Final Course Evaluation, May 9-15

Your last online assignment is to evaluate your own progress in this course and also evaluate this class and the instructor.  You will be graded on simply completing the assignment and not on your comments.  Your evaluation of this class is important to me so that I can improve this class in the future.  

You can write anything you want or use the following questions as a guide or to get ideas about what to write.  Your post should be at least 200 words.  I appreciate all of your comments.  It was great having each one of you in my class this semester. 

1. Complete the Post Test on CollegeScope.  It is located after Chapter 14.  Look at your results and comment on the progress you made in this course.
2. Please tell what you liked about this class and how it was useful to you.
3. Do you have any suggestions for improving the class?
4. What is your evaluation of our e-text, College and Career Success Online?
5. What is your evaluation of the personality assessment, Do What You Are (Introvert, Extravert, Sensing, Intuitive, Thinking, Feeling, Judging, and Perceptive)?
6. The MI Advantage which measures multiple intelligences is new and you are some of the first students to use it.  The purpose of this assessment is to help students think positively about their strengths (Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Logical-Mathematical, Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Linguistic, Naturalist and Existential).  This assessment matched your personal strengths to careers.  What is your evaluation of this assessment and did you find it useful?
7. Was this class helpful learning about yourself in order to choose a major or confirm your choice of a major?
8. Did this class improve your chances for success in college?
9. What is your overall evaluation of this class?  (Outstanding, excellent, satisfactory, or needs improvement)
10. Please rate the instructor (me).  What was good and what could be improved?  

Chapter 14, Looking Toward the Future, May 9-15

Over the years of my working with students, one of the lifetime goals most mentioned is "happiness." I'm not sure if we know what happiness is or when we have accomplished this goal. I read a book on the topic, Authentic Happiness, by Martin Seligman. He is a psychologist who actually teaches college courses on this topic. The following are some excerpts from his text. Please read these excerpts, think about them and add your comments. 

Excerpts from Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman:

Real happiness comes from identifying, cultivating and using your personal strengths in work, love, play and parenting. Seligman contrasts happiness with hedonism. He says that a hedonist "wants as many good moments and as few bad moments as possible in life." He states that hedonism is a shortcut to happiness that leaves us feeling empty. For example, we often assume that more material possessions will make us happy. However, the more material possessions we have, the greater the expectations and we no longer appreciate what we have. 

Seligman suggests some ideas to increase happiness. 1. Realize that the past does not determine your future. The future is open to possibilities. 2. Be grateful for the good events of the past and place less emphasis on the bad events. 3. Build positive emotions through forgiving and forgetting. 4. Work on increasing optimism and hope for the future. 5. Find out what activities make you happy and engage in them. Spread these activities out over time so that you will not get tired of them. 6. Take the time to savor the happy times. 7. Take time to enjoy the present moment. 8. Build more flow into your life. Flow is the state of gratification we feel when totally absorbed in an activity that matches our strengths. 

Write your comments on these ideas. What does happiness mean to you?

Share some of your intention statements for the future. You can make two posts of 100 words each or one post of 200 words. 

Your postings have been inspiring and awesome. Best wishes for the future! 

Chapter 13, Appreciating Diversity, May 2-8

One of the most exciting scientific accomplishments of this century is Human Genome Project which is the cataloging of human genes. This will lead to great understanding of the human body and advance medical science. One of the most important findings is that while human beings differ in outward appearance, the genetic structure of all human beings is 99.9% identical. These researchers agree that there is only one race, the human race. 

However we continue to struggle with the concept of appreciating diversity, and discrimination and prejudice still exist in many forms. For example, you may have been discriminated against because of your ethnic group, religion, height, weight, gender, disability, or even academic skills. For this discussion, give an example of a circumstance where you have experienced or witnessed discrimination. Any ideas on how to reduce discrimination? 

I will share an example of discrimination that I experienced. I started my doctoral program at USC when I was 8 months pregnant. After the first class the professor took me aside and suggested that I drop out of the program because of my family situation. I was really angry and decided to show him that I would finish. I am happy to report that I was one of the first three students to finish the program. Since I had a family, I had no time to waste.

At Cuyamaca College, we have many Chaldean students who are Christians who have emigrated from Iraq to avoid religious persecution. Since the attacks of 9-11, this group has faced discrimination at our college and in our community. Whenever there is anything about terrorism in the news, many students who are from the Middle East suffer discrimination even though they have nothing to do with terrorism. Any comments on this? 

This week you can make one post of 200 words (instead of 2 of 100 words each) if you want since the topic of appreciating diversity or describing incidents of discrimination might need more words.