preparing your mind for success

preparing your mind for success

Learning in the 21st Century

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1

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Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
1.
2.
3.
4.

List the factors most central to whether students succeed in meeting their educational goals.
Define what it means to learn and explain why learning is so important for success.
Describe the concept of intentional learning and identify the challenges of learning in the digital age.
Describe the characteristics of a science-based theory of learning and explain why it is important to
be aware of your personal Learning Patterns.

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6/12/13 11:35 AM

CHAPTER 1

Section 1.1  Get the Picture?

...in a flat world, knowing how to ‘learn to learn’ will be
one of the most important assets a worker can have.
T. Friedman (2005, p.239) The World Is Flat

1.1  Get the Picture?

W

hen you hear or read the words “college student,” what do you picture? Do you see a
20-something person walking across a campus, meeting friends in the student union,
living in a dormitory, studying late into the night in the college library?

That is no longer an accurate picture of a typical college student. Today over half of the college
population consists of individuals like Sean, a metro police officer who realized that without
a college degree, “I couldn’t further my career.” No picturesque campus scenery for him. Instead,
a computer screen on a card table in a corner of the dining room. Sean is a typical nontraditional
college student earning his degree online. He is not alone.
Today’s college population consists of millions of individuals like
Kathy, a single parent and fulltime waitress, who is studying to
become a physician assistant, or
Jason, an Iraq war veteran, now
in the Army Reserves and enrolled
in an online degree program. The
list of descriptors of the nontraditional college student is long and
varied. Each individual’s...

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