Issue 26(1)
Your
college experience: strategies for success (Annotated
Instructor's edition with CD-ROM and InfoTrac). (2006).
John N. Gardner and Jerome A. Jewler.
Boston: Wadsworth-Thomson Publishing, 201 pp. ISBN # 0-4950-0033-7.
Review
by: Amy Perkins
Student
Success
Florida
Community
College at Jacksonville
"Get ready,
get set, and go" is the call to action voiced by John Gardner
and Jerome Jewler in the sixth edition of Your college experience:
strategies for success (2006). The edition's updates confirm
the authors' level of expertise in student success and demonstrate
sensitivity to the changing world of today's students. With this
text in hand, professors and advising staff alike are "ready and
set" to foster a successful first-year experience for students.
Gardner and
Jewler discuss their strategies for success in ways that are consistently
accessible for student readers. Exercises assist students convert
abstract concepts into tangible ones. To better define personal
values students "list fifteen items in [their] room (or apartment
or house) that are important or that symbolize something important
to [them]" (p. 131).
The authors achieve just the right
depth of information on topics. Even with its focus on individual
development, material is contextualized within the bigger picture
of academic life, careers, and society. A variety of students
will find the material relevant due to the inclusive language
used, but the traditional freshman at a four-year university may
best connect with the content and supporting scenarios.
Although icons in the margins highlight
the relevancy of chapter exercises, the chances that a student
will pause to experience said exercises is slim. Gardner and Jewler
strive to incite active learning throughout the book but students
may miss out on the wealth of resources without the urging (read
that requirement ) of a professor or advisor. Other resources,
such as "Your Personal Journal," could be invaluable reflective
tools but receive little mention in the text. So what's a professor
to do?
Advisors
and professors who take the time to familiarize themselves with
the abundant resources that accompany this text will reap the
rewards. The opportunities to customize the material for a given
audience are limitless. Every chapter offers activities for small
groups, large groups, and individuals. Just as the text reminds
students to consider their learning styles, the exercises and
instructor notes encourage instructors to build a course that
incorporates diverse learning styles as well.
Gardner and
Jewler know what skills students need to develop during their
first year in college. To expose students to the concept of critical
thinking, they emphasize that "the questions that lack simple
answers usually are the ones most worthy of study" (p. 54). With
that same thought in mind, this book can be a wonderful resource
not just for professors of student success courses, but for new
advising staff as well. Advisors meeting with students will address
the same issues discussed in the text; wise advisors will proceed
from "ready and set" to "go" by adopting the same type of approachable
language mastered by Gardner and Jewler.
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