INQ Final Thoughts

Congratulations! If you're reading this, you have made it to the end of this thing we call INQ!

Each INQ class presents unique challenges: how can we aid the transition from high school? how can we prepare students for the academic challenges that await them beyond the first semester? how can we not just teach them the tools of success but let them experience success? This last one is so important to me. For example, I can tell students how to manage time or ask them to read articles on it or have them fill out worksheets on it, but until they truly experience juggling lots of tasks for a specific deadline, then they don't know how they personally react or how best to manage it themselves. And all students are different and have to figure out what works on their own. INQ is all about whatever the students bring to the class, the ways they seek to meet the challenges, and the personal results that each individual student takes away from the experience as a whole.

Here, at the end of the semester, I am proud of my students' many accomplishments, but I know that I can't take credit for them. They are not my accomplishments; like everything else in INQ, they belong to the students.

But I do want to acknowledge those accomplishments:

I have seen students gain confidence in blogging, writing entries that were fluid, fun to read, and creative, not just fulfilling assignments. I have seen students come up with creative titles, themes that carry through the semester of blogging, and openers and closers that make the writing professional.

I have also seen students master lots of technology, from embedding videos in blogs to using iMovie and Windows Movie Maker to converting files into various formats. In the videos, I have also seen creativity, humor, professionality, engaging openers and thoughtful closers.

I have seen students become engaged in classroom discussion, even some who didn't want to talk or felt shy in the beginning of the semester. I saw students go from not understanding what "college level thinking" was to becoming the questioners, the ones who pushed the envelope in class discussion.

I have seen students distinguish themselves, capitalize on their strengths and present their work and ideas with pride and confidence. But this skill didn't come at the expense of others, since I saw much support and camaraderie among students instead of competition. I saw students give feedback because they knew what they were talking about but gave it in constructive, helpful ways.

The first semester is not an easy semester, and INQ is not an easy class (in some ways), but at the end of it all, I see many students showing me that they're prepared for the coming semesters, that they know what to expect and how to achieve their goals.

Over the winter break, take time to relax, reflect, and rejuvenate. Also take stock of all your growth and accomplishments, and make a plan to push yourself even further next semester. This semester is just the start of something much bigger.

Final Self-Assessment Assignment

Final Self-Assessment Assignment

“We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience” -- John Dewey

Write a 600-word blog post that functions as a final self-assessment for your first semester of college. Use the following questions as a starting point for organizing your ideas. Your answers should reflect an honest evaluation of yourself and should not be an evaluation of SCSU, me, the class, or the FYE program.

1. What have you learned about yourself as a college student so far? Where are
you in your learning process?

2. What have been your biggest challenges so far?

3. How did you react to and/or meet or mishandle those challenges?

4. What have been your biggest achievements so far?

5. What habits or processes made certain that you were able to earn success
in those areas? How have you used the resources available to you in order
to ensure your own success? How can you do more of this in the upcoming
semester?

6. How successful have you been with time management and workload in your
courses? What have you put the majority of your time and energy into this
semester? What is the result of that?

7. What have your grades been like this semester? More importantly perhaps,
what are you learning? Are there classes where you are learning a lot or only
a little? Why? What can you do to maximize your learning?

8. How are you doing in meeting the personal goals you set for yourself at the
beginning of the semester? Are you where you had hoped you would be by
this point in your college career?

9. Where do you want to go from here and what do you think you need to do in
order to get there? Is there anything you need to change? Is there anything
you can improve upon in the upcoming semesters?

10. What specific goals would you like to set for yourself next semester and how
do you plan to meet those goals?

Be sure that your post is clear, detailed, shows in-depth thinking, makes specific points, and supports those points with specific evidence. In addition to rich content,your post should have a clear beginning, middle, and end, and unifying transitions.

This assignment is due (posted on your blog) on Saturday, December 17 by midnight.

End of the semester blogging assignments

Blogging is coming to an end very soon. Here is what is left:

Next week:

1) Write a post that describes what your ideal life after college would be like (this idea was inspired by Creativity Guru Keri Smith who has a similar prompt here.)

2) Reflect on your experience in a learning community (the same group of students placed in two classes) and tell us what you'll miss most about seeing this group of people every T/R in two classes next semester.

3) Your very last Campus Safari!!

Finals week:

1) Post your video.

2) Post your final self-assessment (assignment posted on the blog in a separate post).

Both of these are due by Saturday Dec 17 at midnight.

This week's blog posts

For this week, you need to submit only one blog post again, by Wednesday (plus a campus safari post by Saturday as usual). Your post this week should be about your video and you can do a short update on where you are with it. But the most important part of the post should be addressing the following issue:

How are you going to make your final video interesting, creative, distinctive, unique? How are you going to make it a step up from your midterm video and how are you going to make it stand out from others in the class? Be specific? How exactly are you going to add originality to your work?

You may not be sure where to start in adding a creative spin to your project, so here is a direction you might explore.

In terms of creativity, artist and writer Keri Smith always inspires me. She has a great post on her blog that everyone should read; it's called "Secrets of the Self Employed (or How to be an Amazing [insert profession here])" and it lays out some basic guidelines that are applicable to many professions and pursuits. Some of my favorites from this post are:

-- You are always working for yourself, even when you work for others.

-- There are no actual rules for how to become a successful [insert profession here]. Make your own path.

-- What you think becomes your reality.

-- Take some small risks on a regular basis.

-- Always come back to work that excites you. Even if you get off track for a while.

-- You can reinvent yourself at any time.

Sometimes in the midst of stress (like the end of the semester crunch time), it's hard to see these truths, but I believe they are truths that can help us focus on the bigger picture. Read the rest of her post -- there's a lot of food for thought there.

Proposal Comments

Only about half of you completed a project proposal which is your blog grade for this week. I commented on every proposal posted by this morning since I am hoping that you all will be getting started on your video projects soon (1st draft due Tuesday).

A few general comments:

1. Try to make your final project different than your midterm project(and a step up in terms of quality). You don't have to interview anyone for the final, but you may find it to be a useful tool to use again. If so, also include other elements so it doesn't look or feel too similar to the midterm projects.

2. Be as specific as you can; avoid just talking in general about your topic. Always go more in-depth into your topic rather than just adding more information or more video filler.

3. Have fun with it. Add something creative to spice it up.

4. Have as much of a complete 1st draft as possible on Tuesday so you will know what you need to get feedback on and what problems you need help with.

Sample Proposal

Check out Hanna's blog for an example of what your project proposal might look like.

And here is a video done by an INQ student in another class. Her assignment is not exactly the same as ours, but it is similar in that it addresses a specific problem on campus.

Final Video Project Assignment

INQ Final Video Project:
Identify a Problem/Question and Propose a Solution/Response


Project Description

Reflect on your first semester at college. What problems have you faced and what have you learned? Brainstorm ideas that concern yourself as well as SCSU as well as college students in general (readings, class discussions, blog posts, and presentations might help with this phase.)

Out of your brainstorming, choose one topic or a set of related topics. make sure your video will not cover so much ground that it won’t go enough in-depth but also make sure your topic is broad enough to keep your viewers’ interest in the video. It can be possible to fit just about any topic into a problem/solution format, but if you are lost for a topic, feel free to choose one that we came up with in class. Make sure you come up with an original title to open your video.

The video itself should present the problem/topic/set of questions. There are many ways to sketch out your ideas in this part, including using narration, research, data, quotes, surveys, interviews, and filmed skits. Explore the nuances of the problem, not just the surface. What causes it? Why is it important? Who does it affect or matter to? What consequences stem from it? What are people trying to do about it? Why aren’t more people doing more about it? (These are just a few questions you might explore in this part of the assignment.

The video should also present some possible responses to the problem and evaluate them, pointing viewers to what you see as the best solution and why. How can this solution be implemented? What are the steps viewers need to take? What will be the effect of such an implementation? How would the lives of college students change for the better? However, also consider some obstacles that may need to be overcome in addressing the problem in this way.

Finally, the video should leave viewers with some type of closure. This might be another place to use creativity in your presentation style (perhaps by including a skit or interview or survey quotes or image/text montage). Also remember to have credits roll at the end to acknowledge any research or people that might have contributed to your project. Also, make sure you list yourself as the author/creator of the video either on your title page or as a closing signature.


Project Criteria

Your video should be 8-10 minutes long, include photo, sound, text, and video, and should be submitted in a format that can be uploaded to the internet (youtube, vimeo, blogger) and linked to or embedded on your blog.

Be sure to narrow down your focus so that the video has a clear beginning, middle, and end with a significant portion of the video devoted to exploring the problem, a significant portion devoted to possible solutions, and a significant portion devoted to the conclusion. The video should inform as well as engage. It should demonstrate creativity as well as college-level thinking. It should make some interesting concluding points, and it should provide evidence to back up those points. Finally, try to make the project unique, distinctive, and not just like everyone else's in class, both in topic/content as well as form/style.


Project Deadlines

⌾ Project Proposal due Wednesday, November 23, posted on your blog (this will count for your blog grade for the week)

⌾ Video 1st draft due Tuesday, November 29

⌾ Video 2nd drafts due December 1-December 8 (sign-up in class for a screening date)

⌾ Final Video due by the Saturday of Final Exam Week, midnight



Additional Project Resources

This assignment mirrors a problem/solution essay, so you may find it helpful to read more about that genre in thinking about how to structure your video: http://www.enotes.com/topics/how-write-problem-solution-essay

Video Projects incorporate many elements of digital storytelling, so you may find the links gathered at this page helpful: http://couros.wikispaces.com/digitalstorytelling

Readings for Thursday

11:00 section:

Kevin, Kenny, and Merril's group sent the following message:

These are the articles that our group came up with about Dorm Life vs. Commuting.

1:http://reflector.uindy.edu/2007/11/07/dorm-life-vs-commuter-life-weighing-the-options/

2: http://www.ecampustours.com/campuslife/livingonandoffcampus/livingoncampusvsoffcampus.htm


-We will also have a debate on whether Dorm Life or Commuting is better. So pick sides.

12:25 section:

For Ashley, Hanna, Kelsey, and Erin's group, read the following:

http://www.collegeview.com/articles/article/the-top-8-ways-to-build-a-social-life-in-college

http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/archives/000241.htm

Also, please watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yGxC-gzoms

Registration Snags

Registration is in process for most of you, and there have been a few snags along the way. Don't stress out too much because most of these will get fixed in the next few days. A few messages have been passed on from the FYE Office:

1) For those who may have been locked out of Spanish earlier today, try again. The registrar has opened a new section of Span 101 and opened two 200 level Spanish Courses to address the lack of open sections earlier.

2) The registrar has opened one more section of INQ for the Spring for anyone who withdrew this semester or knows that they will fail INQ in Fall. (I am hopeful that anyone reading this post is not in this predicament, but this might be useful information for friends, classmates, etc.)

3)The FYE Office is staffed to help with other problems you might encounter (and you can email me, come see me, talk about it in class with me too).

Readings for Tuesday's Presentations UPDATED

11:00 section:

1) Here are the links and a message from the first group:

Hi -

This is what our group came up with for the readings.

http://web-us.com/brain/LRBrain.html

www.keepartsinschools.org/Research/Materials/CriticalEvidence.pdf

We also, if possible, want everyone to come to class with a short paragraph explaining which side of the brain they think they are and why, and also to pick one topic from the second source that they think is most important or interesting.

Thanks so much!
Love, Sam Paige Tori and Allison :)

2) Here are the readings from Amanda's group:

http://www.greatschools.org/students/academic-skills/540-learn-second-language.gs

http://www.southernct.edu/foreign_languages/whylearnaforeignlanguage/

UPDATE: PLUS TWO MORE

http://www.adfl.org/resources/lang_brochure.pdf

http://www.edukacjachicago.com/en/bilingualizm-dzieci-–-mity-i-fakty/


12:25 section:

1) Here is the message from Louie's group:

So, first thing we'd need everybody to do is take this kind-of-long personality test:
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp
NOTE: You do not have to answer every question to get a result.

After they finish it, they should click on the type descriptions under their results to learn a bit more about what each result means. They also need to write down their results (INFJ, ESTP, LMNO, ETC.) for they are necessary for the beginning of class.

Also these two articles must be read afterwards:

http://www.angelfire.com/wi/2brains/left.html

http://www.angelfire.com/wi/2brains/right.html

2) UPDATE -- Here are the links from Dominique's group:

http://college.lovetoknow.com/College_Dating

http://www.eduinreview.com/resources/how-long-distance-relationships-can-thrive-in-college/

http://www.examiner.com/wine-in-san-francisco/the-hook-up-culture

Day of Peace and Campus Safari Opportunity

One INQ section has organized a Day of Peace with many events going on. They are trying to get a lot of people to attend in order to make it a success. Therefore, I will count the Day of Peace as a Campus Safari entry. You can go and blog about it in a Campus Safari and that can take the place of any other Campus Safari item.

Here is a letter from the INQ instructor explaining the Day of Peace and detailing some of the events included:


My name is Michael Ruscoe, and I teach a section of Inquiry based on the theme of “The Beatles, Rock and Roll, and Teen Culture.” For our class project this semester, we’re producing Southern’s first-ever “Day of Peace.” Scheduled to coincide with the anniversary of the death of former Beatle and noted peace activist John Lennon, the Day of Peace is a collection of events designed to help promote peace within ourselves, across the campus, across the community, across the nation, and around the world.

We have a tremendous schedule of events planned. On Wednesday, November 30, we have two World War II veterans—one American and one German—who will participate in a panel discussion on the topic of “The Cost of War, The Benefit of Peace.” That event will take place at 12:15 p.m. in Engleman C112. Then, on December 1, we have an afternoon and evening of entertainment taking place in Lyman Auditorium. The show will feature presentations by the Southern Dance Team, Step Team, and the Symphonic Pulse Dance Company; a demonstration by the Southern Karate Club, a Slam Poetry reading, a concert by the vintage rock-and-roll band Old Man Noises, and a student variety show. Mayor DeStefano will also be on hand to speak, and a number of other dignitaries have been invited to appear as well. A club fair will also be held in the lobby of Lyman Auditorium during the Day of Peace. The festivities begin at 3 p.m., and last until 10:30. A schedule of events will be distributed to you soon.

My students have worked incredibly hard to pull this all together, and we have a tremendous slate of events planned. What we need now is an audience. I implore you in the strongest possible terms to urge your students to attend our Day of Peace festivities. In fact, you might even consider basing an assignment on their attendance of our event. If your class period coincides with the Day of Peace events, you might consider using that time to have your students attend the festivities. You could ask your students to attend and write about the importance of peace in their daily lives. You might ask them to watch a portion of our show and direct them to write about how the show contributes to peace within themselves, or on the campus as a whole. You could ask them to write about new things they’ve discovered about the campus by watching our presentation. You could even ask them to write a review of the portion of the show they saw. The possibilities are endless, and we encourage you to share your own suggestions. What we need most are people in the seats!

Readings for Thurs Nov 10 -- updated

Here are the readings for Krista's group, 11:00 section:


http://www.learningrx.com/types-of-learning-styles-faq.htm

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f01/web2/wise.html



For the 12:25 section, Adriana's group assigns the following readings on parenting styles:

http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/parenting-style.htm


http://www.mommycosm.com/journal/2009/7/19/ineffective-parenting-techniques.html

http://articles.cnn.com/2009-11-02/tech/kids.social.networks_1_social-networking-sites-social-networking-facebook?_s=PM:TECH

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-kids-consume-media-2011-4#

SCSU Common Read Update

News from the FYE Office:

Save the date! Wes Moore, author of "The Other Wes Moore" (this year's common read - remember that book you read before the Hurricane?) will be on campus and giving a talk November 15th at 7:30 in Lyman!

Blogging Reminder

For this week and next week (student-led discussion topics), the Mon and Wed regular blog posts will center around those readings. Please respond to one or more of the assigned readings in your post. Posts can also draw from or follow up on class discussion when responding to specific readings.

UPDATED Readings for Tuesday's class: 12:25 section

Here is one set of readings from Ashlee, Spencer, Emily, and Kelsey:

http://www.bucknell.edu/x7828.xml

http://kidshealth.org/teen/school_jobs/college/freshman_15.html

Here are the readings from Dion's group:

http://www.alcohol101plus.org/downloads/collegestudents.pdf

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-15-college-drug-use_N.htm

Readings for Tuesday's class -- 11:00 section

Here is one set of readings for Tuesday (11:00 only) from Tina, Nina, and Mike:


http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2009/05/12/6345760-college-grad-i-wish-id-gone-to-prison-instead

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/10/27/should-college-grads-get-a-break-on-their-loans/?scp=1&sq=college+debt&st=cse

http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news-impact/2011/02/report-calls-for-national-effort-to-get-millions-of-young-americans-onto-a-realistic-path-to-employa/


And here is the assignment from Rachel, Bobby, Nicole, and Valerie:

http://www.alt-healthsearch.com/articles/view/the_negative_effects_of_stress_on_health_and_suggestions_for_de_stressing/

Group Project Schedule: 12:25 Section

Here is the schedule for the 12:25 section of INQ:

Tues Nov 8

Group 1: Dion -- Sex, Drugs, Alcohol

Group 2: Ashlee -- Nutrition, Sleep, Dorm Life

Thurs Nov 10

Group 3: Adriana -- Parenting Styles

Tues Nov 15:

Group 4: Louie -- Personality Types

Group 5: Nicole -- Healthy Relationships

Thurs Nov 17

Group 6: Hanna -- Social Life in College

Group Project Schedule: 11:00 Section

Here is the schedule for the 11:00 section of INQ:

Tues Nov 8

Group 1: Tina -- Debt, College, Graduating in 4 Years

Group 2: Rachel -- Stress in Colege

Thurs Nov 10

Group 3: Krista -- Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles

Tues Nov 15:

Group 4: Tori -- Arts and Education

Group 5: Amanda -- Language Requirements in College

Thurs Nov 17

Group 6: Kenny -- Dorm Life Pros and Cons

This week and Beyond...

This Tuesday in class we will be signing up for group work days and getting all of that in order. I will post each group's readings on my blog as I get them.

Thursday in class we will be doing a writing/blogging workshop with Mike, and he has asked you to read the two following blogs to prepare for Thursday's class:

1. http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2010/11/18/what-its-like-to-have-sex-with-someone-with-aspergers/

2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/future-occupy-wall-street_b_1067550.html

They are both interesting and provocative, so I'm sure you will have lots to comment on in terms of the content, but Mike would also like you to pay attention to the style in which they are written.

Here is the schedule for the rest of the semester (not too far away!):


Syllabus Calendar of Assignments Continued (all work due on dates listed)

Tues Nov 1 Group Work Brainstorming, Topics, Possible Readings due;
in-class group meetings

Thurs Nov 3 Readings due for Mike’s Blog Writing Workshop

Tues Nov 8 Readings due for Groups #1 and 2: presentation/discussion

Thurs Nov 10 Readings due for Group #3: presentation/discussion

Tues Nov 15 Readings due for Groups #4 and 5: presentation/discussion

Thurs Nov 17 Readings due for Group #6: presentation/discussion;
final project assignment distributed

No class Tues Nov 22 and Thurs Nov 24: Thanksgiving Recess

Tues Nov 29 1st draft of final projects due

Thurs Dec 1 2nd draft screenings

Tues Dec 6 2nd draft screenings

Thurs Dec 8 2nd draft screenings

Final Exam Period: TBA

Final Drafts of Video and Final Self-Assessment Blog due by Saturday midnight of finals week.

Inclement Weather

If you didn't do a Campus Safari this week because of the crazy snowstorm (or any other reason), that's okay. I will make two Campus Safaris due for next Saturday instead since I know that a bunch of events got snowed out today.

"Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success" -- Author Unknown

Group Project Assignment:

Each group will be responsible for:

1) Assigning a few interesting and college-appropriate readings for the class

2) Introducing the material (no more than 5 minutes)

3) Coming up with 3-5 thought-provoking discussion questions (on a handout or written on the board)

4) Starting the discussion of the topic/readings

5) Facilitating a short introductory activity like a quiz or game (optional)

The entire presentation/discussion of each group's topic and readings will be approximately 30 minutes only, so think about how to use those 30 minutes to achieve the three main objectives: provide information, get the class interested/engaged, and have a productive discussion of the material.

Also, since this is a group effort, think about how your group is going to split up the work evenly. This will count as 2 homework/in-class work grades. Each individual member of the group should also submit a short (maybe 1 page) write-up explaining what each member contributed to the whole project, from brainstorming to speaking in class. This piece of writing will count as an additional homework grade.

"Choices are the hinges of destiny" --Pythagoras

Next week's blogs are perhaps the easiest or the hardest type of blogging assignment, depending on your perspective. Essentially, you have the freedom to create a blog of your choice, on just about nay topic, but you have to decide on a topic and make it work, instead of simply writing what I tell you to write or fulfilling the assignment. I have limited the parameters of the posts a little bit; see below:

1. Write about anything that interests you and might interest your readers/classmates.

2. Write about anything that interests you but is somehow connected to SCSU.

You can choose to complete them in any order. Remember that even though the choice of topic is open, but it still needs to be a 300 word post with a beginning, middle, and end and all the other standard conventions of strong blog posts. We will be looking more at writing blogs with Mike next Thursday so these posts will be good practice in thinking about what makes a blog post interesting, strong, coherent, etc.

Looking Past Midterms to the Rest of the Semester

College is a time to reinvent yourself, even from semester to semester if you want or need to. In this vein, here are next week's blogging assignments:


1) Do something that is outside your comfort zone (not dangerous obviously, just new and different) and blog about it. Tell us what you did and why and how it turned out.

2) Reflect on your midterm grades (as a whole, not just for INQ). Are you where you want to be/expected to be? If so, why and what has been working? If not, why not and what can you do to change it? Finally, set some specific goals for yourself for the remainder of the semester.

Reminder!!

Advising meetings this week are in my office: EN D244. If you're not sure when your meeting with me is scheduled, email me and find out. Remember to fill out the papers in your advising folder and print out your degree evaluation and bring all of that with you when you meet with me. Come a few minutes early to make sure you're on time. A few people have already missed their appointments today. Remember that it counts for attendance for this week.

A great resource on Creative Thinking and Creative Problem Solving

http://www.virtualsalt.com/crebook1.htm

Next Week's Blogging Assignments

I know that you all will be hard at work on your video projects next week, so I've decided to make your blog posts somewhat related to your project. Here are your assignments:

1. A post about troubleshooting. Discuss a problem you encountered in making your video (adding sound, adjusting the volume, finding your interviewee's office, uploading your draft to youtube, posting it to your blog, etc.) and talk about the way you fixed it, the steps you tried, what finally worked, and what you learned from this experience in general.

2. A post about time management for a big project like this. Chart how many hours you spent a) brainstorming, b) interviewing, c) gathering other materials like articles, quotes, facts, photos, music, etc., d) transferring all of your materials to your computer, e) learning to use the video software, f) making the video, troubleshooting, g) editing, h) other time. Chart the time used so far and how much more you expect to put in before the due date the following week. Also reflect on your time management skills. Have you used your time wisely? What could you have done differently for a better result?

Critical Thinking, Innovation, and Play

I've heard a few students lately talking about critical thinking and creative thinking, wondering if they are the same thing or opposite things or different with some overlap. This insightful article from NPR.org about the life (and successes) of Steve Jobs speaks exactly to this issue; it suggests that part of Jobs' genius in crafting a successful career was his willingness to engage in creativity, fun, and play. At the same time, he is lauded as being one of the most innovative critical thinkers of this era. What does that suggest about the relationship between creative and critical thinking?

Interesting Speaker Coming to Campus

**copied from SCSU's page

Author Jonathan Kozol on "THE SHAME OF THE NATION: Race, Poverty, and the Public Schools"

Mon., Oct 10, 6pm in the Adanti Student Center Ballroom, free admission


Author Jonathan Kozol is the founder of Education Action, a non-profit dedicated to grassroots organizing of teachers across the country who wish to help create a single, excellent, unified system of American public schools.

Kozol draws a clear line between the empty dialogue applied to the issue by pundits, and the real, harrowing issues faced by teachers and students on the ground, helping an audience understand the lifestyles that come to pass in The Other Wes Moore, SCSU's 2011 Campus Read.

A tireless and influential advocate for America's public education system, Jonathan Kozol has played a major role in placing schools on our national political compass. In a campus talk on Monday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m., Kozol will discuss his observations of race and isolation in inner city schools.

Death at an Early Age, his first non-fiction book, is a description of his first year as a teacher in the Boston Public Schools. It was published in 1967 and received the 1968 National Book Award in Science, Philosophy, and Religion. It has sold more than two million copies in the United States and Europe.

Among the other books by Kozol are Rachel and Her Children: Homeless Families in America, which received the Robert F. Kennedy Book award for 1989 and the Conscience-in-Media Award of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools, which won the New England Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1992.

His 1995 book, Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation, described his visits to the South Bronx of New York, the poorest congressional district in the United States. It received the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in 1996, an honor previously granted to the works of Langston Hughes and Martin Luther King, Jr.



The lecture will be followed by Q & A and a book signing.

Sample Midterm Videos from last year's INQ classes

This is a video made with iMovie from last midterm:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHRUzsntBWM&feature=player_embedded

And here is another, also using iMovie, but quite different in style:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPIgKBE4ggM

Follow-up to Library Visit and Next Week's Blog Posts

Today, we had a hand-on library session that introduced us to some resources that the library offers. The assignment culminates in an essay about critical thinking using the articles and books that you found today. The essay (with sources cited) is your blog post assignment for next Monday.

Wendy, our awesome librarian, wants to remind everyone that you can contact her for further library assistance (or to get an assignment if you missed today's session). Her contact info is: hardenbergw1@southernct.edu.

Wednesday's blog post is a discussion of how it's going on your draft of your video and if you have a partial video done, please post that as well.

Project Questions

Nina asked some questions via email that I'm sure some of you are wondering about.

She said, "Are we supposed to pick one question to focus on like we did for the blog post where we had to interview students and interview people on it? Or do we need to address all of the questions you wrote on the assignment paper? Also is a "rough draft" of the video due next Thursday or just our research?"

Here is my reply: The one major question for the project is "what is critical thinking?" but I tried to break that question down for you so you would consider its smaller components. You do not have to answer all of the brainstorming questions I posed for you to begin thinking about the project. In fact, you should narrow down the project in any way that makes sense to you and ask interview question(s) that help you do that. You have a lot of freedom in that respect. You want to ask enough questions so you get interesting material to work with but not too many that you are overburdened with too much. Maybe have a set of questions ready in case you need to get more in-depth with the people you interview? Next Thursday a rough draft of the video is due. Try to have some of the video done. The more you have done, the more feedback we can give and the more we can help troubleshoot.

Ask other questions in the comments section if you want or via email as always or in office hours or in class.

Workshops on Campus

Passing these on from the SCSU FYE facebook page:

1. Mid-Term Exam Study Workshop tomorrow at 1pm and 5:30pm in Adanti 306! Let the OSSE help you help yourself!

2. Life Management workshop in Farnham Hall Program Room at 7:00 tonight! Stop by and get yourself organized.

3. Student Government Expo tonight at 8:30, also in Farnham. Find out how to organize your class government.

Critical Thinking about Critical Thinking

Midterm Video Project: “What is Critical Thinking??”


For this project, I want you to tackle the complex question of “What is Critical Thinking?”

What does the term mean, how is it defined in various academic disciplines, how is it used in educational and other circles? Generate specific examples. Why is Critical Thinking important? How can it be used in college and beyond? Generate specific examples of this too. Where do we find Critical Thinking at work on a college campus? In what ways do we, as a community, engage in it and to what purposes? Where might we need to inject a bit more Critical Thinking skills, practices, or principles? Try to be as innovative and distinctive as possible in your exploration of answers to these questions. Everyone starts with the same basic question, and the challenge is to go beyond the obvious or simple truths to craft unique answers.

We have begun to answer these questions in our INQ class, and other (sometimes similar, sometimes different) answers have been explored in your Critical Thinking class. Use all of this data as a starting point in addition to the readings, videos, discussions, etc. you have been exposed to in this class and others. In exploring your question and possible answers, start first with the ideas you’ve gathered from the reading and also find and use one book or article from the library (you will need to cite any sources you use so be sure to note where you’re getting your information from). Then add your own voice and ideas to the discussion.

Next, you will need to go out onto the campus and do some on-the-ground research. You will need to interview at least 2 faculty or staff members, at least 3 undergraduate students, and at least 1 older student/role model (a CC, a team captain, student leader of a club or organization, an OA or peer mentor, etc.). Ask all of the people you interview a short series of questions and take notes or video footage or both for use in the final video project.

The final step involves interpreting the findings and crafting them into an informative and interesting video project. The project should have a clear beginning, middle, and end that moves through the following elements:

1) framing the question and providing some context for the project,

2) exploring answers to your question from multiple perspectives,

3) providing some closure from your perspective, some “so what?” or “what have we learned?” to leave the viewer with at the end of the video.

This project requires you to create a short video, not a set of PowerPoint slides. It is not a presentation project; your video needs to stand alone and run on its own. It is possible to create such a digital project using PowerPoint, but it is much easier and more professional if done in iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, or other video creation software. The final video should be about 8 minutes long.

The first draft of this project is due Oct 13, but you will have much opportunity for revision and fine-tuning. The final version of this project is due Oct 25. It should be uploaded to YouTube and linked to on your blog. I would also like a hard copy burned onto a CD (and tested to make sure it works).

Last Week's Assignment -- don't let this post confuse you!

Some students are still saying that they never received last week's assignments (those due this past Mon and Wed). Therefore, I am posting them here in order to try to clear up confusion and will accept late posts this one time until Sunday. Next week's assignments are located in my previous blog post (scroll down), so don't let this reverse order confuse you.

Last week's assignments:

1) Write about the time management self-study you have been conducting and what you found out about how you spend your 70 hrs of "free" time. How many hrs do you spend doing homework/studying? What are your biggest distractions? What do you spend the most time on? How do you feel you need to change or improve your time management habits?

2) I would like you to think of an interesting questions that you would like to know people's opinions about. The questions should be drawn from class discussion and readings (for example, questions about the purpose of education, about technology and its advantages and disadvantages, about motivation, perseverance, mastery, etc -- anything interesting that you have thought about in these past few weeks that relates to our course, the more interesting the better). Ask your questions to a group of your peers (maybe 10 people) and see what they say. Blog about their answers and what you think about the question and answers, what the answers reveal to you in a "bigger picture" sense.

No right or wrong answers as always, just more interesting and less interesting possibilities.

Blogging

I have been enjoying reading all of the class blogs. We have a new blog added to our collection on the sidebar, written by Mike, our staff/grad student mentor. It is the top blog listed, so check it out.

Next week's blogging assignments:

1) All of the carefully balanced time management plans we have been constructing can be undermined if you get sick. Many college students run into problems getting all of their work done if they also have to miss class and fight off a virus or infection. In this blog, discuss strategies you employ (or do some research if you're not sure) to try to keep yourself in good health while in college. What are the most important things to remember in keeping healthy and what should you do if you start to feel sick?

2) One of the biggest challenges in general for college students is battling stress. Stress also affects health since it can weaken your immune system. Do something this week that helps relieve stress, and blog about it. Relate your own experience but also try to give your readers some good, new, ideas about stress relief.

Exercise relieves stress!

The FYE program just sent out this message:

Interested in playing sports but not quite at the varsity level? Why not come check out the Club Sports Expo tonight in the Farnham Program Room from 7 to 8:30. Sign up for a sport you play well or learn what it takes to do something you've never tried before! Either way, we're sure you'll have fun!

Class tomorrow

Bring your questions, comments, etc from the last week. See you then.

Reading Outside of the Box (or syllabus)

I found two interesting readings that relate to discussions we've been having lately.

1. Don't Eat the Cupcake

This article from NPR.org discusses a new book called Willpower which focuses on the muscle power it takes to delay gratification, to not eat the cupcake, for example. Unlike the marshmallow experiment, however, this book suggests that this skill is not set in stone but can be learned, and improved upon with practice.

2. When We Don't Succeed, We Try Harder

This article from The New York Times asks us to think about the role of failure in our eventual success. The process we go through when confronting something difficult, failing, reapproaching the problem from another angle, working harder to overcome it, and perhaps learning something along the way is one that changes us in profound ways. Isn't that much better than having success handed to us? But then why is it so hard to embrace failure, or sometimes even embrace challenges that might lead to failure?

Next Week's Blogging Assignment

Blog #1: Browse through various professional blogs on the internet. You may already read some or you may have found some from the very first week's assignment for creating a blog or you might google an interesting blog (ex. skydiving blog) and see what you come up with. I want you to find two professional blogs that are both interesting to you in some way but are both different from each other in some way. Write your post with the purpose of introducing your readers to these two blogs, writing a little about what the blogs are about, discussing the style of writing and/or visual peresentation of each blog, why they interest you, and what others might find interesting about them.

Blog #2: Browse through the list of student blogs on the sidebar of my blog. Find 3 examples of posts that would be ranked "A"/excellent in your opinion and explain why. While you are browsing, leave some comments or questions on other people's blogs to start a larger conversation on these topics (also since you need to leave 10 comments by the end of the semester, and this would be a good opportunity to start).

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.” -- Jonathan Swift

This past week in class, we talked a little bit about the importance of the learning that happens outside the classroom in college, and I wanted to extend our discussion because I think it's very true. Getting involved in clubs and organizations can help you learn leadership, networking, organizing, community outreach, skills in your major or interest areas, and more. But learning outside the classroom is also very real in terms of academics and the courses you take in college. Much of your education is self-education, the kind that happens outside of class, what most students call "studying."

When people say "studying," do they mean reading, or reviewing notes, or something else? What do professors mean when they say that they expect students to be doing 6 hours of homework per week but the syllabus doesn't show any actual assignments due on that week? What are you supposed to be "studying" for 6 hours?

In college, there is often a lot of invisible work expected (as opposed to papers or projects which seem like visible work to me). Some of the invisible work involves not simply reading the assigned chapters to be familiar with them or even simply reading for information; instead, it is the kind of reading and annotating and processing and thinking that can bring real understanding of the concepts you're reading about to the point where you can engage with, talk back to, synthesize, apply, etc.

Ok, but how do you do that? And if you've never been expected to have done that before, how do you know if you're doing it right?

As with most things in college, there is no one set formula that works for everyone, and part of your job in your first year is just figuring out what works for you. But here are a few strategies that you can try out:

1. Read assignments more than once. The first time you read it to know the gist of it, read for information. The second time, you read to begin to understand the finer points and subtleties. The third time, return to a few interesting and/or difficult passages to analyze and puzzle through.

2. In taking notes, make sure you have the different layers of thinking (higher and lower) represented in your notes. You should have some of each of the following represented: information or facts pulled out, comments and connections, and inquiry questions. If you take your notes in the margins of a reading, maybe afterward pull them out and classify them into this lower-to-higher level system. Or if you take notes in your notebook, use symbols or colored highlighters to classify them.

3. Dig deeper into the concepts by researching about the author or the context or unfamiliar terminology. This will allow for a broader understanding of what you're reading.

4. Expand your knowledge base even more by comparing the reading material to previously assigned texts, putting them into conversation with one another within the course but also putting your readings into conversation with other material you're studying in the university as a whole. This tactic will help you see the connectedness between the disciplines at the university, and that helps your brain make sense of all of the information you are processing.

5. Before you put a reading to bed, consider the "So what?" and "Why is this important?" and "What can I learn from this?" questions. Try to anticipate what the professor might ask about the reading on a quiz or exam or writing prompt. Try to think of good inquiry questions that will make class discussion about this reading interesting and productive and enhance learning.

Try these strategies (as well as your own or ones you have gained from this week's reading assignments) for reading with the goal of in-depth understanding of the material and see if it makes class discussion or lectures more meaningful or engaging. See if this helps you also have more of those "lightbulb moments" as you progress throughout the semester. Then you'll know that you are truly becoming educated rather than simply filling time or fulfilling requirements.


*image by Ramona Forcella

Dates, Events, Etc.: The Whole College Experience

This week in class, we have been discussing the bigger picture of college, the potential for growth that can happen outside as well as inside the classroom. All of the events that happen outside of class are a lot to keep track of (not to mention balancing them with classwork), so if you have not yet purchased a reliable and organized planner, do so. Put all of your important dates for your classes in it: exams, quizzes, papers due, guest speakers, etc. Then add all of your club meeting, intramural games, concerts or lectures you want to attend, the Day of Service, and one more...

SAVE THE DATE: November 15

Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore, this year's First-Year Common Read, is coming to SCSU on Tuesday November 15 at 7:30 in the Lyman Center for Performing Arts.

He is a dynamic and inspirational speaker, and we will use his visit to revisit the Common Read and use his talk as food for thought for blogging that week.

One more date of potential interest (I got this from the FYE facebook page which regularly posts updates):

The Fitness Center is hosting a Fitness Fair in Adanti Student Center tomorrow (9/15). The Fitness Center will be open to all regardless of membership. Fitness classes will be offered for free. And Fitness Staff Members will be there to guide you around the facility and to offer you free fitness consultations.

**Reminder -- if you haven't seen and read the article that Mike asked us to look at for tomorrow, scroll down a post from yesterday to find it!

Two more pieces of info that might be useful

1. The FYE program has a facebook page, so like it and you can keep up to date about events especially for first-year students: https:http://www.facebook.com/pages/SCSU-First-Year-Experience-Program/247723918598092

2. Details for this year's SCSU Majors Expo have been announced: 12 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19 in the Michael J. Adanti Student Center Grand Ballroom. This is a great event to browse through all the majors offered at Southern and find out more about ones you might be interested in. More info can be found at this website.

Mike's article -- please read for Thursday!

Here it is:

"The Master's as the New Bachelor's"

So much important information -- this is the 3rd, and last, blog post in two days!

Here is some information on SCSU's Day of Service, coming up this weekend. INQ classes are encouraged to go as a group, so take the initiative to organize where to meet, etc. If that falls through, going alone is okay, but going with friends seems like more fun:

SCSU Day of Service 2011

Saturday, September 17, 2011
Approx. 9am-2pm

INQ students should participate!!!! The Southern Day of Service is an annual day designated for Southern students, faculty, and staff to gather in the local community and work side by side on a service project that benefits humanity. Participating in a Day of Service helps to foster friendship, promote service, and leave a positive imprint on our community. For more information contact
Salvatore Rizza, (203) 392-5782 , rizzas1@southernct.edu

Background

The Ronald D. Herron Day of Service is a collaboration between the New Haven Police Department and Southern Connecticut State University. In past years, over 300 students have gone to various neighborhoods and parks throughout New Haven to clean-up public areas and make the city look cleaner. At many sites, students are also joined by community leaders, telling students about the importance of a clean neighborhood and how it positively affects residents that live there.

Previously, the Ronald D. Herron Day of Service was simply named the Day of Service but the name was changed this past May in honor of Dr. Ronald D. Herron, former Vice President of Student and University Affairs. Dr. Herron was an integral part of bringing events and programs such as the Day of Service to Southern’s campus in the years he served here.

This Year's Day of Service

This year we are expecting almost 600 participants, many of them from freshmen classes. Students, faculty, and staff will be transported to over 12 sites in the New Haven area including 10 different neighborhoods and various parks through the city. Participants will be performing neighborhood and park clean ups, helping to beautify the community and make the area look nicer for those visiting and living there.

We expect about 15-20 inquiry classes to be participating in the Ronald D. Herron Day of Service this year. They will be joined by student leaders on campus from many different areas as well as the general campus population. We expect to have about 35-40 students at each site. Students will be provided with lunch and supplies.

1st FYE Ron Herron Community Service Challenge --100% Participation!

The FYE Community Service Challenge will take place September 17th. The challenge goes out to all Fall INQ classes. The classes with 100% participation in the SCSU day of service will win prizes. Make the “choice” to make a difference.

Tips and workshops and videos, oh my! (all things to help you better navigate this transition to college)

There are so many avenues to self-improvement, both inside and outside of the university. One challenge that I have for you this semester is to choose something that you feel like you need to work on more, and take some steps to make it better -- all on your own, not because it is an assignment, only because it is something that will benefit you in the long run.

To that end, I have a few tidbits to share with you that you make find worthwhile or may want to take advantage of:

1) Here is an article that asks you to think about "Who are you and what are you doing here?" It discusses the purpose of college and what kind of major/career to seek and how best to make the most of the opportunities in college. One thing I think is useful in this article is how it talks about not limiting yourself to simply taking that classes that you think will be useful for getting a job later in life, but to think bigger and really use college as an opportunity to grow in new and exciting ways. Lots of times we get very focused on finding a major and working hard on fulfilling the classes for that major, for a specific job, and that could mean losing out on some of the other learning experiences possible in a college education. This article speaks to that a little.

2) This article gives 25 great tips on not only how to survive in college but how to thrive, again asking you to think about how to make the most of it while you're here. The end of this article also has some links to other related pieces that might be of interest, like "how to choose a major" and "professor's pet peeves."

3) The Office of Study Skills Enrichment has a lot of workshops on things like how to take notes and time management. If this is something you want to get better at, sign up for one. Here is some information from an email they sent out:

THE FALL 2011 STUDY SKILLS WORKSHOP SCHEDULES ARE HERE!

If you want to know which days and evenings different study skills workshops
are offered and what time and where you can find one of our free schedules at
the following locations;

* Our posters throughout Engleman Hall
* On the Office of Study Skills Enrichment website at
www.southernct.edu/studyskillsenrichment. This gets you to our main page
and then in the side column click "workshops."
* By getting onto the SCSU main website, clicking STUDENT LIFE, then clicking
OFFICE OF STUDY SKILLS ENRICHMENT, and then in the side column click
"workshops."
* By coming to our office in Engleman Hall C-016 and helping yourself to one of
the schedules in the rack outside the door
* By telephoning us at 203-392-6818 or 203-392-6824 or emailing us at
colbyt1@southernct.edu or ferruccit1@southernct.edu

4) The Writing and Tutorial Center is another great academic resource on campus. Here is some info they sent out:

Our tutors in Engleman A-014 assist students in math and math-related matters,
physics, and chemistry. Next door in EN A-012, we’re eager to work with
students engaged in any of their writing projects. And through the
Office of Study Skills Enrichment, students may select from any of ten
workshops. Additional to tutorials and workshops, we have a few computers open
for student use and writing handouts (our popular “Tips for writers”
series) available.

Websites (including schedules):

www.southernct.edu/writing center
www.southernct.edu/tutorial center
www.southernct.edu/studyskillsenrichment

5) A fellow INQ professor assigns some short videos From Dartmouth for her students to watch. She says that they are very useful and don't take too much time to watch. She recommends the ones on Notetaking and Time Management for her students, but you can check them out and see which might be most beneficial to you:

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/videos/index.html

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." -- Pablo Picasso

As the first official week of blogging comes to a close, let's mark it as a milestone. I didn't exactly teach anyone how to blog, and I certainly didn't hold any hands -- and yet, most of you figured it out (even if it took hours of tinkering or calling in some outside tech support, like Katie's dad). That's what this first week of readings and discussions was all about too, emphasizing the importance of AUTONOMY in a college education. Autonomy is tackling something new and figuring it out the best you can and learning from that experience in order to do it better next time.

What did you learn from this week? What are good strategies for you in learning something new? What kind of problem solver are you? How did you manage your time and leave enough time to figure things out, tinker with new things, make mistakes and learn from them? Don't let this milestone completely pass you by before you consider what you gained from it, what you can do next week to make blogging smoother, more effective, more interesting, more innovative.

Remember that autonomy in college also means the ability to self-assess, to see our own strengths and weaknesses and compare our work with that of our peers. As a group, we practiced this a little in class. Interestingly, both classes looked at Tina's blog as a model for strong blogging practices; we liked her organization, use of photos and links, and many people commented on the length of her posts. Is length better than substance? No, it's certainly no substitute. You can eat a whole bag of sugar-free candy, but it still doesn't satisfy your craving for a Hershey bar. However, it often does take some length to move beyond the surface and get into the meat of your ideas. I think Tina's blog showed a healthy balance of both length and depth. We didn't get to look at Louie's blog in class, but his writing, humor, and original artwork are a good example of creativity and finding a unique, personal blogging voice. Finally, you should check out Steph's blog to see an interesting title and design as well as a tech-savvy inclusion of a photo slideshow on one of her posts. Use these examples as inspiration for your own work. Where do you want to take your own blog in the upcoming weeks in terms of the writing, thinking, creativity, technology, etc.?

I've only highlighted a few different blogs this week, and I will try to call your attention to others that catch my eye as the semester progresses. You can do this too -- comment on someone's blog if you see something innovative.


www.marriedtothesea.com

What is convocation?

Convocation is the official start of the semester and the official welcoming of this year's class of students to the university community. Southern's president, Dr. Battle will speak directly to the new students, and several stuhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifdent leaders will also offer some advice and words of wisdom. It is always an inspiring event that makes you feel excited to be at SCSU and part of something bigger than just your individual experience. I encourage you to attend, and we will talk a little about it on Thursday in class. (It can also count as a campus safari item.)

Convocation is being held in the Lyman Center at 1pm Wednesday. More information can be found here.

"Schooling, instead of encouraging the asking of questions, too often discourages it." – Madeleine L'Engle

A common question coming into Inquiry 101 is "What is inquiry?" and this is a question that I hope you continue to ask all semester. I'm not going to give you the one, right, simple answer to that question, but instead give you many opportunities to explore your own answers and push you to ask ever more sophisticated questions that springboard from your original exploration of that question. Inquiry is not just about the answers that I bring to the course; it won't be a very good course unless everyone brings something to it, maybe a unique way of looking at something or a different question for us to think about.

In many ways, Inquiry 101 is a mini version of the university in general. A college education can be transformative if you take advantage of the potentials it offers. But change doesn't just happen; you need to make change happen for you. Before coming to college, many students have been expected to be "learners": those who follow directions and take in the knowledge given to them by teachers. Now, however, you are expected to become "thinkers": those who frame the questions, pursue knowledge, create new ideas and new meanings. This class will be a semester-long immersion into the process of becoming a college-level thinker and knowledge-creator. That type of transformation isn't always easy and won't completely happen in one semester of course, but here we will start growing the seeds.

Our blogs will record our process of inquiry as it grows and changes in our individual and collective ways. The brain work required to focus our ideas into coherent blog posts will provide the constant practice needed to hone our skills of thinking, writing, reading, processing (The blogs are our mental push-ups, and by the end of 16 weeks, we will all have some new muscles to show off). I am hoping that the blogs will also be a place to be creative, take risks, start new ideas, weed through some ideas, get feedback, learn about failure, and learn about improvement. From a different angle, the blogs will also be a way to simply document this whole adventure.

Tonight, despite the impending hurricane threatening to disrupt our first week, I am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead for all of us. What does inquiry mean? So many things: autonomy, creativity, activity, discipline, agency, curiosity, leadership, involvement, community ... and more. What new meanings will you bring to inquiry?