The transition from high school to college is a lot bigger than many students realize. Help them make the most of their college academic experience with Academic Success—a six-part series filled with facts, hints, insights, and observations from experts in the field of education and from students who know the ropes. Topics include values and goals; time management; critical thinking and problem-solving; active listening and note-taking; researching, reading, and writing; and studying and test-taking.

Values and Goals

What are values? What are goals? And how are they connected? These questions are easy to ask, but they’re not so simple to answer. This three-section program combines commentary from educators and students with in-class exercise segments to explore the meaning of values and goals and illustrate how they steer and shape a person’s life—in college and beyond.

Time Management

Compared to high school, where the day is structured down to the minute, college is a blank do-it-yourself calendar. Classes, clubs, sports, part-time jobs…assignments, projects, exams…even time to hang out: all must be penciled in! Over the course of this three-section program, viewers will learn to side-step common time-management errors and plan out their semesters so they can take control of their time and enjoy a healthy work/life balance.

Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving

By defining critical thinking and examining how it’s applied to the process of problem-solving, this two-section program will show viewers how to handle whatever challenges come their way. An in-class discussion segment on critical thinking explains how to rationally assess a statement and express disagreement, while a similar segment on problem-solving considers what to do when preparing for what appears to be an overwhelmingly tough exam.

Active Listening and Note-Taking

Lectures and labs are the heart of the college academic experience, and for students eager to make the most of them, active listening and note-taking are powerful learning tools. This two-section program explains how to create a bulletproof listening/note-taking loop that ensures deeper understanding and better recall. Pre-class reading, in-class participation, and post-class review are stressed.

Researching, Reading, and Writing

Faced with a mountain of research to conduct, reading to do, and papers to write, students must work both efficiently and shrewdly. This three-section program tells how to identify and cite reliable online and offline sources of information, carve textbook chapters into manageable chunks, and outline and revise papers—all elements that are essential to getting the job done well.

Studying and Test-Taking

Studying is a process, not a last-minute event. It takes strategy to consistently make the grade—both before a test and during. This two-section program brings together educators and students to discuss things that viewers can do to increase their understanding of course material, enhance their ability to memorize, and improve their performance during exams.