapter 1 now spotlights career coverage right up front, including a discussion of career pathways and a subsection on how self-understanding enables career exploration.
- Each chapter includes a new "Develop Your Career Story" activity, which empowers students to develop their professional selves and access career opportunities. These activities help to scaffold the often-difficult tasks students are asked to do when writing resumes or going on interviews, such as reporting on their strengths or weaknesses, summarizing their skills and interests, or describing a time they overcame adversity. Each activity provides students with a key building block to their professional portfolio, so that by the end of Chapter 12, students will have worked toward developing the confidence and skills to get the most out of their career center resources, land an internship, and pursue a successful career.
- A fully redesigned opener that begins each chapter. Openers touch on each of the three main areas that are important to students—college, life, and career—and spotlight concrete ways that upcoming material is relevant and useful. Each opener features:
- A colorful, full-page photo
- An "In this chapter…" section that highlights chapter coverage and includes reflection questions to help students connect with the chapter topics
- Interesting statistics on both academics and the workplace, as well as an inspirational quote about life, perseverance, and the human experience.
- New Midterm Check-In feature. This new feature, which is located immediately after Chapter 6 (roughly in the middle of the term), is designed to help students stay on track and recognize the necessary interventions they may need to take to finish the term successfully. On the first page of the feature, students receive tips to help them finish strong, and on the second page, they complete specific activities based on these tips to set themselves up for success.
- Key content updates keep this edition current, engaging, and relatable for students. Specific updates include the following:
- A reorganized section on time-management techniques in Chapter 3, plus new coverage of locus of control, the importance of attending college now rather than later, and an expanded discussion of working versus borrowing.
- A revised and expanded "Become Engaged in Learning" section in Chapter 5 that includes a new assessment asking students to reflect on their level of engagement in learning.
- An expanded section on previewing in Chapter 6, which includes a new Table 6.1 that helps students estimate how long their reading will take.
- A new discrete subsection in Chapter 8 on how to reduce the likelihood of problems with academic honesty.
- A retitled Chapter 9 (now "Developing Information Literacy and Communication Skills") that better emphasizes the two main topics being addressed in the chapter.
- New illustrative photos and earlier examples of how students use critical thinking in their everyday lives in Chapter 10, which help to demystify an otherwise abstract concept.
- New wellness coverage in Chapter 11 on prescription drugs, vaping, and anxiety; and new and updated diversity coverage on nationality and citizenship, sex and gender, and microaggressions.
Updated sections in Chapter 12 on the characteristics of today’s economy, developing the right mindset, planning for your career, and marketability
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Sometimes also referred to as a spiral-bound or binder-ready textbook, loose-leaf textbooks are available to purchase. This three-hole punched, unbound version of the book costs less than a hardcover or paperback book.
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Achieve (full course) includes our complete e-book, as well as online quizzing tools, multimedia assets, and iClicker active classroom manager.
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Visit our comparison table for details: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/digital/achieve/compare
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We can help! Contact your representative to discuss your specific needs for your course. If our off-the-shelf course materials don’t quite hit the mark, we also offer custom solutions made to fit your needs.
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ISBN:9781319501945
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FAQs
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Are you a campus bookstore looking for ordering information?
MPS Order Search Tool (MOST) is a web-based purchase order tracking program that allows customers to view and track their purchases. No registration or special codes needed! Just enter your BILL-TO ACCT # and your ZIP CODE to track orders.
Canadian Stores: Please use only the first five digits/letters in your zip code on MOST.
Visit MOST, our online ordering system for booksellers: https://tracking.mpsvirginia.com/Login.aspx
Learn more about our Bookstore programs here: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/contact-us/booksellers
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Our courses currently integrate with Canvas, Blackboard (Learn and Ultra), Brightspace, D2L, and Moodle. Click on the support documentation below to find out more details about the integration with each LMS.
Integrate Macmillan courses with Blackboard
Integrate Macmillan courses with Canvas
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-
-
If you’re a verified instructor, you can request a free sample of our courseware, e-book, or print textbook to consider for use in your courses. Only registered and verified instructors can receive free print and digital samples, and they should not be sold to bookstores or book resellers. If you don't yet have an existing account with Macmillan Learning, it can take up to two business days to verify your status as an instructor. You can request a free sample from the right side of this product page by clicking on the "Request Instructor Sample" button or by contacting your rep. Learn more.
-
-
-
Sometimes also referred to as a spiral-bound or binder-ready textbook, loose-leaf textbooks are available to purchase. This three-hole punched, unbound version of the book costs less than a hardcover or paperback book.
-
-
-
Achieve (full course) includes our complete e-book, as well as online quizzing tools, multimedia assets, and iClicker active classroom manager.
Most Achieve Essentials courses do not include our e-books and adaptive quizzing.
Visit our comparison table for details: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/digital/achieve/compare
-
-
-
Achieve (full course) includes our complete e-book, as well as online quizzing tools, multimedia assets, and iClicker active classroom manager.
Achieve Read & Practice only includes our e-book and adaptive quizzing, and does not include instructor resources and assignable assessments. Read & Practice does integrate with LMS.
Visit our comparison table for details: https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/digital/achieve/compare
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-
-
We can help! Contact your representative to discuss your specific needs for your course. If our off-the-shelf course materials don’t quite hit the mark, we also offer custom solutions made to fit your needs.
-
Understanding Your College Experience
Understanding Your College Experience addresses the needs of the widest possible range of students through its content coverage and organization, assessment, and design. Informed by decades of research on the first-year experience, the author team provides students who need the most support with the practical help necessary to flourish academically, personally, and professionally. Now available in Macmillan Learning’s online course solution, Achieve, with a 2024 Digital Update featuring the latest research, expanded coverage, and new activities on learning science, mental health, and test-taking strategies and tools.
Select a demo to view:
Sample Achieve