FOCUS on Community College Success,
5th Edition

Entrance Interview.
1. STARTING STRONG, BUILDING RESILIENCE.
You’re in College Now. Earning a Two-Year Degree. Academic Professionalism: What Instructors Will Expect from You. Academic Professionalism: How to Help Yourself Succeed. Toughing It Out: What College Takes. How Do I Want to Be Different When I’m Done?
2. BECOMING MINDFUL, SETTING GOALS.
Who Are You? And What Do You Want? What Does It Take to Succeed in College? The "Three Ms" of College Success. Give Yourself an Attitude Adjustment. What Drives You? Values, Dreams, and Goals. Spending Time “In the System.”
3. LEARNING STYLES AND STUDYING.
Go to the Head of the Class: Learning and the Brain. Take Charge and Create the Best Conditions for Learning. Multiple Intelligences: How Are You Smart? How Do You Perceive Information? What Role Does Your Personality Play? Metacognition: Take Charge of How You Study. Apply Your Learning Style to Your Study Style. Apply Your Learning Style to Your Study Style. Becoming an Intentional Learner: Make a Master Study Plan. Sprinting to the Finish Line: How to Study when the Heat Is On. A Final Word about Learning and Studying.
4. MANAGING YOUR TIME, ENERGY, AND MONEY.
Time Management Requires Focus. Energy, Our Most Precious Resource. I’ll Study in My Free Time (and When Is That?) Schedule Your Way to Success. To Do or Not to Do? There Is No Question. How Time Flies! The P Word. Read This Section Now! (or Maybe Tomorrow). Beyond Juggling: Realistically Manage Work, School, and Personal Life. Time Is Money!
5. THINKING CRITICALLY AND CREATIVELY.
Rethinking Thinking. What Is Critical Thinking? A Four-Part Model of Critical Thinking. Becoming a Better Critical Thinker. Creativity: “Thinking Outside the … Book.”
6. LEARNING ONLINE.
Taking Online Classes: E-Learning versus C-Learning. Technology Skills: Wireless, Windowed, Webbed, and Wikied. Research Skills and Your College Success. Information Literacy and Your College Success. Downloading Your Workload: The Easy Way Out?
7. ENGAGING, LISTENING, AND NOTE-TAKING IN CLASS.
Get Engaged in Class. Listening with Focus. Turn Listening Skills into Note-Taking Skills. Different Strokes for Different Folks: Note-Taking by the System and Subject. Ask and You Shall Receive. Using Lecture Notes.
8. READING, WRITING, AND PRESENTING.
Who Needs to Read? Build Your Reading Skills. Read Right! Writing as a Process.
9. MEMORY SKILLS AND TAKING TESTS.
Five Major Ways to Master Your Memory. Testing 1, 2, 3. Show What You Know. Before the Test: Prepare Carefully. During the Test: Focus and Work Hard. Taking Objective Tests. Taking Subjective Essay Tests. Don’t Cheat Yourself! After the Test: Continue to Learn.
10. COMMUNICATING IN GROUPS, VALUING DIVERSITY.
The Heart of College Success. What Is Emotional Intelligence? Can Emotional Intelligence Be Improved? Communicating in Groups: Soft Skills Are Hard! Communicating in Important Relationships. Managing Conflict: Life Is Not a Sitcom. Diversity Makes a Difference. Appreciate the American Mosaic. What’s Your CQ? Think Globally, Act Locally.
11. CHOOSING A COLLEGE MAJOR AND CAREER.
What’s the Connection? How to Choose a Major and a Career.
12. CREATING YOUR FUTURE.
What’s the Next Step? Launching a Career: Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan. Continuing Your Education. Put What You’ve Learned to Good Use: Ten Things Employers Hope You Will Learn in College. What Ifs. My, How You’ve Grown! Goodbye and Good Luck!
Exit Interview.

• Constance Staley

  Constance Staley is a professor of communication and acting dean of the Graduate School at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, where she directed the First-Year Seminar Program for nearly 25 years. An award-winning teacher, Dr. Staley designs and teaches online courses (Professional Presentations), hybrid courses (Communication, Training and Consulting) and face-to-face courses (Conflict Management). Her works include a faculty training package, TEACHING COLLEGE SUCCESS, as well as the groundbreaking resource manual 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LECTERN. She also is the author of FOCUS ON COLLEGE SUCCESS and the co-author of FOCUS ON COLLEGE AND CAREER SUCCESS with Steve Staley. A well-known name in FYE circles, Dr. Staley is a leader in faculty development nationwide. During a three-year leave from the University of Colorado, she joined an East Coast Fortune 500 company to design and deliver its management and supervisory training. In addition, she represented the university as a Fulbright Scholar, teaching in the former Soviet Union. She earned a B.S. in education, an M.A. in linguistics and a Ph.D. in communication.

• NEW - WIIFM? These short and sassy “What’s in it for me?” articles added to each chapter give students every reason to read up on topics that can improve their success with college and job applications.

• NEW - QUICK STUDY INFOGRAPHICS speed up reading and make chapter content stick! Examples include “Why Our Brains Crave Infographics,” “Do Paraphrase vs. Don’t Plagiarize,” “Nine Ways to Hack Your Speaking Anxiety,” “Designing Your Life,” and others.

• NEW - FOCUS FEATURES including “How to Focus When It’s Next to Impossible” and “How to Focus in College by Really Trying,” offer tips for bringing laser precision to today’s shortened attention spans.

• NEW - “LIFE HACKS” technology-based pointers are placed in the margins throughout the readings to save students time and thrust productivity into high gear.

• MAKE COURSE PREP A BREEZE with an instructor's manual, PowerPoint slides, and an annotated instructor’s edition that features author notes grouped by Application Ideas, Teachable Moments, and Activity Selections tied to students’ lives and jobs.

• CREATED JUST FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS, this book honors the lifestyles and challenges they experience every day, such as balancing family, school, and work, as well as living at home or on their own instead of in a campus dorm.

• EXTRA ATTENTION TO STUDY SKILLS, READING, WRITING, AND TEST-TAKING, along with a personalized learning system that emphasizes the four Cs of coursework, give students a clear way to leap to the head of any community college course.

• STUDENT ENTRANCE AND EXIT INTERVIEWS make it easy for instructors and college administrators to measure and celebrate student victories, while solid research drives home the fact that a college success course can accelerate progress in the classroom and beyond.

• FOCUS CHALLENGE CASES IN EACH CHAPTER showcase real students experiencing—and conquering—those big issues that can derail even the best and the brightest.

• EYE-CATCHING DESIGN STREAMLINES CHAPTER CONTENT while layering on the artwork and interactive features that spark interest in a first-year seminar textbook.

Cengage provides a range of supplements that are updated in coordination with the main title selection. For more information about these supplements, contact your Learning Consultant.

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