A focus on self assessment of strengths and goal setting. The text has been revised to help students focus on purpose and motivation — and to combat disengagement in this course. A new section on goal setting in Chapter 1 gets students thinking early. Assessing Your Strengths and Setting Goals boxes ask students to set goals and Stay on Track exercises at the end of each chapter asks students to assess how to apply strengths to current and future academic work.
Strategies for student retention. The Instructors Annotated Edition includes clearly marked Retention Strategies in every chapter: best-practices from John Gardner and Betsy Barefoot for keeping students in school. Additional instructor supplements include an Instructor's Manual, a computerized Test Bank, the French Fries Are not Vegetables 30-minute documentary, and PowerPoint slides.
Chapter-opening profiles reflect today's diverse student population. Each chapter of the text opens with a true story of a recent first-year student who has used the strategies in the chapter to succeed in college. Students come from diverse backgrounds and attend all kinds of colleges around the country.
Critical thinking questions and exercises in every chapter. Features, photos, and exercises include activities to help students master concepts and think critically about the material.
An increased focus on technology and learning. Tech Tips in every chapter ask students to apply many of the technology skills they may already have in an academic setting.
A how-to on avoiding plagiarism. A new feature in Chapter 10 addresses how to recognize and avoid plagiarism — especially important in this age of cutting and pasting from the Web.