Basic HTML Version
READING
E
XPERIENCE
7: V
ISIONING
: C
LARIFYING
Y
OUR
F
UTURE
182
L
EARNING
TO
L
EARN
: B
ECOMING
A
S
ELF
-G
ROWER
The Context of College
In Experience 1, you learned that an important component
of the Performance Model is “context.” What does that
mean? One aspect of context is your learning environment.
How are you taking this course? Are you attending class
one day a week? Or perhaps you are doing an intensive
one-week course in the summer. Maybe you’re taking this
course online. Each of these provides a different context
for your learning.
You are most likely a college student. What kind of
college are you attending? Do you live on campus or do
you live at home and go to classes each day from there? Do most students commute to your college? Do
some students study online and rarely, if ever, actually come to campus? Each of these situations provides
a different context for learning in college.
If this is your first term or semester, you’re probably encountering lots of new terminology. Since these
terms provide information about the context of your learning, we will spend some time reviewing this
terminology. Another source of information about your learning environment is your college’s Student
Handbook. We’ll do some investigation there as well.
At some point in your time at college, you will declare a major. Your major will further define your
context. How will you decide on your major? As you have probably already begun to discover, making
choices about your future is not as simple as you might wish; there are so many choices to be made! This
chapter includes activities that will help you begin to think through your interests and options.
You actually met Rene in back in Experience 1.
Rene is considering information technology (IT) as a
possible major and career. He loves anything related
to computers. He’s not so sure about economics
and is really struggling with that course this year.
He freely admits to being a bit of a nerd, but likes
being the person others go to when they need
help with anything related to technology. Not
only does he have a real aptitude for “tech stuff,”
he’s also great at teaching other people how
to use it. Rene hangs out with other students
interested in IT. He’ll work with them even more
as he expands on his life vision.
The Terminology of College
You have probably already engaged in some exploration of your college environment. Through this and
other day-to-day experiences, you’ve most likely come to appreciate that college life abounds with new
words and familiar words used in strange ways. Have you figured out
matriculation
yet? What about
general education
? What is your strategy for getting on top of these issues?