Learning to learn is the key skill for tomorrow. This breakthrough book builds the foundation every student needs, from freshman orientation to graduate school. The second edition of this bestselling student text has been considerably updated with the latest findings from cognitive science that further illuminate learning for students, and help them understand what's involved in retaining new information. Beyond updating every chapter with insights from new research, this edition introduces a range of additional topics - such as cognitive load, learned helplessness, and persistence - all of which provide students with immediately usable information on how to regulate their lives to maximize learning and fulfillment in college. The premise of this book remains that brain science shows that most students' learning strategies are highly inefficient, ineffective or just plain wrong; and that while all learning requires effort, better learning does not require more effort, but rather effectively aligning how the brain naturally learns with the demands of intellectual work. This book explicates for students what is involved in learning new material, how the human brain processes new information, and what it takes for that information to stick, even after the test. This succinct book explains straightforward strategies for changing how to prepare to learn, engage with course material, and set about improving recall of newly learned material at will. This is not another book about study skills and time management strategies, but instead an easy-to-read description of the research about how the human brain learns in a way that students can put into practice right away.

A mentor, advisor, or even a friend? Making connections in college makes all the difference. What single factor makes for an excellent college education? As it turns out, it's pretty simple: human relationships. Decades of research demonstrate the transformative potential and the lasting legacies of a relationship-rich college experience. Critics suggest that to build connections with peers, faculty, staff, and other mentors is expensive and only an option at elite institutions where instructors have the luxury of time with students. But in this revelatory book brimming with the voices of students, faculty, and staff from across the country, Peter Felten and Leo M. Lambert argue that relationship-rich environments can and should exist for all students at all types of institutions. In Relationship-Rich Education, Felten and Lambert demonstrate that for relationships to be central in undergraduate education, colleges and universities do not require immense resources, privileged students, or specially qualified faculty and staff. All students learn best in an environment characterized by high expectation and high support, and all faculty and staff can learn to teach and work in ways that enable relationship-based education. Emphasizing the centrality of the classroom experience to fostering quality relationships, Felten and Lambert focus on students' influence in shaping the learning environment for their peers, as well as the key difference a single, well-timed conversation can make in a student's life. They also stress that relationship-rich education is particularly important for first-generation college students, who bring significant capacities to college but often face long-standing inequities and barriers to attaining their educational aspirations. Drawing on nearly 400 interviews with students, faculty, and staff at 29 higher education institutions across the country, Relationship-Rich Education provides readers with practical advice on how they can develop and sustain powerful relationship-based learning in their own contexts. Ultimately, the book is an invitation--and a challenge--for faculty, administrators, and student life staff to move relationships from the periphery to the center of undergraduate education.

The author of the best-selling What the Best College Teachers Do is back with humane, doable, and inspiring help for students who want to get the most out of their education. The first thing they should do? Think beyond the transcript. Use these four years to cultivate habits of thought that enable learning, growth, and adaptation throughout life.