FIRST YEAR SEMINAR RESOURCES: College Readiness

The complete handbook for college-bound kids with learning disabilities. Planning for college can be one of the biggest moments in a teen's life, but for those students with learning and other disabilities, the college experience can be fraught with frustration, uncertainty, and lowered self-confidence. College Success for Students with Learning Disabilities offers teens the confidence, strategies, and guidance they need to effectively choose a college, get prepared for university life, and make the most of their collegiate experience. Special sections also discuss ADD/ADHD and Asperger's syndrome. The book covers pertinent topics such as understanding the rights and responsibilities of students with special needs, talking to professors and peers, getting involved, asking for and receiving accommodations, and utilizing one's strengths to meet and exceed academic standards. This unique reference book also includes ahandy guide to universities with special programs and advice from current college students with disabilities to empower future students and provide them with hope for success.

Short and to-the-point, A Pocket Guide to College Success, offers practical coverage on the topics typically covered in a full-size college success text, from academic skills like managing time, critical thinking, note taking, and college technology to life skills such as health, stress reduction, and money management. This new text by Jamie Shushan focuses on helping students ask the right questions of the right people so that they drive their own college success.This textbook is ideal for any orientation program or first-year experience where a full-size text provides too much content.

The purpose of this book is to assist post-traditional students to achieve success in the Occupational, Workforce, and Leadership Studies (OWLS) Department and develop their individualized pathway to earn the interdisciplinary Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) degree at Texas State University. Applied baccalaureate degrees incorporate higher-order thinking skills and advanced technical knowledge and skills with applied coursework. BAAS students may also earn college-level credits through prior learning assessment (PLA), evaluating and credentialing knowledge and skills gained outside the classroom. The organization and content of this book provides adult degree program faculty and leaders an example of how one required textbook develops and supports the outcomes and activities in all the core courses of an interdisciplinary degree program designed for post-traditional adult learners. The majority of the students earning the BAAS degree are post-traditional students. They are often defined with some or all of these characteristics: over age 25 years old when starting or returning to college, may not have a traditional high school diploma, enroll part-time, work full-time, are financially independent, have dependents other than a spouse and may be a single parent. These students juggle multiple roles and responsibilities in the family, workplace, and community. Post-traditional students bring rich work/life experiences, may be experiencing personal and/or professional transitions, have clear career goals, and often finance their education. They seek flexible programs including online education, PLA, and accelerated course formats. Thus, post-traditional students want active, collaborative, and interactive learning relevant to career and other roles and goals

This concise and affordable book teaches students the skills and strategies that will enable them to be lifelong learners capable of knowing how to approach new and challenging material in college and beyond. Although the first priority of College Success Strategies is to help students learn effectively in their college courses, the skills they learn from this text will serve them well in the future in a variety of learning situations. It is designed to engage students in thought about their own learning and the important role they play in the learning process. The strategies used in this book are based on the authors' many years of experience interacting with college students and professors, as well as their own research focusing on how college students study. Students are often unprepared for the study demands of college and therefore overwhelmed and frustrated with the work. This text is designed to help students obtain lifelong methods and strategies to achieve success in college and beyond.

This research-based book with practical applications teaches academic librarians to support their transfer students effectively at both universities and community colleges, even when transfer students' information literacy needs differ from those of other students. Colleges and universities across the United States serve a large and growing population of transfer students. Current estimates suggest that more than one third of college students transfer from one institution of higher education to another at least once. At some institutions, transfer students compose up to fifty to sixty percent of the new incoming class. Academic librarians' understanding of the demographics and potential needs of transfer students is essential to supporting their success and mitigating "transfer shock." Just as public libraries often bridge gaps between individuals and services, academic libraries can proactively support the often unique needs of transfer students by spearheading textbook affordability initiatives, developing innovative programming, and making appropriate referrals to non-library student services. In this practical guide to supporting transfer students, authors Peggy L. Nuhn and Karen F. Kaufmann teach academic librarians how to optimize information literacy instruction, support research, help reduce stress, and connect the library to virtual students. They emphasize the importance of establishing partnerships with feeder institutions and other campus departments to best support transfer student success. Teaches academic librarians and stakeholders to understand the holistic value of the academic library to transfer student success Defines the concept of "transfer shock" and explains how academic librarians and libraries can mitigate this phenomenon Outlines key theoretical and practical applications of information spaces, information science, and information literacy as applied to the transfer student academic experience

Adults are attending college in record numbers every year. These students, many with families and careers, may have been away from an academic environment for many years and have unique needs in developing lifelong learning skills. Academic librarians have an important role as change agents in this dynamic learning environment through information literacy instruction, workshops, and individual consultations. Mind, Motivation, and Meaningful Learning: Strategies for Teaching Adult Learners provides a blueprint that academic librarians can apply to their instructional design that facilitates a change in students' motivation and learning strategies. It provides the tools necessary to teach learners to identify, evaluate, and apply appropriate cognitive, learning, and motivation strategies based on course content and a deeper understanding of the metacognitive component of meaningful learning. Five chapters explore the theories behind adult learning, culminating in a seven-unit curriculum scalable to a variety of learning domains complete with lesson plans, activities, assessments of the learning goals, and student reflections. Mind, Motivation, and Meaningful Learning can help you identify the components of academic learning that contribute to high achievement; help students learn and practice effective learning and study strategies that lead to improved self-efficacy, self-regulation, and knowledge transfer; and improve instructional design for student, instructor, and academic teaching librarian success.