Welcome to the University of Massachusetts Lowell Strategies for Success

Welcome to the

University of Massachusetts Lowell

Strategies for Success

University Education

What is it?

Who can have it?

Charlemagne

King of the Francs, ruled over what we call modern Europe

742- 814

Father of Western Civilization

The Rule of Charlemagne

Carolingian Renaissance Education

Scholarship

Literature

Philosophy

Carolingian Schools

Parma Fulda Orleans Besançon Aix la Chapel

What was different?

Any child who showed promise was sent to the schools, later employed by the state.

University Education

What is it?

Who could have it?

Universities at last !

Salerno (Southern Italy) - medical school - origins go back to the 10th century

Bologna - 1088 AD - special recognition from Frederick Barbarossa in 1158

Paris - 12th century - first priviledges from Philip Agustus 1200

Oxford - more obscure, later than other 3 - possibly migration of English students from Paris

Cambridge - secession of students from Oxford in 1209

The Seven Liberal Arts

Trivium (triple road to knowledge) grammar rhetoric logic

Quadrivium (Scientific quadrivium) arithmetic geometry astronomy music

UMass Lowell

A fully accredited university

Thinkers

Will it be difficult?

YESThat is a good thing!

That is your advantage!

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What does it mean to have a university degree?

Is it just a piece of paper

you hang on the wall?

Will it be difficult?

YESThat is a good thing!

That is your advantage!

Why do all the work?

Earning Ratio Men Women

College/less than HS

2.5 2.9

College/HS 1.6 1.8

More to it than that!

Intelligent

Critical Thinkers

Well-rounded

Apply their knowledge to new situations

Life-long learners

Able to drive change

University Education

What is it?

Who can have it?

We expect you to be CURIOUS and to seek out COMPLEXITY!

• Discover the holes in your knowledge.• Feel curious about the cause, consequence, purpose,

function, or value of what you encounter.• Learn how to evaluate evidence and understand how to

draw conclusions.• Consider contradictions between different perspectives.• Note discrepancies between the ideal and the real,

between people’s stated values and their actions, and between how things are and how you want them to be.

What your professors want you to know about learning

1. You have to be lively and engaged in order to get anything from a class.

2. You are responsible for the quality of your education.

3. Learning involves risk. If you are not a little anxious about what you are studying, you are probably not engaging it deeply enough.

4. Being an active participant in your classes (asking questions, reading well, critically engaging with ideas) requires real courage. Be brave.

What your professors want you to know about learning

5. Reading well and listening well are fundamental skills. You might find that you do not yet know how to do either of these at the level required in college, so be prepared to work on these skills.

6. A first step in learning is to find out what you don't know, so keep your mind open.

7. Expect complexity. Avoid oversimplifying big ideas.

8. Look for shared ideas and concepts in disparate courses. Don't compartmentalize. That’s why you’re at a University!

What your professors want you to know about learning

9. Successful students place their learning at the top of their priority list. Don't settle for turning in work that you know is mediocre.

10. We are really serious about academic integrity.

Seven learning outcomes:

1. Breadth of knowledge;2. Critical thinking;3. Clear communication;4. Diversity;5. Ethics;6. Self-direction and collaboration;7. Information literacy.

General Education

Breadth of Knowledge  (learning outcome #1)

Study outside of their major program

a)  College Writing I / IIb)  Mathematics   1 course c)  Arts and Humanities 3 courses d)  Social Sciences         3 coursese)   Science & Technology  3 courses (2 with labs)

                                           Total: 36-38 credits

Critical Thinking (learning outcome # 2)

Students must demonstrate the ability to synthesize information,discover connections, differentiate between facts and opinions, assess evidence, draw conclusions, construct arguments on both sides of a debate using the best available evidence, solve problems, develop and test hypotheses.

General Educatione) Science and Technology 3 courses (2 with labs)

Why study science?

“We've arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster.”

Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World, 1996.

What does it mean to study science?

Einstein-A coefficient, integrated band intensity, and the population factors:

Application to the a1g- X3-g (0,0) O2

band

Dean Robert Gamache

University of Massachusetts

School of Marine Sciences

The Nature of Science

Dept. of Environmental, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences

The approach – what is it?

the focus is on understanding – not plug and chug

understand how and why certain theories came about

look at all sides of a problem and determine what best explains the data

Goals of the course

• Understand the methods of science

• Understand how scientists think about problems

• Develop a feel for the "numerical size" of an answer

• Understand how solutions are obtained

• Know how and why you solved a problem a particular way.

Critical Thinking

Think!

Question!

Think!

Question"The [scientist] absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such.  For him, scepticism is the highest of duties; blind faith the one unpardonable sin.“ - Thomas Huxley (1866) "If it disagrees with experiment it is wrong.  In that simple statement is the key to science. . . . It does not make any difference . . . who made the guess, or what his name is---if it disagrees with experiment it is wrong.  That is all there is to it.“ - Richard Feynman (1965)

General Education

c)  Arts and Humanities 3 courses

Why study literature and science together?

42.249

Literature on Technology and Human Values

Prof. Paula HainesDepartment of English

University of Massachusetts Lowell

Purpose & Goals of Lit. on Tech. & H.V.This discussion-based course will serve as a forum for our engagement with cultural texts that have been created in conversation with their contemporary technology. We will examine novels, short stories, articles, film, art, television, and new media with a focus on how the works incorporate and evaluate modes of technology and scientific thinking through their themes and representational techniques. Within the context of historical and contemporary culture, we will analyze the observations and sentiments, the hopes and fears embodied in the texts. We'll give our special consideration to questions of how and why humans use technology and how technology impacts humanity. Your main goal for this course is to develop a critical and analytical approach to texts in order to increase your understanding and appreciation of the narrative and visual arts around notions of technology. Because this course satisfies a General Education requirement, our further goals will follow from that program. You will work on critical thinking skills, make and support reasoned and careful arguments, consider the role of ethics in representational art and in life, practice and develop your written and oral communication skills, work collaboratively, and strengthen your research skills. Finally, an important goal of this course is to open your mind to some new ideas, investigate some old assumptions and ideas, and to make the close examination of texts and serious thinking the fun that it can be.

Facts are not science - as the dictionary is not literature.

-Martin H. Fischer

Science and literature give me answers. And they ask me questions I will never be able to answer.

-Mark Haddon

Strategies for Success

How do I succeed?

University Education

What does it cost?

- in terms of time and effort –

Depth and Breadth of the subjects but

Done at high speed!!!

Course Syllabus

It’s a description and a contract.

Attendance vs. grade

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Attendance

grade

It’s more than just attendance.

Read the text books.

Do all assignments on time.

Ask questions in class.

Never hesitate to ask a question outside of class

It’s more than just attendance.

Take advantage of offerings

See your advisor and talk to her/him

Office hours – we don’t bite!

Centers for Learning

Tutoring Center

Study Every Day

Studying for a small amount of time every day leads to deep learning.

Those who cram it all in during one session seldom know the material a week later and generally do worse on examinations.

Remember you are training for when you leave here!

Your degree is worth only

what you put into it!

Think.

Question.

Think.