Learning Profile

1. Okay, I’m going to be honest. I did not read much out of the book and most likely no one else did either. With all the homework due for other classes and then the activities and assignments in this class, there wasn’t a whole lot of time to read. Even though we didn’t read straight out of the book, we did cover most of the topics and pulled a few things out of it. In some ways, that made it more personal and less “by the book”. When it came to the topic of Engage in the text, we introduced ourselves and got to know each other. We also evaluated where we were at in our lives. We discussed change and prioritizing time, all of which falls in the Persist and Prioritize categories. For the Read topic, we used the speed reader program. We did pull the MIS, LEAD, and PAP test out of the Learn topic and learned a little bit about our personalities some of us may not have already known. By brainstorming what we could do for community service and the world, we broadened our views. We looked at our academic plans and discussed academic honesty and integrity. There may not have been a lot of reading, but I would say there was a lot of discussion and thinking.

2. I feel that I am good at studying. I am pretty good at cramming information that I may need or that I may be called upon, such as quizzes, exams, speeches, and general knowledge. I read my information, organize it, and manipulate it in ways that I can understand and remember, and then I use it in anyway I can to help drill it into my brain. For other students, this could be helpful, especially for those who aren’t very good at studying or taking tests. I am also very good at listening and comprehending information that has been said. For other students I think this can be helpful as well. Focus is the key, keeping the mind from wandering and making it sure it stays on track. The statistics for people who don’t listen to a speech, lecture, or sermon is mind blowing high. There are high percentages of people that are thinking about other things, even when it appears that they are listening. I think they could get more out of the class if they were conscious of this, that way they could stop themselves from drifting and focus better. Reading about the material before hand also helps prepare your mind for the subject matter.

3.
I always thought I was a good reader, but I have found that it’s harder for me to read something that doesn’t catch my interest. If I can’t get into it, but I have to read it, I try and slow down and work at comprehending with out it going in one ear and out the other. I also find it hard to read amongst other people, because then there are worries of everyone getting finished before me, and then I’ll feel like I’m holding them back. When we did the speed reader program, for example, there was pressure from the pressing time, fellow readers, and the results of the comprehension scores. That’s when I found that I find it hard to read with others and being on the clock as well. With the speed reader program, however, I learned to read faster and comprehend more, getting the important information out of material. This is very helpful for when I need to read something I really can’t get into or doesn’t strike my interest. Another thing I need to work on is to stop worrying about holding other people back, or the time for that matter, and concentrate on the matter at hand. Situations like that would be a lot easier if I didn’t create that kind of stress.

4.
I’ve always struggled in expressing myself, or talking about myself to people, particularly those that I do not know very well. I like to evaluate people, figure out what they know, where they stand, and how they react towards people or situations. Once I have assessed a person to my comfort, then I can begin to open up and express myself. This class has been hard for me in the fact that it has been demanding upon information of my personal thoughts, feelings, and overall life. I have many thoughts, ideas, feelings, facts, and opinions, but to call upon them at any given moment and share them with someone I do not know has been difficult and, I must confess, scary. With all of the rubric questions and assignments, I have had to force myself to open up a little bit more than I normally would. My insides have been at this constant battle, because not only do I stay away from expressing myself, but I am an achiever as well. I didn’t want to answer the rubric questions because they were personal, yet at the same time I had to in order to achieve. This is not a battle to be won overnight, but I have at least broken the fortress and can work at expressing myself to others that call upon me.

5.
There isn’t a whole lot I can elaborate on this more than I already have. I didn’t find any of the course assignments really that relevant to me. I did think that some of them were interesting, such as the community service. When it came to that assignment, I found it interesting to delve into problems that are not only here in the United States but all over the world as well. I thought it was a good idea to have the group discussions, for each person to come up with a current issue and to figure out what can be done for each issue. When I picked the homeless as a topic, I got to research what was being done about it, think about what that meant to me, and come up with some solutions of my own. One of the topics I found the least meaningful and/or relevant to me was the personality tests. Mostly because it wasn’t anything new to me, I had already taken those tests before and I did not discover anything new about me that I didn’t know before. It was interesting, however, to have everyone write their names on the sheets and see who all fell in what categories.

6.
Again, to be completely honest, I didn’t find the course very helpful. I didn’t really feel in need of any of the material given, but I can see how it can be helpful to others. Yes, it did challenge my personality, but as for what the material was supposed to accomplish I feel were in areas I did not need any help in. Maybe I’m wrong and I just don’t see, and perhaps I might even look back later on in my life and see how the course has made a difference in me as a learner. As for now, though, I can’t elaborate a whole lot on how well it worked for me, but I do think it can work well for others. Even though I didn’t find the class helpful, I would like to comment and make a suggestion for future classes. There’s just too much! With only eight weeks, 1 hour and 2 days a week, there’s not enough time. I think there’s too much work and it should be cut down some. It’s not a major class, and even though I have only taken five other classes, this class has had more work than any other. Putting up who needs to post what on the board was a good idea and I think you should do more of that to keep students on track.

7.
I think I would have to tell students that the time is going to pass by quickly and there is going to be a lot to do. Once you get into the class the first two weeks, you feel like you just started, when really you are already a quarter of the way through. With all of the rubric questions, in class activities, 6 major topic assignments, and the 1600 word learning profile, there’s a lot of work involved that has been crammed into an eight-week session and I would highly advise to be prepared to take it on. When I first came into the class I thought, alright this will be no brainer; it’s just going to be a little class. I was wrong, for it ended up being the hardest class. So I would definitely have to say students who take this class in the future need to be prepared and always stay on top of things. Be prepared to put aside plenty of time for the assignments and be prepared to do a lot of thinking and activities in class. When the major topics are assigned, do them as soon as possible, because otherwise, they’ll build up fast.

8.
Like I stated earlier, nothing has really changed by taking this course. It hasn’t really made any significant difference in my life, but then again maybe I just don’t see that. I do have a new kind of method for reading difficult matter. If I ever find myself reading a piece of uninteresting material, I know a way to read it faster and still be able to comprehend the information, maybe even a little better if I was to read it slower. As for my own battles with expressing or talking about myself to other people, I’ve been working on it for a really long time, since I was about ten years old. This course has just once again challenged that part of my personality, but not so much as to come to a huge breakthrough. Maybe in some ways that has to do with the attitude I carried before the first day of class. Perhaps, if I had wanted to take the course in the first place I would have been more open to the class and looked more at developing and learning from it. Even though this class wasn’t for me, I do think it is a good class and that the instructor was a terrific person.

Butler Resources - Study Case #4 'Failing Classes'

One thing the student could do is see a counselor. There are three counselors at Butler that I know of and that is Linda Clarke, who is located in the West Dorms on the El Dorado campus, Margaret Hageman, who is in Andover, and Eddie Tejeda, who is at McConnell. They can be emailed at Linda Clarke: lclarke@butlercc.edu Margaret Hageman: mhageman@butlercc.edu Eddie Tejeda: etejeda@butlercc.edu. Another thing the student will need to do and I would highly recommend, is to confess everything to his parents. They will eventually find out, so better he tell them straight up than wait until they find out from someone or somewhere else. Of course for the grades, he can get a tutor and that information is on the butler’s website http://www.butlercc.edu/aac/peertut.cfm. There are books, articles, and pamphlets the student can find on the following sites http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3752/is_199809/ai_n8815840 http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-926/stress.htm and http://www.geneseo.edu/CMS/display.php?page=3774&dpt=health. College students can also post their situations on a forum at this site http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/143645-pass-fail-classes.html

Academic Honesty

I think academic honesty is not used enough. Students are continuously copying other peoples work without giving them credit, which would be considered plagiarism. A lot of the times, students don’t even know they are doing it. There are the ones who copy work straight out of a website and ones who copy bits and pieces from many websites. There are also students who take the sentences and just mix the words around a bit or replace some of the words, and a lot of time this is done without any credit given to the original resource. I think that in a research paper you should, let me put this in a simple way, research on the subject, and then with the information that you have read and your own, put it into your own words along with cite credits. Of course, working with other students on homework or sharing ideas should not be considered being academically dishonest. There are sometimes, however, students will procrastinate too long on their assignments and they think they wont be able to do it, but need it with only a little time to spare. How do they usually do this? They resort to plagiarism. Not all the time, but it happens a lot more than you would think. Students should report other students they find doing each others work or students who have plagiarized. I also think students need to be educated on what true academic honesty is, because they may be honestly plagiarizing. Meaning, they may think they are academically honest, but have been plagiarizing without knowing it.
http://www.umanitoba.ca/student/advocacy/academic_honesty_quiz.shtml
http://depts.washington.edu/grading/issue1/honesty.htm
http://www.sfu.ca/policies/teaching/t10-02.htm
http://www.mlaforum.org/volumeV/issue2/article1.html
http://www.virtualsalt.com/antiplag.htm

Academic Plan

In the beginning, I wanted to have a college degree before I settle down and have a family so that I would have something to fall back on later on in my life. I then decided that I should go into something I have always enjoyed and am good at understanding, which is psychology. Well, I am enjoying learning new things so more and more I have been thinking about continuing on past an associate’s degree. I am still indecisive as to whether I will continue on or not, but I think I will see when I get closer to the end of my associates degree. I have been doing so well in school and if I continue doing well I will probably be able to have scholarships that I can apply for to continue my education, which would be a big bonus. The more I learn, the more ideas I have and the more I think about different career choices. Some of the things that I thought I might enjoy is to be a marriage councilor, or be a therapist for a business, which is becoming more and more popular. I don’t really care for the abnormalities and drug abuse parts of psychology and will probably stay away from that. The work of being a social worker for child care and the such is also not very pleasing to me and would seem like a depressing job when it comes to seeing some of the things children go through and taking them from home to home. Who knows, I am still thinking and finding out more each day, but I will probably continue on with my education and learning.

http://www.psywww.com/careers/index.htm
http://www.apa.org/students/student1.html
http://psychology.about.com/od/careersinpsychology/Careers_in_Psychology.htm http://psyccareers.apa.org/
http://www.psychology.org/links/Career/

Community Service

Helping the homeless; it’s talked about everywhere. Everyone has given something to help the homeless. Usually this consists of giving money, canned goods, as well as coats and clothes. There’s just one problem I don’t think people actually think about. How is it going to help them in the long run? We keep giving, but the numbers keep rising. They are stuck in a vicious cycle, most likely due to lack of motivation. We are teaching them to rely on us to provide them with their needs. Instead, I think we should not only give them their physical needs, but also give them what they need to develop as an independent person. The majority of the homeless feel hopeless; it kind of goes hand in hand. We should encourage them to be confident and help them get a job. Not only that, but show them how to take care of themselves and teach them what it takes to be successful. One way we can set this up is by creating a free program, in which they will have to commit to. This program should have group classes, support, and individual attention for the homeless to acquire their achievements. Another way an individual can help the homeless is by being involved with a homeless person. First by evaluating where the person is at, what they have done in their life, and what they need to get out of the rut they may be in. Then helping the person with these needs and supporting him/her emotionally in their getting on their own two feet.
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/publications/facts/Whois.pdf
http://www.homeless.org.au/
http://www.mungos.org/facts.shtml
http://www.doe.state.in.us/alted/whyhomeless.html
The following link has a similar program that I found interesting:
http://www.doe.org/help/?utm_source=google_nat&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=homeless

Time Management

Most of my time is committed to work, school, and boyfriend. I work and go to school from eight to five, Monday through Friday. On Monday and Tuesday evenings after work, I go to belly dance class on the west side of Wichita. Then I go to my boyfriend’s house and he usually makes dinner for me or we cook together. After dinner, I devote my time to homework, the same as I do the other evenings. Of course I leave myself time to shower and prepare for the next day. On the weekends I usually spend my time with my boyfriend, running sound for different events, along with church on Sunday morning and evening. Every Thursday and Friday I tell myself that I have all weekend to catch up on homework, but once it gets there, I tend to procrastinate. I think procrastination is the number one problem students struggle with in their academic studies. Making a list of the things you need to do helps a lot in setting your daily goals and promoting motivation. I have found, however, that when the list has fewer items, the more likely you leave yourself open to disappointment. The reason for this, is because things don’t always go the way we want them to, therefore, when we don’t get the items scratched off, it feels as if you didn’t achieve anything. When you put even the smallest items and make your lists big, it feels like you have done a lot, thus motivating you to achieve more goals. I used to do this before and I think I need to start making my lists again. They help me prioritize my time and organize everything that I need to do.
http://www.d.umn.edu/kmc/student/loon/acad/strat/time_man_princ.html
http://www.yorku.ca/cdc/lsp/tmonline/time.htm
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/success/time.html
http://www.timethoughts.com/timemanagement/time-management-college-students.htm
http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/articles/life/studentAthletes1.asp

Coping with Change

One of the biggest changes that I have had to adjust to is being away from my mom. She has been there for me through a lot, and we used to spend hours together talking. Then, of course, I started going to college along with work, she got into house flipping, and now we hardly see each other at all! This has been extremely hard for me, not having one of my biggest supportive figures around as much anymore, especially since she has been there before I could walk. Not only that, but I am not one to easily accept change. I like to be comfortable and that includes routine and stability. I realize this however, and try to be conscious of change in my life, that way I can be open to it and learn, as well as grow from it. This change also relates to my transition to college, in the sense that I was homeschooled. My mom was my teacher, and when I started at Butler, I went from my mom as my teacher, to different instructors and ways of learning. This change of a completely different environment has caused brief emotional and physical stress in the form of nervousness. After a few classes, however, I have come to find that, in some ways, it’s not that difficult at all. I had more work being homeschooled; the only difference is there are deadlines to make. For all the other new students, it’s a big step going out into the world on their own and breaking away from home, but for me, it’s been an even bigger step.

http://life.familyeducation.com/personal-finance/family/47246.html?page=2&detoured=1