Photo © Ron Singer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

This course transfers as 3 hours of Psychology.

Course Description (From the ACC Catalog):

"This course is designed to teach students learning and self-management strategies that maximize the success potential of the student. Emphasis is on orientation to college study skills, learning resources, and personal management skills."

Course Materials:

Text: Keys to Success: How to Achieve Your Goals, by Carol Carter and Sarah L. Kravits, a relatively inexpensive paperback published by Prentice-Hall, available at ACC bookstores.

A composition book with sewn-in pages (should cost about a dollar).

Course Organization:

Students will receive information that can be put to use the very same day in their classes, their work, and their lives.

Learn how to organize your study place no matter where it is for the least money and the most usefulness

Learn how to take notes-the more active the process the more powerful, so you will try out the 4 most common note-taking techniques to see which works the best for you

Learn how to work up your notes and make them into your own personal success tool, and how to organize the notebook itself so that you can find what you need instantly

Learn what to do in order to keep up if you miss class

Learn how to get the most out of those expensive textbooks

Learn how to be a good test-taker on both objective (true/false and multiple choice) exams and the dreaded subjective (essay) tests

Learn how to memorize information so that you can rely on your memory

Learn how to manage time so that you will have the opportunity to meet new people and really enjoy your college experience, even if you are working, raising kids, etc., all the while working toward your career goals

Learn how to deal with stress-learn what we know about what stress does to our health and how to manage it

Learn how to get along with roommates, loved ones, friends, and co-workers-students in this course

Practice fighting fair, and learn first-hand that the most powerful way to deal with a dirty fighter is to fight fair. (One student said that if he had learned this technique 9 years before, he wouldn't have lost his wife and baby.)

Learn how to research, organize and write a college level term paper-you will write a term paper about what you want to do for a career, and will do it all in a step-by-step way, writing the best paper with the least stress

Learn how to prepare for a comprehensive final by learning how professors think

Enjoy having a lot of fun with creativity

Learn how to get over math fears and actually enjoy doing math

Learn how to manage money, and learn how to apply for scholarships and how to negotiate for the best pay

We will be using exciting new developments in Learning Frameworks to increase everybody's ability to achieve their aspirations.

Course Grade:

Midterm Exam: 20%
Class Grade: 20%
Research Paper: 20%
Journal: 20%
Final Exam: 20%

Summary:

Many students have come back and said this was the most valuable and enjoyable course they have ever taken. Who should take it? Those who are entering college, those who are going back to school after being out for years, those who never really learned how to study, and those who already have degrees and want to do well in graduate school, medical school, law school, etc.