NSSI Engaging Activities for Understanding The Culture

Infuse student success into any program with our ;Engaging Activities for& ; Series.  Written and compiled by National Student Success Institute (NSSI ®) co-founders Amy Baldwin, Steve Piscitelli, and Robert Sherfield, the material is sure to connect, support, and empower educators in the Two-Year, Technical, and Career Colleges.  These booklets contain strategies, procedural information, and activities that you can use with your students immediately.     Any time you travel to another country or just cross streets in your community, you are faced with differing cultural norms, artifacts, and rituals.  Students who are the first in their family to attend college or just new college students must learn and deal with cultural issues as well.  College expectations, syllabi and financial aid forms, and the seemingly endless readings, papers, and tests can be overwhelming and confusing.  For some, they have difficulty assimilating as college students.  The engaging activities for Understanding the Culture of College will help students learn how to transition successfully to the college environment.     Amy, Steve, and Robb have developed this practical compilation, Engaging Activities for Understanding the Culture of College,as an indispensable, hands-on resource for educators to address the topic of college culture.  This booklet will empower teachers, professional development coordinators, coaches, and administrators with tools to actively engage in their classes.  They are confident you will find these activities as useful as they have with their students.   If you like this NSSI®Booklet on Engaging Activities for Understanding the Culture of College, you will love the series:  Academic Success, Retention, Active Learning, Critical Thinking,and Motivation.

Amy Baldwin has been teaching college success, writing, and literature at Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock, Arkansas since 1996.  Among the many hats community college faculty like Amy wear, she has also served as the professional development coordinator and co-director of the Achieving the Dream initiative. She has taught on-campus and online classes since 1999 and has presented nearly 100 workshops across the U.S. on the topics of numerous topics including student success, research writing, academic integrity, and online teaching.  She has also written for The Teaching Professor, Community College Week,and Student Health 101. Both her texts, The Community College Experience 2^nd edition and The Community College Experience PLUS 2^nd edition, are published by Pearson. Amy received her B.A. in English Literature from Rhodes College and her M.A. in English Literature from Washington University. She is currently working on her doctorate in higher education, with a focus on student retention.  Amy lives with her husband and two children in Little Rock, Arkansas.

 

Steve Piscitelli has accumulated more than two decades of teaching and professional development experience.  He has taught students of varying abilities and ages, from middle school through the university level.  He has been recognized for his effective teaching style with awards at the school, county, and international level.  Steve is also a seasoned workshop developer and presenter who brings energy, humor, interaction, live original music, and practicality to his workshops. 

Steve received degrees from Jacksonville University, the University of North Florida, and the University of Florida.  He is currently a professor at Florida State College at Jacksonville.

In addition to this second edition of Study Skills: Do I Really Need This Stuff? (2009), Pearson Prentice Hall published his 2008 book Rhythms of College Success: A Journey of Discovery, Change, and Mastery.  A second edition of this book is due out in the fall of 2010.

Steve lives with his wife, Laurie, and canine companion, Buddy, in Atlantic Beach, Florida.  Visit www.stevepiscitelli.com

 

Robert M. Sherfield, Ph.D has been teaching public speaking, theatre, and student success and working with first-year orientation programs for over 25 years. Currently, he is a professor at the College of Southern Nevada, teaching student success, technical writing, public speaking, and drama.

An award-winning educator, Robb was named Educator of the Year at the College of Southern Nevada. He twice received the Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award from the University of South Carolina Union, and has received numerous other awards and nominations for outstanding classroom instruction and advisement.

Robb’s extensive work with student success programs includes experience with the design and implementation of these programs—including one program that was presented at the International Conference on the First-Year Experience in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.  He has conducted faculty development keynotes and workshops at over 250 institutions of higher education across America.  He has spoken in all 50 states and several foreign countries.

In addition to his co authorship of Solving the Professional Development Puzzle, he has authored or co authored Cornerstone: Discovering Your Potential, Learning Actively, and Living Well, he has also co-authored Roadways to Success (Prentice Hall, 2001), the trade book 365 Things I Learned in College (Allyn & Bacon, 1996), Capstone: Succeeding Beyond College (Prentice Hall, 2001), Case Studies for the First Year: An Odyssey into Critical Thinking and Problem Solving (Prentice Hall, 2004), The Everything ^® Self-Esteem Book (Adams Media, 2004), and Cornerstone:  Opening Doors to Career Success (Pearson, 2010).

Robb’s interest in student success began with his own first year in college. Low SAT scores and a low high school ranking denied him entrance into college. With the help of a success program, Robb was granted entrance into college, and went on to earn five college degrees, including a doctorate.  He has always been interested in the social, academic, and cultural development of stud ents, and sees this book as his way to contribute to the positive development of first-year students across the nation.  Visit www.robertsherfield.com.

UNDERSTANDING THE CULTURE OF COLLEGE: An Introduction

 

Activity Planning Sheet and Activity Sheet (PROVIDED FOR EACH ACTIVITY)

 

1. Cultural Adjustment
2. Daring to Change
3. Change in Bloom
4. The Campus/Community Scavenger Hunt
5. Putting it to the Test
6. Scissors Cross Game
7. From High School to College
8. It's a Generational Thing
9. Classroom Policy Cheat Sheet
10. Success Factors
11. What is the Value of a College Education?
12. Campus isms
13. Sexual Harassment or Just Good-Natured Teasing?
14. Addressing a Conflict Situation in Your Life
15. Personal Reflection on Integrity