International Student Services Office

Strategies for Success - LC100

 

                                                                Course Syllabus

                                                     LC100 - Strategies for Success

                                                                        Fall 2011

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."Theodore Roosevelt

 

Course Instructor:                

Mia Morrison (email: mnmorri1@butler.edu) (phone: 940-9308), Student Development Specialist, Learning Resource Center - Jordan Hall 136

Class Time/Location:              

Thursday 11:00 to 11:50 am, Pharmacy Building, 106B

Required Textbooks:      

On Course: Strategies for Success in College and in Life (OC),  Sixth Edition, by Skip Downing

Succeeding as an International Student in the United States and Canada (SIS) by Charles Lipson

 

Course Purpose

The subject of this class isSUCCESS… what success means for you personally and how you can achieve it. The aim of this course is to additionally help prepare you in practical ways for studying at Butler.  Our main objective is to help you acquire the skills and strategies that will enable you to study to your best ability while adjusting to life in the US away from friends and family.

In the coming weeks, you will learn many proven strategies for creating greater academic, professional and personal success.  We will use guided journal writings to explore these strategies.  This is a great opportunity to create a rich and personally fulfilling life, and I would encourage you to make the most of this extraordinary opportunity!

In this course you will be reading, writing, and talking about how you can create a successful life (as you define it).  By reading On Course and Succeeding as an International Student,you will learn many powerful success strategies that have worked for others and learn about the ways to transition successfully.  By keeping a journal, you will become more aware of your life - past, present, and future - and discover how to apply the success strategies in all realms of your life.

 

Course Objectives

In this course you will learn how to…

  1. Take charge of your life. You will learn how to take personal responsibility, gaining greater control over the outcomes and experiences that you create both in college and in life.
  2. Increase self-motivation.  You will learn to create greater inner motivation by discovering your own personally meaningful goals and dreams.
  3. Improve personal self-management.  You will learn numerous strategies for taking control of your time and energy, allowing you to move effectively and efficiently toward the accomplishment of your goals and dreams.
  4. Develop interdependence.  You will learn how to develop mutually supportive relationships that will support you in achieving your goals and dreams as you assist others in achieving theirs.
  5. Maximize learning.  You will learn the powerful process of learning that will enable you to get better grades in college and be an effective life-long learner.  You will learn many effective study skills.
  6. Increase self-awareness. You will learn how to understand and revise your self-defeating patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion as well as your unconscious limiting beliefs.
  7. Improve creative and critical thinking skills.  You will learn how to enhance the thinking skills essential for analyzing and solving problems in your academic, professional and personal lives.
  8. Achieve greater success in your career.  You will learn and develop the personal qualities and skills that employers identify as essential for excelling in the world of work.
  9. Develop emotional intelligence. You will learn effective strategies for managing your emotional life, decreasing stress while increasing your inner sense of well-being.
  10. Raise your self-esteem. You will learn how to develop self-acceptance, self-confidence, self-respect, self-love, and unconditional self-worth.
  11. Master effective study skills. You will learn how to raise your grades in college by improving essential skills such as reading, taking notes, studying, memorizing and taking tests.

Adapted from http://www.oncourseworkshop.com/Author%27s%20Syllabus.htm

 

Disability Related Statement:

It is the policy and practice of Butler University to make reasonable accommodations for students with properly documented disabilities. Written notification from Student Disability Services is required. If you are eligible to receive an accommodation and would like to request it for this course, please discuss it with me and allow one week advance notice. Otherwise, it is not guaranteed that the accommodation can be received on a timely basis. Students who have questions about Student Disability Services or who have, or think they may have, a disability (psychiatric, attention, learning, vision, hearing, physical, medical, etc.) are invited to contact Student Disability Services for a confidential discussion in Jordan Hall 136 or by phone at 317.940.9308, or by email at sds@butler.edu.

 

Grading Policy:

LC100, Strategies for Success, is a one-credit, pass/fail course.  There are no tests or quizzes.  This course is about you, your adjustment, and your personal growth! Therefore, your participation and attendance are indispensable.

Attendance and participation are extremely important for the benefit of the student. Each student is allowed only one excused absence(e.g. sports, illness, academic reasons, etc.). Any absences beyond the one excused absence will require the student to participate in one of the following activities:

  •  Attend an Academic Success Workshop facilitated by the Learning Resource Center.  Current semester schedule available at www.butler.edu/learning.
  • Submit documentation evidencing an appointment with the Writer's Studio or Speaker's Lab.  Include a journal entry sharing outcome, suggestions, or recommendations made by tutor.
  • Arrange a meeting with a course instructor to discuss your progress in the particular course, as well as any suggestions/recommendations he/she may have regarding improving your academic performance.  Include a journal entry sharing outcome, suggestions, or recommendations.
  • "Successful Person" interview - interview a "successful" (as defined by you) person of your choice.  Perhaps this individual has attained goals or dreams you wish to achieve.  In your interview, discover this person's definition of success and the behaviors/beliefs that led to his/her success.  Include a journal entry sharing insights gained about "success" during the interview.

The instructor will not hesitate to fail any student who exceeds the allotted one absence and does not participate in a make-up activity.

 

Assignments:

Students are required to submit journals from On Course to the instructor on a weekly basis.  Journal entries will be due before the start of each class period through Blackboard submission.  Your Success Journals will provide an opportunity to experiment with the success strategies presented in On Course. As I read journals, I will be looking for each journal entry to be complete (all steps in the directions have been responded to), and the entry is written with high standards (an obvious attempt has been made to "dive deep").  Please note that grammar, spelling and punctuation will not be considered in defining a journal entry as being written with high standards.  You are free to express yourself without concern for Standard English conventions.  Completion of all 12 of the journal entries is required to receive a passing grade in the course.

Each journal, assignment, and class date has been assigned a column in Blackboard.  The column will read complete or incomplete for each item, and passing the course requires completion of all the items listed.

 

Class Date

Topic

Journal Entry/Reading/Activity Due

8/25/11

Introductions, Syllabus, Overview, Expectations

 

 

9/1/11

Adjusting to US College Life
  • Chapter 9 to 12- SIS
  • Adjustment to Life in the US- BB
  • Cultural Adjustment- BB

9/8/11

Getting On Course with Your Success
  • Chapter 1 (pages 1-27) - OC
  • OC Journal #1
  • Complete Online Self-Assessment

9/15/11

Biggest Academic Challenges for International Students
  • Chapter 4, 5, & 6- SIS
  • Personal Reflection #1

9/22/11

Accepting Personal Responsibility
  • Chapter 2 (pages 29-62) - OC
  • OC Journal (choose one)  #4, #6, or #7

9/29/11

Effective Reading/Writing & Academic Integrity
  • Chapter 7 & 9- BB
  • Chapter 8- SIS
  • Resource Guide Assignment

10/6/11

Discovering Self-Motivation
  • Chapter 3 (pages 63-100) - OC
  • OC Journal (choose one) #8, #10, #11

10/13/11

No Class- Reading Break

 

10/20/11

Dealing with Problems
  • Chapter 8 (pages 243-270) - OC
  • Chapter 25- SIS
  • Journal (choose one)  #28, #29, #31

10/27/11

Mastering Self-Management & Campus Activities
  • Chapter 4 (pages 101-137) - OC
  • Chapter 23- SIS
  • OC Journal (choose one) #12, #13, #15

11/3/11

Study Skills
  • Chapter 5 (pages 165-170 & 130-137)
  • Personal Reflection #2

11/10/11

Gaining Self-Awareness
  • Chapter 6 (pages 171-205) - OC
  • OC Journal (choose one) #21 or #23

11/17

Study Plan for Finals
  • Study Plan for Finals

11/24/11

No Class- Thanksgiving Holiday

 

12/1

Staying On Course to Your Success
  • Chapter 9 (pages 279-285) - OC
  • Complete Online Self-Assessment
  • OC Journal #32

12/8/11

Last Class- Wrap Up
  • Personal Reflection #3
  • Course Evaluations

 

Abbreviations for Assignments

SIS- Succeeding as an International Student

OC- On Course

BB- Blackboard (under Resource tab)