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Title: Making the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds by Richard J. Light ISBN: 0-674-00478-7 Publisher: Harvard University Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.32 (31 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A Must Read for Every College Freshman!
Comment: This book is a report on an assessment project initiated by Harvard and directed by Mr. Light. The project assesses how various aspects of life at college - both in and out of the classroom - contribute to an overall learning, growing experience for the undergraduate.
Mr. Light places great value on listening to what students had to say about their own college experiences. In fact, by conservative estimate, perhaps at least one third of the content of this book is material quoted from the students who were interviewed. The book contains countless candid comments, observations and reflections from students regarding their experiences at college. The findings are recounted in anecdotal form which makes for interesting and engrossing reading. This is not a dry reporting of findings - it is, rather, filled with personal stories from the lives of students. At least one "overarching theme" was revealed through the interviews: that of "the interplay, the complex interaction, among different parts of campus life." (p. 209)
Who is this book for?
· of equal benefit to students, faculty and administrators
· provides potentially useful advice and suggestions for all parties involved in the education process of undergraduates
· While some of the material presented would seem to be advice directed toward students, it can also prove helpful to faculty and administrators as a way to give some insight to the mind, emotions and life of the students they are there to serve.
Because it is anecdotal and personal with many lengthy quoted stories from students, this book is an easy and enjoyable read. It would be quite accessible for students and might make a good read for freshman orientation classes. I'd certainly suggest any college bookstore sell and prominently display this book at the opening of each school year. However, for this purpose, I would want to see a paperback version with a colorful cover to appeal to students.
Content summary:
Following an introduction, chapter 2 ("Powerful Connections") discusses how beneficial it is for students to integrate various aspects of their lives in college.
Chapter 3 ("Suggestions from Students") reviews many of the different kinds of extracurricular activities students partake in.
Chapter 4 ("The Most Effective Classes") looks at various ways that pedagogy can contribute to effective learning. Some concrete ideas are mentioned that faculty reading this might incorporate in their own classes. This chapter also takes a specific look at issues related to science and foreign language classes.
Chapter 5 ("Good Mentoring and Advising"): the most important advice for students: get to know at least one faculty member reasonably well and have that faculty member get to know you reasonably well. (p. 86)
Chapter 6 ("Faculty Who Make a Difference") looks at what "good" teachers do.
The remaining three chapters (one third of the book) deal with issues of diversity on American college campuses. I found these chapters exciting and almost inspiring! I can see students reading these chapters and being inspired to take active steps to build personal relationships across ethnic, racial and religious lines. Chapter 7 ("Diversity on Campus") discusses the ways diversity provides for rich learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom. Chapter 8 ("Learning from Differences") begins with an extensive look at religious differences (of personal interest to me). There are several kinds of learning noted here that can take place through an exposure to religious diversity. This chapter also discusses the value of diversity in living arrangements to add to the learning experience. In fact, much of this learning does not take place in a religion class but, rather, in the larger context of the college campus. Chapter 9 ("What College Leaders Can do") reinforces the findings of the prior two chapters by stressing that the college sets the pace and models the encouragement to look on diversity as a positive and potential learning experience.
Rating: 5
Summary: Superb book - a scientist writes clearly about education.
Comment: I read "Making the Most of "College" both as a faculty member at a major university, and also as the parent of three children. It is great. I recommend it highly and especially appreciate Light's capacity to write about college in a way I have never seen before.
My own interest is in helping undergraduates to succeed at my university. I have heard Light present his work several times at higher education Conferences, yet they were always full of survey details and regression equations and crosstabs. Great science, yet not always accessible to readers like me who are not statistically trained.
In this book, Light has clearly made the effort to write in a way that presents all his findings, and does so in a way that is easily and enoyably readable to a history professor like me. His anecdotes are full of both wisdom and insights about why some classes work especially well, what students can do to choose classes and professors and activities wisely, and what professors like me can do to facilitate the whole process.
For me the key finding is how faculty can help students to connect their academic work in classrooms with their 'real-world' interests. Light offers specific suggestions and examples both for me as a professor, and also for my students. Thank you Professor Light!
I especially love the anecdotes throughout the book. And while all of my colleagues have recommended this book to me, I notice a couple of reviewers seem to think those anecdotes aren't 'scientific' enough. They seem to want an academic, research report written for statisticians. Full of equations and survey details. My reaction is, with great respect, exactly the opposite. Having seen several reports and an earlier book Light has published that are full of graphs and equations and survey details, I was so pleased to encounter a wise, readable book. Without equations.
This is not a research report - - its strength is precisely that it is based on solid research, yet is now a beautifully written book about the college experience.
I bought a copy of this book for each of my own children, and also have urged our president to get a copy for each faculty member. The author may be at Harvard, yet his suggestions for choices that both students and faculty can implement to "Make the Most of College" certainly apply at my university, and I suspect they apply at most others.
The book's excellence reflects how finally a scientist has figured out how to write clearly for non-scientists about the most important experience they might have -- their years at college. Light has turned survey data and interviews into a highly readable book. I recommend it strongly.
Rating: 1
Summary: "You didn't go to HARVARD, so you suck"
Comment: This book should be on the harvard reading list. The author is big - headed and won't let you forget that he's from Harvard, and rubs it in about Ivy Leagues.
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Title: Been There, Should've Done That II : More Tips for Making the Most of College by Suzette Tyler ISBN: 0965608611 Publisher: Front Porch Press (MI) Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: How Minority Students Experience College: Implications for Planning and Policy by Lemuel W. Watson, Melvin C Terrell, Doris J. Wright, Fred Bonner, Michael Cuyjet ISBN: 1579220495 Publisher: Stylus Publishing (VA) Pub. Date: 01 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
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Title: The Shape of the River by William G. Bowen, Derek Bok ISBN: 0691050198 Publisher: Princeton University Press Pub. Date: 04 January, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Promise and Dilemma by Eugene Y. Lowe ISBN: 0691004897 Publisher: Princeton University Press Pub. Date: 08 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $47.50 |
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Title: Thinking About Teaching and Learning: Developing Habits of Learning With First Year College and University Students by Robert Leamnson ISBN: 1579220134 Publisher: Stylus Publishing (VA) Pub. Date: 01 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
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