Cyber Millenioum

Sept. 29, 2008

Tim Sheard

Welcome

• The first two weeks here at PSU will set the tone for the rest of the year, and perhaps even your whole college career. For many, college is a life transforming experience. Make the most of these two crucial weeks.– Have an open mind.– Get to know people different from yourself.– Push yourself to try new things.– Be filled with goodwill, interpret other’s actions in the

same light.– Have a positive attitude, look for opportunities not

barriers.

Class Rules

I expect everyone to participate in class discussions. To facilitate this we will follow these rules.

1. One person speaks at a time– but everyone is expected to speak

2. Honor all opinions3. Respond to ideas, not people4. Silence is Not consent5. No put-downs6. Be present. actively listen and respond

– no texting, email, side conversations etc.

7. No rat holes – As the moderator, I reserve the right to cut off discussion on topics that

deteriorate

What is a Goal?

• In class we will often try and answer a question or solve a problem as a group.

• One way to do this is through a process called Brainstorming

Rules for brainstorming

1.Postpone and withhold your judgment of ideas

2.Encourage wild and exaggerated ideas

3.Quantity counts at this stage, not quality

4.Build on the ideas put forward by others

5.Every person and every idea has equal worth

• http://www.brainstorming.co.uk/tutorials/brainstormingrules.html

Process for Brain Storming

• One person is the facilitator. She writes ideas on the whiteboard.

• Participants call out new ideas• The facilitator writes down the ideas, she may

not censor or alter ideas, only record them.• When the flow of new ideas ends, the group as a

whole organizes the ideas.– This is the time for discussion– Several ideas my be the same, only in different words– Ideas may be grouped

What makes a Goal Good?

• Brainstorm

The 4 Freshman Inquiry Goals

Students will acquire skills in the following areas

• Inquiry and Critical Thinking• Communication• Ethics and Social Responsibility• The Diversity of Human Experience

• for ways to measure if these goals have been achieved see: http://www.pdx.edu/unst/goals.html

Facts of Life

• Almost 50% of freshman at PSU never graduate.

• About 33% of freshman don’t return the next fall.

• About 25% of “Freshman Inquiry” students fail to advance into the second quarter.

Tim Sheard’s Goals for FRINQ

• Every student in this class is still enrolled in Freshman Inquiry, and in class the first day of winter quarter (Jan. 7, 2008).

• Students develop skills in numeracy (the ability to manipulate and think about numbers)

• Are these good goals?

Strategies

• A strategy is an action, that if performed, makes it more likely the goal will be reached.

• Good strategies are– Specific – Feasible– Repetitive, habit forming

Strategy for Goal 1

• Many students get into trouble because they don’t know the facts, and little problems snowball into insurmountable ones.

• Empower students to know the facts.• Empower students to know when they’re in trouble.

– but track their progress, so you can point it out when they don’t see it for themselves.

• Empower students to ask for help when it is needed.• Be the first line of defense when a student needs help.• Encourage students in this class to be resources for

each other.• Follow through

Strategy for all FRINQ goals

• Practice skills until they are second nature.• Demand excellence.

– I won’t put up with shoddy work. If you turn in an assignment I don’t think is up to college level work, I will return it and insist you redo it.

• Demand Accountability.– You are responsible for your success. I don’t want excuses, but

actions that provide remedies.

• Encourage teamwork– Students often learn better in teams

• Provide feedback so students know where they stand.• Accept, and respond to, constructive criticism.

Learn the facts

Be sure you know how the following work.• Registration• Grading options• Gen Ed requirements• Choosing a major

– Course planning to get in the major of your choice

• Advising• Financial aid

Over the next few weeks we will discuss each of these in turn.

Great Resource: Students First Success System• http://www.sfss.pdx.edu/

Registration

• You have to do more than just attend class to be in class• Many students forget to register, or register too late.

– The last day to add or make changes freely is Oct. 5, 2008– The last day to add class with instructor approval is Oct 10, 2008

• Don’t forget to drop classes if you decide to drop them.– The last day to drop (not recorded on transcript) is Oct 12, 2007– Before Oct. 5, 100% refund– Before Oct 12, 70% refund– Before Oct 19, 40% refund– Before Oct 26, 20% refund

• The last day to withdraw from a class (recorded as W) freely is Oct 16, after this one can withdraw with instructor approval.

Collected Advice for Freshman• Goto class.

– More than any other factor this is an indicator for success.• Its OK to take more than 4 years to graduate

– sometimes it’s a good idea!• Take classes at a rate at which you can do well in all of them.

– 12 credits of A’s and Bs, is much better than 15 credits of C’s and an F• Spend 2-3 hours on your own, studying or doing assignments, for

every hour spent in class.– Exercise. How many hours a week are you expected to put in outside of

class? The minimum? The maximum? Total hours including class time?• You are taking too many classes when you can’t get the homework

done for all of them. – If you wait until you’re flunking one of them IT IS TOO LATE.– Do something as soon as you can’t keep up.

• Ask for help! Its my job, I won’t mind.

Advice about life.

• Be positive.• Do something other than coursework

– extra curricular activity– work– volunteer

• Get enough sleep (7.0 – 8.5 hours per night)– http://homeworktips.about.com/od/timemanagement/a/sleeptime.htm

• Avoid alcohol and drugs• Eat correctly

Where to get help

• Undergraduate Advising and Support Center (UASC)– Academic support and advice

• Academic Support Program• Community College Relations• Disability Resource Center• Student-Athlete Advising• Veterans Services• Student Health & Counseling (SHAC)

Tutoring Resources

• Skills enhancement and tutoring center– www.setc.pdx.edu

• The Writing Center– http://www.writingcenter.pdx.edu/

• Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science– http://www.pdx.edu/cecs/student_groups.html– See “Association for Computing Machinery” section

• Math– www.mth.pdx.edu/student_resources/

• Foreign Languages– FLL department 393 Neuberger Hall– http://www.fll.pdx.edu/html/resources/

Skills self assessment

• Computer skills– I can read and send email with attachments– I can create written documents on the computer (plain

text, word doc, and pdf)– I can use the spell-checker– I can find class assignments using the Daily Record

• Numeracy Skills– I can add, subtract, multiply and divide a large group of

numbers– I can find the average– I can compute percents– I can solve simple equations

An exercise in critical thinking

• We will play a game.

• The winner of the game wins a free lunch.

• The rules of the game. – Everyone writes down on a piece of paper: 1)

their name, and 2) a number between 0 and 100 (inclusive).

– The winner of the game is the person who writes down the number closest to one-half the average of all the numbers.

The importance of Examples

• Someone play a practice game of size 3

Play the game

• The object of the game is to win the Pizza.

• Play the game to win!

• Think before you write down your name and number.

Analyze the game

• Can more than one person win?

• Are there numbers that can never win?

Determine the winner

• How do we determine the winner?

• What if we make a mistake?

• How can we avoid mistakes?– Brainstorm

Tips for the day

• Get your Odin account in the basement of Smith Hall.

• Buy lunch from the Indian Cart at 4th and Hall (Across from the Engineering Building)

• Each day I will solicit tips from class members on how to navigate PSU, or how to find and experience Interesting things in Portland. This is a way the class can share its knowledge to each other.

Sleep

• Get enough sleep– 7.0-8.5 hours per day recommended– Professor Jim Horne and Dr. Yvonne Harrison

have found that lack of sleep impairs speech, memory and innovative thinking, and flexible decision making

Prof. Jim Horne Department of Human Sciences, Loughborough University

Eat right• Get enough to eat

– Eat breakfast– Don’t be too busy eat

• Don’t over eat – Avoid the freshman 15– all-you-can-eat dining facilities – the number of evening snacks– the number of meals consumed on weekends, – the consumption of "junk" foods

• http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/eat/a/fresh15.htm

Avoid destructive behaviors

• Drinking

• Drugs

• Gambling

• Unrestricted credit card use