Learning Styles Summary - Transfer Planning Overview

This is one of those weeks where I think I learned as much from your discussion board contributions and learning style reflection papers as you learn from me.  You did an outstanding job of analyzing your learning styles.  It was very enlightening to read how those preferences are sometimes an advantage and sometimes create academic challenges for you based either on your professor's teaching style or whether it is an online or onsite course.  You gave each other so many great study tips that I thought I would pull some of them together in this audio.  Here are your words.

• Read material before lectures.  Even boring lectures are more interesting if you know something about the topic before coming to class.
• Use flexible learning styles based on course requirements and what works best for you.
• Experiment with new study strategies.
• Psych yourself up before sitting down to study especially if the subject isn't interesting to you.
• When the textbook or the teacher presents course material in a way that isn't understandable to you or good for your learning style, go to the internet to find supplemental material.
• Don't be stubborn about asking questions in class.  Your teachers are there to help you understand the material.
• Relate coursework to real life experiences.
• Use all five senses to learn.  You have a better chance of retaining the information no matter which is your preferred learning style.
• Use the learning centers on campus
• Simplify directions to assignments.  Watch out for making things more complicated than they need to be.
• Don't get overwhelmed.  Take one thing at a time.
• Ask other student's to "fill you in" both when you are confused and when you have missed something.
• Create your own handouts when teachers don't provide them.  Make your own study quizzes.

I would also encourage you to see your professor as your first line of help.  Community college professors frequently choose this educational setting because they are experts in their subjects and because they like teaching and helping students.  In high school they may have to teach more than one subject and at four year colleges, they have to do research and frequently have large lecture halls.  Montgomery College, being a learning centered college, sees great value in small classes.  This makes it easier for you to approach your instructors when you are confused about something.  Professors must post and keep office hours.  These are generally posted on the doors to their offices.  You can find the location of all full time teachers by going to the MC college home page at http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/  Select the Phone/Directory link on the right side of the page and do a search for their contact information.  If you do not find your professor on that list, check you syllabus to find out how to make an appointment with your professor or stay after class to talk if that works best for her or his schedule.  Take a look back at the Communications module for some hints on how to develop a relationship with your professor.

Student Success is a joint effort, but in college it is up to you to take the initiative.  Professors will generally not reach out to you to find out why you are not doing well in class.  This is very different from high school.

Ok - now let's move onto the transfer process.  Some of you may be thinking - oh my, I just got to college, now she's telling me I have to worry how to transfer to a four year college.  Can't I just relax and enjoy MC for a while.  Well, of course you can.  But I'm a planner and I like to teach students how to plan.  Not all of you may intend to transfer to a 4 year school to earn a Bachelor's degree, but I want you to learn the process so you will be aware of what is required for a smooth transfer.

First let me remind you of some information you learned in the Educational Planning module. Educational planning is many things.  One thing is, deciding how many credits you want to earn at MC.  Some students just stay here for a semester, others stay here for 30 transferable credits and earn the General Studies Certificate, and others earn the 60 credits required for a transfer Associates degree.  Still others earn the 60 credits needed for an Associates in Applied Studies Degree (AAS) and begin full time employment after MC.

Another part of Educational Planning is deciding which courses are appropriate for next semester and next year.  As you learned in Module #4, those decisions are based on your college major, your transfer school, and when you want to transfer.  The smoothest transfer is done by the student who starts their first semester at MC knowing their college major, their transfer school and when the want to transfer.  We can then develop an Educational Plan that contains the courses you will take for each semester you will be at MC.  But guess what, very few students are that "decided" when they first start college.  From my perspective, the best thing to do is make a preliminary decision in the areas of college major and transfer school and continue to explore the possibilities.  For Educational Planning, keep course selection general at first and experiment with a course or two that will give you additional information about certain disciplines.  Read course descriptions.  Talk to professors and to other students.  Find out their majors and how they know they want to major in those subjects.

For transfer planning, if you are planning to stay in Maryland, use Artsys to plan your transfer.  University of Maryland, College Park has a great selection of majors.  It's a good place to start.  in order to make a solid choice of a transfer school, visit 4 year schools inside and outside of the state.  You can use UMCP as a place holder until you find a school that is a really good match for you.

Now how about that college major decision?  You might be wondering, how does one figure that out?  We will work on this during the last module of this course.  If the information you learn there doesn't provide you with a good preliminary career and college major choice, I would recommend taking DS 103 Career Development.  I am creating an online version that I will be teaching the last half of fall semester.  It would be great to see you in that course.

So this week is learning all about the transfer process.  The transfer tutorial and quiz were developed by Anne Schleicher, a transfer coordinator at Germantown.  All counselors can get you started with the transfer process, but I would recommend that at some point you contact the transfer coordinator at one of the campuses for expert advice. 

Have a great week.  Anita