All Final Grades in Banner Today

Congratulations! The Fall 2013 semester is officially over!

A few notes for you as you plan for Spring:

1. Rest well over the break, and check email in January for syllabi and messages from instructors.

2. If you did not pass INQ or your Critical Thinking course, you will not be able to take Tier 2 courses next semester. You will need to go onto Banner and adjust your schedule as soon as Add/Drop opens or call the Registrar's Office or Academic Advising to see of they can help you adjust your schedule. If you didn't pass a Math, English, or Language prerequisite, same thing: you cannot move on to the next level and instead need to retake the current level. If you want to retake a course for grade replacement, you need to fill out the proper paperwork to do so in January. Again, call the Registrar to find out how to do that.

3. There will be another Club Fair in January or early February for those of you who want to get involved at SCSU but were not able to do so in your first semester.

4. I will have office hours on Tues/Thurs again in Spring. Email me if you have problems I can help you with. I will send you an email in February or March to make advising appointments for Fall Registration.

5. Learn from your mistakes and successes this semester and build upon them next semester. The first semester is the hardest in terms of adjustment; it gets easier in that way from here on. You can shape your future by reflecting on your experience now and choosing to stay the same or grow. Take advantage of the resources Southern offers to help you in your path ahead!

6. Thank you for a lively and productive semester! I enjoyed it and learned a lot.

SNOW! (Not the plan)

Section 40 had planned to have their final today at their regularly scheduled class time. However, due to snow and unsafe travel conditions, I need to postpone it until Thursday 9:15-10:15. Section 42 will then have their final 10:15-11:15.

Stay warm and safe and see everyone Thursday!

Week 16: “We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience” -- John Dewey

Final Week of Blogging: Self-Assessment Assignment

This week, Blogs A, B, and I are all combined into one longer post: the final self-assessment.

Write a 600-word blog post (with at least 2 images) that functions as a final self-assessment for your first semester of college.

Use the following questions as a starting point for organizing your ideas. Your answers should reflect an honest evaluation of yourself and should not be an evaluation of SCSU, me, the class, or the FYE program. Also, you do not have to answer all of the questions in your post; instead choose some that you have something worthwhile to say in response!

1. What have you learned about yourself as a college student so far? Where are
you in your learning process?

2. What have been your biggest challenges so far?

3. How did you react to and/or meet or mishandle those challenges?

4. What have been your biggest achievements so far?

5. What habits or processes made certain that you were able to earn success
in those areas? How have you used the resources available to you in order
to ensure your own success? How can you do more of this in the upcoming
semester?

6. How successful have you been with time management and workload in your
courses? What have you put the majority of your time and energy into this
semester? What is the result of that?

7. What have your grades been like this semester? More importantly perhaps,
what are you learning? Are there classes where you are learning a lot or only
a little? Why? What can you do to maximize your learning?

8. How are you doing in meeting the personal goals you set for yourself at the
beginning of the semester? Are you where you had hoped you would be by
this point in your college career?

9. Where do you want to go from here and what do you think you need to do in
order to get there? Is there anything you need to change? Is there anything
you can improve upon in the upcoming semesters?

10. What specific goals would you like to set for yourself next semester and how
do you plan to meet those goals?

Be sure that your post is clear, detailed, shows in-depth thinking, makes specific points, and supports those points with specific evidence. In addition to rich content,your post should have a clear beginning, middle, and end, and unifying transitions. Please do not simply answer the questions, but create a meaningful narrative.

Note: This assignment is due (posted on your blog) by Tuesday, December 17th by midnight (a few extra days beyond the usual Saturday due date).

Welcome back for the last two weeks of the semester

This week's blogging assignments:

Blog A: What have you learned from watching the drafts of videos in class? What will you apply to your own revision process? Be specific.

Blog B: How are you preparing for finals? What is your study plan/schedule? How will you ensure success in wrapping up this semester?

Last week of classes here we come!

The Season for Giving Back

Just a remnder that Ashley will put a box outside of our INQ class, and we will collect toys, winter items like scarves, gloves, etc., and hygiene items like toothbrushes, etc. in order to donate. I hope we can fill the box!

Video Draft Sharing SIgn-Up List

Here is the list of students who signed up to show their videos on each date:

Section 40 (9:35-10:50)

Tues Nov 26

Brianna Q
Terrence
Sam S
Emily
Faith
Kristen
Briana A

Tues Dec 3

Emma
Kiersten
Caitlin
Ciarra
Paige
Kennedy
Franchesca

Thurs Dec 5

Stephanie R
DJ
D'mari
Kelly
Jeff
Katie
Valerie


Sec 42 (11-12:15)

Tues Nov 26

Sam M
Janai
Tracy
Kali
Taylor
Megan
Chris
Gabby


Tues Dec 3

Jana
Alyssa
Laura
Stephanie N
Brittney
Erin
Tyquan

Thurs Dec 5

Garrett
Jackie
Carren
Denisa
Kelsey
Shaquille
Jon

Weeks 13 and 14

Since next week (week 14) is Thanksgiving week, I decided to post the next two weeks' worth of blogging assignments in case you need to budget your time due to traveling, visiting, or an expected turkey-induced lethargy. I am hoping that this will not confuse anyone, but if you are feeling confused, talk to me in class. Due dates are the same, and do post all of week 13 (A, B, I, and V) before you go on to week 14, but feel free to do all 8 posts this week if you so desire. Ok, here are the assignments:

Week 13

Blog A: How will you make your video draft exhibit a high level of college-level thinking? Explain using details and specific examples.

Blog B: How will you make your video draft exhibit a high level of creativity? Explain using details and specific examples.

Week 14

Blog A: What are you doing this week in order to give yourself some stress relief as well as prepare for the final weeks of the semester?

Blog B: Cheesy Thanksgiving Post -- Reflect on what you are thankful for this semester. (Useful too, though -- taking time for reflection is one thing we learned this semester that boosts productivity and growth!)

Final Video Assignment -- Creative Problem Solving

Final Video Assignment: Creative Problem Solving

One measure of success for college students is how well they can adapt to new situations, tackle challenges, and be creative problem solvers. The final video assignment addresses this exact topic and asks students to create a problem-solution "argument." You should be attempting to prove a specific thesis and use specific evidence as support; the more detailed and creative you can be, the stronger your argument will be and the more interesting your video will be.

Your video should have 5 distinct components: 1) describing the problem, 2) exploring possible outcomes and proposing the best solution(s), 3)providing useful information about resources on campus that students can access in dealing with the problem, 4) ample research, interviews, quotes from readings, facts, or other evidence to support both the description of the problem and the proposal of the solution(s), and 5) using creativity to engage your audience.

First, choose a common problem faced by first-year students. It can span any aspect of university life and experience, from living away from home to roommate problems to underage drinking to study habits, college-level work, and procrastination to failing classes or oversleeping to getting a bad professor to changing your major or thinking critically or creatively. Think about a topic that would be unique, interesting to you, and one that you could get a lot of information about. You can also use the readings, topics, and critical questions from this course as a starting point for brainstorming innovative video content.

In order to illustrate the problem clearly and creatively, make a skit using either actors on video or drawings or pictures with captions or comic "bubbles" or some other creative medium. Use your imagination in this section, and make it entertaining (and perhaps humorous). **Remember the example I showed you at midterm where a student staged a commuter being pulled over for speeding.**

Then explore some possible solutions and offer your suggestions for what could be done to alleviate this situation, either after it happens or how to prevent it in the future or both. This part should demonstrate some deep thinking into the causes and effects and "why is this important?"

As previously noted, make sure you include some research (cited, of course) from books, websites, pamphlets from campus offices, and/or interviews. Also, be sure to note the resources that are available on campus to help students deal with these types of problems.

Length = 5-6 minutes

3 Topic Proposals Due: Thurs Nov 14
First Drafts due on blogs: Tues Nov 26-Thurs Dec 10 (you will sign up for viewing dates during this time period)
Final Drafts due on blogs: Sat Dec 14

Week 12 -- Trying to See the Bigger Picture

SCSU prides itself on being a university which offers students a liberal arts education, and this week's readings ask you to consider why that type of education in important -- to your future, to your education as a whole, to your career path, and to your whole self. Before reading for this week, google "liberal arts education" and read up on this term a bit so you understand the definition, the purpose, and the context. Remember that many universities offer this type of traditional education, but some other types of colleges are more specialized and focus more on job training. It is crucial to know the difference between these educational philosophies especially when thinking about the required classes you are taking in order to graduate with a degree within a liberal arts education.

For Blog A, answer the following question using support/evidence (direct quotes) from this week's readings: What is the value of a liberal arts education? What does it provide students with (in addition to a degree in a specific major)? Use your own ideas and critical thinking in your answer, but engage directly with the readings as well.

For Blog B, I'd like you to continue the good work you did last week. Pose one (or more, related) inquiry question(s) based on this week's readings and propose a well-considered, college-level, answer.

Today, I also posted the final video project assignment -- don't wait until the last minute to get started! Start it this week! Use the feedback you received on your midterm video project to make this one even better than the first one.

Note that 3 possible topics are due to me by Thursday. Just like last time, I will approve one of them so that everyone does not have the same topic.

That time of the semester...

Unfortunately, I have caught one of the many bugs that has been swirling around my classroom these past few weeks, causing me to have a pounding head, fuzzy brain, sore throat, hoarse voice, and a general feeling of malaise. Not good.

I am hoping that through either email, the blog, or word of mouth, you will know that I am cancelling class on Tues, Nov. 5 and will see you next on Thursday.

On Tuesday, therefore, we will not be coming up with good inquiry/quiz questions and working on strong answers for them. We will do that on Thursday, instead. Keep up with the assigned readings as listed on the syllabus and we will use all of those readings in putting together our questions. I would like to give you even more practice in this skill, so I am going to use a similar prompt for this week's blogs. See below...

This week's blogging assignments:

Blog A:

Based on the readings, come up with 4 questions that would be good inquiry questions (make you think) and could be used for class discussion or on a quiz as a short answer/essay question. Make sure the question asks you to do the types of college-level critical thinking that our quiz questions ask you to do; for example, they don't just ask to regurgitate facts, but instead analyze, evaluate, interpret, and synthesize. Then, choose one question and answer it in detail and with specific examples from the readings. Consider it a type of practice quiz.

Blog B:

Read through some of the questions and answers your peers have submitted. Which are strong, college-level questions and why or why not? Be specific and find a few examples to evaluate. Which are strong, college-level answers and why or why not? What can you learn from this week's exercises in anticipating and answering quiz questions? How can you apply that to your own studying?

“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people” – Leo Burnett

This week, we are starting a unit on innovation and creativity. Whereas the first half of the semester is focused on identifying college level standards and getting in shape to meet those standards, the second half of the semester focuses more on how you can step outside of those boxes, distinguish yourself, and excel in your own unique way. Part of that requires you to learn how to think differently, to not simply do the same thing as everyone else. Your ability to distinguish yourself as an individual will be the quality that potential employers will be looking for just as much as noting that you fulfilled all of your requirements and got your degree. Blog A wraps up the first half of the semester, and Blog B begins the second half -- see below:

Blog A: Reflect on your midterm video assignment. First read over the assignment requirements. How well did you fulfill the requirements of topic, time limit, # of people interviewed, having a beginning, middle, and end, the finalizing details of title, name, getting it done on time, etc.? How well did the technology work on your video, allowing us to see and hear clearly, getting it posted on your blog, etc.? How well did you tell a story, keep us informed, catch our interest? What grade would you give yourself and why? What would you add or change if you had more time to work on it or could revise it?

Blog B: In her book The Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp asks readers to write their "creative biography" using the following questions as prompts. Even if you don't see yourself as someone who regularly is engaged in a creative endeavor, we are all creative in some ways, so be creative in how you define your own creativity. (Creating shouldn't be limited to traditional arts like painting or writing; you can be a creative football player or creative with your wardrobe or creative in the way you think.)Choose a series of these questions and begin your own creative biography. You will continue this exercise next week, so don't feel that you need to answer all of the questions, but try to find related ones that can help you weave together a coherent blog post.


Your Creative Autobiography

1. What is the first creative moment you remember?

2. Was anyone there to witness or appreciate it?

3. What is the best idea you’ve ever had?

4. What made it great in your mind?

5. What is the dumbest idea?

6. What made it stupid?

7. Can you connect the dots that led you to this idea?

8. What is your creative ambition?

9. What are the obstacles to this ambition?

10. What are the vital steps to achieving this ambition?

11. How do you begin your day?

12. What are your habits? What patterns do you repeat?

13. Describe your first successful creative act.

14. Describe your second successful creative act.

15. Compare them.

16. What are your attitudes toward: money, power, praise, rivals, work, play?

17. Which artists do you admire most?

18. Why are they your role models?

19. What do you and your role models have in common?

20. Does anyone in your life regularly inspire you?

21. Who is your muse?

22. Define muse.

23. When confronted with superior intelligence or talent, how do you respond?

24. When faced with stupidity, hostility, intransigence, laziness, or indifference in others, how do you respond?

25. When faced with impending success or the threat of failure, how do you respond?

26. When you work, do you love the process or the result?

27. At what moments do you feel your reach exceeds your grasp?

28. What is your ideal creative activity?

29. What is your greatest fear?

30. What is the likelihood of either of the answers to the previous two questions happening?

31. Which of your answers would you most like to change?

32. What is your idea of mastery?

33.What is your greatest dream?

Week 9: Critical Thinking, Midterms, Video Projects, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Advising

STOP! This is the assignment for week 9! If you haven't yet done the blogs for week 8 (Mastery), scroll down and read that assignment first so you don't get confused.

If you are ready for week 9, read on! This week's theme is critical thinking. We talked in class about how colleges seek to foster critical thinking in all students, and that critical thinking rather than "literal thinking" is what most classes will expect students to do, both in and out of class. Unfortunately, many students enter college without having had a lot of practice in critical thinking and not really understanding what it is or how to do it. Most students will say that critical thinking involves "thinking outside the box" but what does that mean really?

Critical Thinking is such an important skill that Southern requires all first-year students to enroll in Inquiry plus a Critical Thinking course. For Blog A this week, consider what critical thinking is and why it is important. Write about what you have been learning about critical thinking, how to think critically, and how you have been applying those skills throughout your other college courses.

This past week also marks the midterm point of the semester. All of your courses should have posted midterm grades (not grades on a midterm exam, but your course grade at the midterm point -- similar to a progress report). The grades can be found on Banner, and they will not count toward your GPA; they are only for your use in seeing where you are (gradewise) so far this semester. For Blog B, please look at your midterm grades, reflect on where you are, what successes you have had, what you need to work harder on, and identify some concrete goals to try and meet in the second half of the semester.

Reminder #1: Videos are also due this week. Please upload to Youtube and post to your blog by Thursday Oct 24th.

Reminder #2: Monday is the Sonia Sotomayor. Be there, and take notes for class activities and discussion on Thursday.

Reminder #3: No class this Tuesday due to advising.

Advising Reminders

1. We are not meeting as a class this Thurs or next Tues. Instead, every student has a 20-minute appointment with me in my office, EN D244. Please remember to print out your degree evaluation, fill out the info in your yellow folders, and bring all of that with you to our meeting. Plan to come five minutes early to your appointment in case the person ahead of you is done early and to give yourself time in case you get lost.

2. Also, don't forget to attend the talk by Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Monday night. I hope to see you there.

3. I will give you some feedback on your midterm video drafts if you have posted them on your blog. I am unable to open any videos sent to my email, however.

"Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person." -- Albert Einstein

Week 8 = Mastery

This week, we are continuing our discussion of mastery as well as delving into video-making and advising and registration. It will be a busy week, especially with the Justice Sotomayor lecture coming up on Monday Oct 21st as well.

For Blog A, I'd like you to search through a number of student blogs (linked to in the sidebar at the right) and find at least two blogs that you feel demonstrate A or A+ work (mastery of blogging) -- there are many posts that will fall into this category. Link to the blog post you feel exemplifies mastery and say specifically why you chose that post. What exactly does it show you that qualifies as A work. What criteria does it fulfill? You can include quotes in your own post as well in order to show your evidence.

For Blog B, please post your 6-word memoir created in response to Sotomayor's book (if you didn't do this at orientation this summer, do it now) and discuss why you think this book was chosen as the Common Read for your class. What can first-year college students learn from Sotomayor's experience and apply to college? If you need to go back and review some of the book, please do so. It will be a good preparation for her visit as well.

The other assignment due on your blogs this week is your first draft of the midterm video assignment. This will count as a homework assignment, due Monday by midnight. As I mentioned in class, please try to post some video even if it is very short. Posting on youtube (making public) and linking to on your blog is fine. You can also include some synopsis or outline of the rest of the video that is not yet completed. The more you have posted, the more I can give you feedback on for your final draft.

Tomorrow's Reading has Moved

Here is the new link: http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/06/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination

Same reading, different exact location; still available if you google it too.

"A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else." -- John Burroughs

This week's key word is failure, so Blog A will be an examination of failure. Are kids allowed to fail, encouraged to fail, protected from failure, pressured not to fail or some combination? Is there a safe space to fail (in schools, families, societies, etc.)? Discuss, explain, probe your opinions around this issue of failure. What role does failure play in people's lives and what impact does it (or the lack of it) have? Use at least one quote from any reading/audio/video that talks about this issue.

Blog B asks you to put some of your thoughts into practice. Choose some aspect of college that you feel as if you are failing at (even just a little bit). Work on this issue this week, and see if you can make any headway on it. Write about your failure and process of accepting it, or fighting it, and/or working on it and trying to grow from it. What can you learn from this experience?

SCSU Service Opportunities

If you missed the Day of Service, here are 2 other SCSU Service Opportunities:


1. We are interested in finding volunteers who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty! On October 19th between 9:30am and 1pm we will be gardening at Common Ground High School in order to help close down their garden for the season. Common Ground produces on average about 7,000 pounds of fresh produce which in turn provides free school lunch to all of their students. In addition to feeding their students with locally grown ingredients, Common Grounds shares a portion of what they grow with low income residents in the community. Join us for a day of involvement. Vans will leave from the Student Center’s ground floor by 9:50am sharp. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided. Sign up for this trip will be available at the FYE Department office. Please note that space is limited and only the first 20 students will be guaranteed a spot on the van.

2. We are also looking for volunteers who don't mind being a little spooky and love working with children! On October 29th, the New Haven Police Department is looking for SCSU students to volunteer with handing out candy to kids in the community. This event will be held at 6pm and take place in the Westville Substation (329 Valley Street, New Haven.) The substation is within walking distance of SCSU and this service project will provide children with the ability to go trick or treating in a safe, well lit area. If interested, please contact Sergeant Renee Forte for more information about how you can help out on this day. Her email is rforte@newhavenct.net

Justice Sonia Sotomayor visit

Important: I received the following email from the FYE Office --

Dear first-year students,

Unfortunately, we had some issues with our ticket reservation system for the Justice Sonia Sotomayor event on Oct 21. Those issues have now been resolved, but it is VERY IMPORTANT that any student who reserved a ticket before 1:00pm today (Wednesday) click on the link below and reserve a ticket again.

http://minerva.scsu.tv/tickets/

As a reminder, Tickets will be available to FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS ONLY for ONE WEEK (October 1st to October 6th) . Remaining seats will be offered to upperclassmen on October 7th. Due to limited space, please only request a ticket if you are certain you will be attending.

Tickets will be delivered to your INQ or Honors class prior to the event.

We greatly appreciate your patience, and we're looking forward to seeing you at the event!

Nicole Henderson & the FYE office staff

"Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success." -- Dale Carnegie

Week 6 Blogging Assignments

This week's readings and assignments center around the concept of persistence or grit, especially in the face of challenges and obstacles. Recent studies suggest that building this character trait is very important to any kind of success, but especially college success. Some researchers complain that education has "dumbed down" standards and expectations so much that students do not have enough practice in developing the skills of perseverance in school, but others claim that experiences outside of school can also help build those muscles.

My husband teaches high school music in New Haven, and this short article from the New Haven Independent highlights how one of his former students (now a freshman at Fairfield University) is facing some of the challenges of going to college. The article is a perfect example of the type of persistence needed in college, so please read it in addition to the other assignments for this week. I think the article is valuable because it showcases how some of the challenges you will face in college are not academic, but how they can also impact your academics.

Blog A: Think of a significant challenge that you have faced in your life and needed persistence to overcome (it can be one that is in the past or one that you are currently still working on). Discuss the process of working through this challenge, what strategies you employed, how it made you feel, and what you learned from it.

Blog B: Compare the concepts we are studying this week to the concepts we have studied previously. Write a post that attempts to put this week's reading "in conversation" with at least two other previous readings, using analysis, comparison, contrast, synthesis, and commentary/discussion from your perspective as well. Be sure not to simply summarize but instead draw some interesting conclusions and/or raise interesting inquiry questions based on your comparisons. Include at least one quote from this week's materials and at least one quote from the previous materials.

A note about "Agency"

Agency: I need to clarify because online dictionaries are lousy at this word and steering people in the wrong direction for their V posts this week.

Agency is related to action, power, movement, initiative. Here are a few quotes using it in the way that it relates to our class.

"We just ask the agency to make reasonable and honest decisions, and the public deserves no less."
--Fred Thompson

"Women often find great roles in revolution, simply because the rules fall apart and everyone has agency, anyone can act."
--Rebecca Solnit

"If, then, knowledge be power, how much more power to we gain through the agency of faith, and what elevation must it give to human character."
--Matthew Simpson

"I'll take any life in which I can make choices and have agency, and America is not a bad place for all that."
--Aleksandar Hemon

"As precious as life itself is our heritage of individual freedom, for man's free agency is a God-given gift."
--David O. McKay


For your Vocab Blog this week, think about the way that you had/have agency or are prompted to take agency, especially in the readings/activities from this week.

Registration Information for Education Majors

I received the following information from the School of Education. If you are planning to apply to an education program, please take note:

All SCSU teacher education programs require an application for admission to the program. As you prepare for course registration for the spring semester please consult with your prospective major department regarding course requirements and admission criteria.


**Please note that Early Childhood & Elementary Ed have info sessions coming up soon:

INFORMATION MEETINGS (RECOMMENDED FOR STUDENTS CONSIDERING THIS MAJOR)



Wednesday, October 2 1:05 – 1:55 Davis 211

Monday, October 7 1:05 – 1:55 Davis 211

Friday, October 11 1:05 – 1:55 Davis 211

For those majoring in World Languages (7-12):

INFORMATION MEETING (RECOMMENDED FOR STUDENTS CONSIDERING THIS MAJOR)

Thursday, October 31 2:00 PM Engleman A107

INQ Midterm Video Project

“Show Off Some SCSU School Spirit”

Your midterm video project assignment is to create a short video (5-6 minutes long) that showcases some positive aspect of Southern in a fun and lively way. The projects are vehicles to both express school spirit as well as inform viewers about what makes Southern a good school to attend.

Brainstorming

What makes Southern special? Why do students choose to attend school here? What is the draw? Once here, what does SCSU have to offer? What do students participate in and create in order to make college at SCSU a remarkable experience for themselves and others? What do first-year students think? What about upperclass students? What about the faculty and staff of SCSU?

Think about how to answer the above questions and how many different avenues/perspectives you might explore in answering it. Some preliminary ideas might include…

1. the academic side: majors, departments, professors, the FYE program, the peer mentor program…

2. the social side: the students themselves or makeup of the student body, dorm life, clubs and organizations, activities like the Day of Service, New Student Orientation…

3. the athletics: varsity sports, intramurals, the culture of student athletes…

4. the arts: the theater groups, choral groups, bands or other musical ensembles, the Lyman Center, visual arts…

5. the location: city of New Haven, an hour and a half from NYC, medium-sized campus community…

6. other Southern specialties…

Narrowing Down a Topic

Your video will only be 5-6 minutes long, so you will not be able to cover all of these topics. Instead, you will need to focus on one topic only so you can go in-depth and be informative. For example, you can make a whole video about the SCSU Day of Service or about Greek Life or about the Nursing Major or about the First Year Experience Program or about the Women's Soccer Team, but maybe not one video about all of the varsity sports or about all of the majors in the School of Education because that would be too much. If you choose a topic that is too broad, you will struggle with incorporating all of the requirements and organizing the information.

Exploring Your Topic

Once you choose a topic and get it approved by me, begin gathering as much research as you can, both online and in person. Start by visiting the SCSU website for information, then go to the appropriate places on campus, talk to people, pick up flyers and other promotional materials, take photos or video and/or find photos or video you can use.

As part of your research, you are required to interview at least 5 students (both first-year and upperclass students) and at least 2 faculty or staff members. You can take in-person video or audio interviews, hand-write them, conduct phone interviews, or even use email. In the final draft of your project, you need to use clips or quotes from at least 3 student interviews and at least 1 faculty or staff member interview.

Creating Your Video

This project requires you to create a short video, not a set of PowerPoint slides. It is not a presentation project; your video needs to stand alone and run on its own. It is possible to create such a digital video project using PowerPoint, but it is much easier and more professional if done in iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, or other video creation software. In past experience, iMovie has provided very good results and is available in any Mac Lab on campus. Windows Movie Maker has worked well for students too, but it can sometimes be harder to navigate, depending on your experience level.

If you have never used a program like iMovie or Windows Movie Maker before, budget plenty of time to allow yourself to learn how to use it, even before you start to make the video. Watch tutorials, play around with the program, make a sample video just to acquaint yourself with the process. Also allow enough time for you to make mistakes and fix them.

The project should have a clear beginning, middle, and end that moves through the following elements:

1) framing the question and providing some context for the project,
2) exploring answers to your question from multiple perspectives,
3) providing some closure from your perspective, some “so what?” or “what have we learned?” to leave the viewer with at the end of the video.

Just like in blogging, be creative! Use music, photos, skits, a storyline, humor, etc. to make the video engaging and entertaining. Don't just lecture us and don't make us read a textbook! Also, be sure that everything is slow enough to be watchable and readable. Make sure you include an original title and out your name on it as well.

Other Details

The final video should be 5-6 minutes long and needs to be uploaded to your blog; it can be first uploaded to Youtube, Vimeo, or some other video sharing site and linked to on your blog. Be sure to make it available for public viewing and test out that it works. Also, include a works cited listing all of the people you interviewed and their titles, if appropriate.

The final draft of the video is due posted to your blogs by midnight on Thursday, Oct 24.

A first draft is due posted on your blog by midnight on Monday, Oct 14.

Three possible topics are due to me (handed in to me in class) next Thursday, Oct 3. By Friday, Oct 4, I will select one of your three topics and give you approval to create your video around that topic. Find a unique angle so all of the videos are not exactly alike!

Bonus

Here is a video created by one of my INQ students last Fall. Hers is a problem/solution assignment, a different topic from your assignment -- but you can watch this to see an example of what your final video project might look like: #CommuterProbs

Goofy Scavenger Hunt Pictures

So I said I would give extra points to the group who emailed me the goofiest picture of themselves in the Fireplace Lounge. I only received four photos so far (I will post the last one if I get it). Do any of these deserve points for the goofiest photo? Vote in the comments if you want, and maybe I will give a "people's choice" award.

Advising Info

I will post advising reminders on the blog as it gets closer to registration. Don't worry if you don't have a major yet -- I am going to meet with all of you and help you with everything that you will need to register for Spring classes.

If you are a Nursing major, you must attend a mandatory advising session next week. Choose one of the following to attend:

Monday, Oct 7 from 1-2pm

or

Wednesday, Oct 9 from 1-2pm


Both are held in DA 101.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -- Aristotle

Congratulations! You have completed the first four weeks of the semester -- 1/4th of your semester. At this point, you should have an idea of what is working and what isn't working for you in terms of your study habits, scheduling, time management, and organization. It is time, then to reflect on that, learn from it, and take control of it. The transition to college is overwhelming for many students, but the best way to ease your own stress level is to take initiative: make choices that help you control your college experience rather than feeling controlled by it. Remember, procrastination increases overall stress levels in the long run even though it feels good in the short term whereas productivity can produce an adrenalin rush and feelings of elation, freedom, completion.

The two blogging assignments for this week as you to reflect on your first four weeks and your own learning experiences. This week's homework, the time study (due Thursday in class) will aid in that process. However, it is not enough to simply analyze the past four weeks; you need to also 1) plan for the coming twelve weeks, 2) learn from your mistakes, 3) set some goals to help you achieve maximum success, and 4) be conscious about how you will meet those goals. The college semester is short. It is important to try to get into a good routine for all of your classes early on and get a little ahead rather than being in a position where you have to catch up after you get your midterm grades. The readings from this week speak to the development of good academic habits and ways to become a solid student in the classroom. But don't be satisfied with "good student" -- always push yourself to set your own challenges: cover new ground, think a little differently, stretch your vision of who you can be.

Blog 5A: Reflecting on Academic Habits

Reflect on your academic progress for the first four weeks. What successes have you had so far? What has been difficult, or harder than you thought it would be? Have you had any failures? Any things you are disappointed about? The readings for this week discuss methods for improving your academic habits in order to become an even more successful college student. What methods have you used that have worked? What methods do you hope to try and implement for the rest of the semester? Many of you have large goals such as "get good grades" or "make the Dean's list" but this week I want to know the smaller goals you will set for yourself, the daily practices you will adapt to better yourself, in order to meet those larger goals. Use the readings as a guideline for what you plan to do from now on in order to advance your own self-improvement.

Blog 5B: Using your Time Wisely

This post should be all about the time study and what you found out about your habits and practices. Reflect on what the study taught you about how you spend your time. Discuss how many hours you spent on doing school work versus how many hours doing other things. Were you able to devote 30-40 hours to doing work outside of class? Also, what sucked up a lot more time than you expected? What did you procrastinate on and how (if you did)? How can you eliminate that procrastination while still allowing for downtime, socializing, etc.? How do you want to plan out your week in order to do a better job at time management and maximize your own productivity? What can you take away from the study and apply to the rest of the semester to come?

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of." -- Benjamin Franklin

On Thursday, I will ask you to begin a week's worth of Self-Study on how you use your time. I want you to make a chart of all the hours in the week (each day) and mark on the chart how many hours you spend doing all of the things that take up your time:

1. sleeping
2. getting ready to go to class
3. eating
4. going to class
5. doing homework
6. socializing
7. playing sports
8. on facebook, twitter, instagram, texting, etc.
9. participating in a club or hobby
10. whatever else fills your days

This will allow you to see how much time you spend per week on various activities and let you know if you need to plan your weeks differently or not. Also, it will allow us to see how many hours you spend on learning outside of class and if you are meeting your expectations for that aspect of college work. You can make a handwritten chart for yourself or make a spreadsheet using Excel. I found a model for a Time Study Sheet here: http://ldadvisory.com/time_management_tool. You can adapt this version or use it as a template. It was originally intended as a time management tool, but can also serve for our Self-Study. Note that it doesn't contain all of the "middle of the night" hours, assuming you are sleeping, so you can add those in or just add the extra hours of sleep at the bottom.

By next Thursday, I will expect you to have something to bring to class which accounts for all of the hours you spent in that one week.

"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice." (and afterward, you can eat marshmallows!)

Nature vs. Nurture, Motivation, Gratification (Pulling together last week, this week, and beyond)

Think of someone who is "smarter" or "more successful" than you.

(Of course, there are lots of ways to interpret those labels depending on what exactly you value in terms of intelligence or success -- think about your own definition of these terms as you consider this post.)

Okay, now think of someone who is "smarter" or "more successful" than you. Were they born that way? Given more advantages in their upbringing to become that way? Did they simply work harder to make themselves that way? What other factors come into play?

Carol Dweck would suggest that had, or developed, a specific mindset or outlook on life that helped them achieve success. Malcolm Gladwell (who we will read soon) would theorize that they put in more hours practicing in order to get better until they became masters in their field. This week, you will see that Joachim de Posada attributes their success to the ability to delay gratification. These are all interesting perspectives to consider, and overlap somewhat, although also differ in crucial ways -- and we can learn something from all of them.

I often ask my SCSU students to consider where they are and how they got there, especially in comparison to others who are on different paths. For example, what do you think is the difference between Yale students and SCSU students? Yale students are seen by many as more successful -- are they? Are they smarter? More hard working? Do socioeconomic factors separate these two groups and/or determine their different paths? Or are these two groups essentially the same but have made different choices? How about Gateway students vs. SCSU students? Or Quinnipiac students vs. SCSU students?

My questions here are not solely asking you to think about which is better...instead, I hope you will consider how you have gotten where you are and what factor have contributed to that as well as where you want to go from here and what factors can help you get there.


This Week's Blogging Assignments

Blog 4A:

This week's topic of discussion is delayed gratification. Think about what things in your life have been worth waiting for and/or what things you expect will be worth waiting for. Why? People often say that Americans hate to wait, that we have no patience? True? Do you think we, as a society, do enough to cultivate the skills necessary for delayed gratification or do we value instant gratification instead? How so? What should we be doing differently? Some people believe that technology plays a role in this -- what do you think? Include at least one quote from this week's assignments.

Blog 4B:

Choose 1 or 2 inquiry questions that you developed in response to the readings/videos assigned for this week. Use this blog post to explore potential answers. Be as in-depth as possible instead of simply scratching the surface and try to consider how you might answer your question(s) from different perspectives. Be sure to engage with this week's assignments using direct quotes to discuss, but remember that your ideas should drive this post!

"There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so" -- Shakespeare

This week's blogging exercises are listed below. Remember to begin tackling them early on in the week instead of procrastinating until Saturday! Procrastination is Enemy #1 of first-year college students! Finish your blogs by Thursday and then your Saturday is free for something else.










Blog A: Consider the above quote by Shakespeare. What does it mean? Discuss the quote and how it applies to 1) intrinsic motivation vs. extrinsic motivation and 2) growth mindset vs. fixed mindset. Use references to the readings assigned for this week.

Blog B: Think about an activity, subject, project, etc. that is easy yet exhilarating for you. You don't need to convince yourself to make time for it because you enjoy doing it and when immersed in it, you experience a state of flow (click here if you need a basic definition of flow or google it and follow links to wikipedia or TED talks or other resources). It may not be easy in that you have to work at it, but making time for it is easy because of the enjoyment you get from it. What is this activity and why is it so easy to motivate yourself to do it or to do it well? What can you learn from this experience and how can you apply it to your college education/future? If you can find a way to channel that energy into your academics, career, or future, how might you do that?

*One restriction: sleep doesn't really count because it is a passive activity, so choose something that is more active.

"The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community." --William James

What a great start to blogging and to our semester! Most everyone has figured out how to get their blog to me (check the sidebar to see if your blog is listed; if not, resend me the link). One benefit of communal blogging is the ability to look at other students' blogs as examples of what you might do in your own -- if you see something you want to learn to do, let me know and I can ask that student to share.

Sharing knowledge is one aspect of a successful learning community, and many of you noted that in your first in-class writings. In order to help the course progress, be a productive use of time, and not feel stagnant, many people noted the role of participation and communication. Many noted, also, how a classroom needs to facilitate a sense of openness and trust in order to encourage everyone to share their views without feeling judged. Here are a few guideline suggested by all of you for creating a positive classroom environment:

1. Agree that we can have productive debate and even disagreement about the concepts and ideas of the course, but resist targeting an individual or being dismissive of an individual's experience or perspective.

2. Agree to allow others to disagree with your ideas without feeling the need to shut down as an individual or even "win" the debate. Sometimes we can all learn simply through weighing various sides of an issue, without always agreeing.

3. Listen to others' perspectives, ideas, experiences -- try to learn from them as well as formulating your own response to them.

4. Keep a positive attitude, and show respect for all, even those you disagree with.

5. Keep discussion centered around relevant course topics instead of getting off topic and stalling the forward progress of the learning community -- wasting time in class is disrespectful to all who are here to learn.

In addition to these guidelines, I liked the ideas of what all of you intend to bring to the table in our learning community. Here is some of what you shared:

willingness to step out of comfort zone
patience
optimism
willingness to help others
honesty
empathy
enjoying working in groups
willingness to try new things
humor
collaborative spirit
willingness to ask questions

Week Two Blogging Assignments

(Complete in any order, but remember to label your entries 2A, 2B, 2I, 2V)

Blog A: What is most useful to you from this week's readings? What tips will you put into practice right away? What ideas were new to you or were most interesting to you and why? Use some direct quotes from this week's readings (and cite the articles they come from) and discuss what they mean to you and why they are important.

Blog B: College is very much about self-discovery, stretching yourself, trying new things, sometimes even reinventing yourself. This week, set one new goal for yourself that encourages you to try something different or work on something you want to change. For example, maybe you'd like to become a little less shy: set a goal for yourself to introduce yourself to someone new in each one of your classes this week. Or, maybe you have always thought about majoring in marine biology but aren't really sure about it: set a goal for yourself to find out a little about that major every day (go to the dept at scsu and talk to a faculty member there and get some info, talk to an junior or senior in that field, read up on that type of career, check out a marine biology book from the library and browse it, go to an aquarium or nature center or the beach and do some amateur marine biology on your own). Or, maybe you want to be more organized and on top of your homework: set a goal to put everything into your planner, set specific study times and stick with them, find a great place to study where you get a lot done, and finish everything at least the day before it's due.) In this Blog entry, write about your experience of trying something new. What did you decide to change and why? What goals did you set? How did it work out? What did you learn from this experience?

One last note: This week is New Student Convocation on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013, at 1 p.m. in Lyman Center. I encourage you to attend, preferably with friends but by yourself is ok too. It can count as one of your Involvement Blogs, and is an easy way

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.” ― Plutarch

A common question coming into Inquiry 101 is "What is inquiry?" and this is a question that I hope you continue to ask all semester. I'm not going to give you the one, right, simple answer to that question, but instead give you many opportunities to explore your own answers and push you to ask ever more sophisticated questions that springboard from your original exploration of that question. Inquiry is not just about the answers that I bring to the course; it won't be a very interesting or effective course unless everyone brings something to it, perhaps a unique way of looking at something or a different question for us to think about.

In many ways, Inquiry 101 is a mini version of the university in general. A college education can be transformative if you take advantage of the potentials it offers. But change doesn't just happen; you need to make change happen for you. Before coming to college, many students have been expected to be "learners": those who follow directions and take in the knowledge given to them by teachers. Now, however, you are expected to become "thinkers": those who frame the questions, pursue knowledge, create new ideas and new meanings. This class will be a semester-long immersion into the process of becoming a college-level thinker and knowledge-creator. That type of transformation isn't always easy and won't completely happen in one semester of course, but here we will start growing the seeds.

Our blogs will function as digital portfolios and will record our process of inquiry as it grows and changes in both individual and collective ways. The brain work required to focus our ideas into coherent blog posts will provide the constant practice needed to hone our skills of thinking, writing, reading, processing (The blogs are our mental push-ups, and by the end of 16 weeks, we will all have some new muscles to show off). I am hoping that the blogs will also be a place to be creative, take risks, start new ideas, weed through some ideas, get feedback, learn about failure, and learn about improvement. From a different angle, the blogs will also be a way to simply document this whole adventure.

Today, move-in day at SCSU, I am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead for all of us. What does inquiry mean? So many things: autonomy, creativity, activity, discipline, agency, curiosity, leadership, involvement, community ... and more. What new meanings will you bring to inquiry? What potential will you bring to our classroom experience in order to make it stimulating, provocative, transformative?

In closing, I am linking to a video created by the amazing SCSU Orientation Ambassadors since it represents the excitement of the coming weeks!