Spring 2024 Course Syllabus
Course: EDUC-1300 (Section: 8E, CRN: 10871)
Learning Framework
LSCPA Logo Image
Instructor Information
Instructor Dr. Ella Williams
Email williamsev@lamarpa.edu
Phone (409) 984-6102
Office Madison Monroe Education - Room: 147
Office Hours Madison Monroe Bldg. Room 213

Office Hours: Mondays at 9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
Additional Contact Information
Course Information
Description Study of the research and theory in the psychology of learning, cognition and motivation; factors that impact learning; and application of learning strategies. Theoretical models of strategic learning, cognition, and motivation serve as the conceptual basis for the introduction of college-level student academic strategies. Students use assessment instruments (e.g. learning inventories) to identify their strengths and weaknesses as strategic learners. Students are ultimately expected to integrate and apply the learning skills discussed across their own academic programs and become more effective and efficient learners. Students developing these skills should be able to continually draw from the theoretical models they have learned. (Cross-listed as PSYC 1300).
Required Textbooks Textbook Purchasing Statement: A student attending Lamar State College Port Arthur is not under any obligation to purchase a textbook from the college-affiliated bookstore. The same textbook may also be available from an independent retailer, including an online retailer.

Textbook Purchasing Statement: A student attending Lamar State College Port Arthur is not under any obligation to purchase a textbook from the college-affiliated bookstore. The same textbook may also be available from an independent retailer, including an online retailer.

Textbook Purchasing Statement: A student attending Lamar State College Port Arthur is not under any obligation to purchase a textbook from the college-affiliated bookstore. The same textbook may also be available from an independent retailer, including an online retailer.

Textbook Title : On Course: Strategies for Success in College, Career, and Life.
Ninth Edition, Cengage Publishing.
Authors: Skip Downing and Jonathan Brennan
For students taking EDUC 1300-the book is available through e-book format on Blackboard. If you prefer not to have an electronic version, you must opt-out of the first day book materials program.
Additional Materials/Resources None.
Corequisites/Prerequisites None
Learning Outcomes
PSLO 1: Critical Thinking Skills - Uses creative thinking, innovation, inquiry and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information.

PSLO 2: Communication Skills - Demonstrates effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral and/or visual communication.

PSLO 3: Empirical and Quantitative Skills - Applies the manipulation and/or analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions.

PSLO 5: Social Responsibility Skills - Expresses intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.

Core Objectives
  • Communication Skills:  Students will demonstrate effective written, oral, and visual communication. 
  • Critical Thinking Skills: Students will engage in creative and or innovative thinking and or inquiry analysis, evaluation, synthesis of information organizing concepts and constructing solutions. 
  • Empirical and Quantitative Skills: Students will demonstrate applications of scientific and mathematical concepts.
  • Social Responsibility: Students will demonstrate intercultural competency and civic knowledge by engaging effectively in logical, regional, national, and/or global communities. 
Lecture Topics Outline Getting on Course to Your Success - Chapter 1

Concept
By offering students an opportunity to understand the culture of higher education, understand the expectations of college and university educators, and (perhaps most important) understand their strengths and weaknesses, we empower them with information that is essential to their success in higher education. Additionally, when we help students begin their academic journeys in an engaging and purposeful way, we motivate them to give their best effort. Students are more likely to commit to working hard in a course when they understand . . .

Accepting Personal Responsibility - Chapter 2

Concept
There is great value in perceiving ourselves as the primary creators of the outcomes and experiences of our lives. At the very least, we are responsible for how we respond to any event, whether the event is of our creation or not. When academic outcomes and experiences are negative, many students blame others, often teachers. When academic outcomes and experiences are positive, many students credit others. Because the cause of their results is seen as existing outside of themselves, these students have no reason to evaluate and possibly change their own behaviors. Students like this typically wait for the world to change while they complain, blame, make excuses, and repeat ineffective behaviors. They may even blame themselves, all the while thinking there is nothing, they can do to change their fate. By offering students the opportunity to see how their own choices contribute to their past, present, and future outcomes, we empower them to approach life with the beliefs and behaviors of a Creator mindset, thus giving up the passivity and bitterness of a victim mindset.

Discovering Self-Motivation - Chapter 3

Concept
Choosing a meaningful purpose gives our lives a direction and creates inner motivation. Many students have not defined a personally meaningful purpose for being in college, let alone for being in a particular course. Unfocused, these students are more likely to drift from rather than to academic success. By offering them the opportunity to choose personally meaningful outcomes that they would like to achieve in college or in life, we assist students to create internal motivation and thus positively impact their persistence in the face of life's inevitable obstacles.

Mastering Self-Management - Chapter 4

Concept
Most major life goals, such as earning a college degree, are achieved by taking purposeful actions consistently over time. Raised in a culture that relishes instant gratification, many students have not learned the rewards of taking persistent, small steps toward a distant personal goal. Without an effective action plan, many students fail to initiate the steps they are perfectly capable of taking to achieve their goals. By regularly offering them an opportunity to identify, record, and take their next-action steps, and by acknowledging them for taking these actions (regardless of the outcome), we help students develop effective self-management and reap the benefits of taking persistent, purposeful actions.



Employing Interdependence - Chapter 5

Concept
The world provides valuable resources for those who choose interdependence over independence, dependence, or codependence. Many students, however, do not utilize the abundant human resources available to assist them to achieve their goals more easily and enjoyably. Worse, many students are entangled in a web of toxic relationships. Without positive assistance, many students find the achievement of personal, academic, and professional goals to be difficult, even impossible. By offering students the skills to build and nurture mutually supportive relationships, we empower them to benefit from resources that might otherwise go untapped, to experience the benefits of giving and receiving assistance, and to achieve goals that otherwise might be difficult or even impossible. Additionally, in a world that is becoming increasingly diverse, students’ academic, career, and life success is affected by their cultural intelligence.

Gaining Self-Awareness - Chapter 6

Concept
When discussing self-awareness, the thought that usually pops most quickly to mind is awareness of one's strengths and weaknesses, inclinations and disinclinations. However, there is another realm of self-awareness that may play an even bigger role than these characteristics in determining one's outcomes and experiences. Many people, despite their conscious intentions, make choices that sabotage their success. As a result of their self-defeating habit patterns (including behaviors, thoughts, emotions) and unconscious limiting beliefs, students with great potential can thwart the achievement of their most cherished goals and dreams. As a result, these students are their own greatest obstacle. By assisting students to become aware of their unconscious self-defeating habit patterns and limiting beliefs, we empower them to rewrite outdated life scripts and change their lives for the better.

  
Adopting Lifelong Learning - Chapter 7

Concept
Many students have lost the insatiable curiosity and effective learning strategies that served them so well as young children. For them, exciting forays into the mysteries of the unknown have been replaced by boredom, anxiety, and/or self-doubt. By (re)familiarizing struggling students with the skills of effective learners, we offer them the opportunity to replace their ineffective choices with more effective choices that can enable them to reach their potential. Additionally, by helping struggling students replace a fixed mindset (in which they believe there's little they can do to improve their academic success) with a growth mindset (in which they believe that hard work and persistence will improve their academic success), we empower them to make choices that improve their learning and academic success. In other words, in addition to teaching academic content, we need to help struggling students regain a learner's mindset and master the study skills they need to be a success in college . . . and a lifelong learner in the years beyond graduation.

Developing Emotional Intelligence - Chapter 8

Concept
People in the grip of overwhelming emotions are seldom effective. Consequently, one of the most essential components of success by some accounts more important than academic intelligence is emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage emotions-our own and those of others and stay on course even when navigating life's most challenging storms. Just as we are responsible for the quality of our outer lives, we are responsible for the quality of our inner lives as well. In fact, cognitive psychologists suggest that we can only perceive what is going on outside of us through the lens of what is going on inside of us. Belief systems and inner conversations create our interpretation of the events going on around us, and in this way, our thoughts actually create our “reality.” People who are emotionally intelligent are skilled at controlling the content of their consciousness. This skill allows them to make wise choices during emotional storms while others struggle merely to survive. When we assist students to gain greater emotional intelligence, we empower them not only to be more effective in the pursuit of their dreams but also to experience happiness, joy, and peace of mind on their journey.

Staying on Course to Your Success - Chapter 9

Concept
Staying on course to a rich, personally fulfilling life is one of a human being’s greatest challenges. Forces both outside of us and inside of us seemingly conspire to divert us from this achievement. By assisting students to plan and take their next steps, we not only remind them of the changes they have made to empower themselves and better their lives, but we also help them keep their sights on both a positive future and the wise choices that will guide them there. As we bid our students farewell for now, we give them the momentum to head off into great lives of their own creation.

Major Assignments Schedule Week 1: Module 1 - Student Introductions/Intro. Academic Assessment/Complete Discussion Board Intro.

Week 2: Module 2 - Read & Discuss Chapter 1 - Getting on Course.../Complete Discussion Board #1, Chapter 1 Quiz – Jan. 31

Week 3: Module 3 - Read & Discuss Chapter 2 - Accepting Personal.../Complete Discussion Board #2, Chapter 2 Quiz – Feb. 21

Week 4: Module 4 - Read & Discuss Chapter 3 - Discovering Self.../Complete Discussion Board #3, Chapter 3 Quiz – Mar. 4
Chapters 1 – 3 Test – Mar. 18, 2024

Week 5: Module 5 - Exam 1 - Due by 11:59 p.m. Mar. 2024 (Chapters 1-3), Feb. 26

Week 6: Module 6 - Read & Discuss Chapter 4 - Mastering Self.../Work on Academic Assessment, Ch. 4 Quiz – Mar. 8

Week 7: Module 7 - Read & Discuss Chapter 5 - Employing Interdependence, Chapter 5 Quiz – Mar. 25

Week 8: Module 8 - Read & Discuss Chapter 6 Gaining Self-Awareness, Chapter 6 Quiz – Apr. 3
Chapters 4 – 6 Test – April 5, 2024

Week 9: Module 9 - Exam 2 - Due by 11:59 p.m. April 10, (Chapters 4- 6)

Week 10: Module 10 - Read & Discuss Chapter 7 - Adopting Lifelong Learning, Chapter 7 Quiz – Apr. 17

Week 11: Module 11 - Read & Discus Chapter 8 - Developing Emotional Intelligence, Chapter 8 Quiz – Apr. 24

Week 12: Financial Literacy - Guest Speaker
 
Week 13: Module 12 – Read & Discuss Chapter 9 – Staying on Academic Assessment Presentations 1-8, Chapter 9 Quiz – May 1

Week 14: Academic Assessment Presentation 9 – 16
Chapters 7 – 9 Test – May 3, 2024

Week 15: Your “One Student’s Story”- May 6

Week 16: Module 13 - Final Exam - Due by 11:59 p.m. May 8, 2024
 
Final Exam Date May 8, 2024 - 11:59 PM
Grading Scale  90 - 100=A 80 - 89=B  70 - 79=C   60 - 69=D  Below 59 = F
Determination of
Final Grade
Exams-25%
Discussion-15%
Assignments-25%
Journals – 10%
Career Research Project-25%
Course Policies
Instructor Policies None
Attendance Policy None
Additional Information
Institutional Policies
MyLSCPA Be sure to check your campus email and Course Homepage using MyLSCPA campus web portal. You can also access your grades, transcripts, academic advisors, degree progress, and other services through MyLSCPA.
Academic Honesty Academic honesty is expected from all students, and dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated. Please consult the LSCPA policies (Academic Dishonesty section in the Student Handbook) for consequences of academic dishonesty.
ADA Considerations The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the the Office for Disability Services Coordinator, Room 231, in the Madison Monroe Building. The phone number is (409) 984-6241.
COVID 19 Information The Lamar State College Port Arthur (LSCPA) Student Code of Conduct COVID 19 Policy requires students who have been diagnosed with COVID 19 to report their condition directly to their local health department. Students should also contact their course faculty to report their quarantine status. In addition, this policy requires all students to wear face coverings when directly exposed to COVID 19 in compliance with the criteria included in the policy. For more information please refer to the COVID 19 link on the LSCPA website.
Facility Policies No food or tobacco products are allowed in the classroom. Only students enrolled in the course are allowed in the classroom, except by special instructor permission. Use of electronic devices is prohibited.
HB 2504 This syllabus is part of LSCPA's efforts to comply with Texas House Bill 2504.
Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and Neglect As per Texas law and LSCPA policy, all LSCPA employees, including faculty, are required to report allegations or disclosures of child abuse or neglect to the designated authorities, which may include a local or state law enforcement agency or the Texas Department of Family Protective Services. For more information about mandatory reporting requirements, see LSCPA's Policy and Procedure Manual.
Title IX and Sexual Misconduct LSCPA is committed to establishing and maintaining an environment that is free from all forms of sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, sexual violence, and other forms of sexual misconduct. All LSCPA employees, including faculty, have the responsibility to report disclosures of sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment, sexual assault (including rape and acquaintance rape), domestic violence, dating violence, relationship violence, or stalking, to LSCPA's Title IX Coordinator, whose role is to coordinate the college's response to sexual misconduct. For more information about Title IX protections, faculty reporting responsibilities, options for confidential reporting, and the resources available for support visit LSCPA's Title IX website.
Clery Act Crime Reporting For more information about the Clery Act and crime reporting, see the Annual Security & Fire Safety Report and the Campus Security website.

Grievance / Complaint / Concern If you have a grievance, complaint, or concern about this course that has not been resolved through discussion with the Instructor, please consult the Department Chair.
Department Information
General Education and Developmental Studies
Chair:Steven Zani
Email:zanisj@lamarpa.edu
Phone:(409) 984-6431