At first glance, modules six and seven seem to have a lot of content. Please be reassured that it isn’t more work than usual, just a larger number of smaller readings. However, the module components are closely related, and one of your main goals will be to connect the topics.

The four key areas we will be exploring are academic boredom, concentration, mapping, and the final CPEL video.

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Academic Boredom

Academic Boredom is a research interest of mine, especially since it is not considered serious enough to have implications to college students, but the consequences of boredom do go well beyond an unpleasant feeling many students experience.

Start with this PowerPoint presentation that I created. For some reason, D2L has trouble converting this particular file so you will need to click the down arrow and select the option to download. This will open a small icon in the lower left hand corner of the screen and once the download is complete, you will want to open the file to view it.

Once you have viewed the PowerPoint, view this 12-minute video on boredom. The transcript for the video is available here.

Concentration

Concentration and academic boredom are connected. When you took the LASSI during the first weeks of class, one of the areas it assessed was Concentration. Start by looking up your LASSI score for Concentration to remind yourself of how you rated in this area. Look under “assessments” and click the number under “submissions.”

Review the information from this website. As you read it, consider whether you have lapses in concentration that may be attributed to environmental causes, physical conditions, and/or priorities and attitudes. You’ll notice that many of these areas have direct connections to academic boredom, and these connections will be further described on your visual map that you submit as the weekly assignment.

Mapping

Module Seven’s emphasis is on mapping. Mapping as a study strategy goes by different names, including mind mapping, bubble maps, or visual diagrams. For many students, it proves a more effective way of organizing information as an alternative to using a traditional outline or list. We are combining Modules Six and Seven because I would like you to experiment with mapping and assess its use in a way that is relevant to the course content. So, the major assignment for the week will be to make a map about academic boredom and concentration, the topics of Module Six.

Begin exploring the option of mapping by viewing these four links to see different examples of maps.

Example One

Example Two

Example Three

Example Four

Next, read the information on this website, which provides a general overview on mapping.

Finally, please go to this website. It’s a for-profit site that is selling a mapping program, but the content of this page is accurate and clear concerning the many uses for mapping.

Assignments

Assignment One: Create a Map about Boredom and Concentration

Your assignment is to create a map that connects key ideas from the week’s video, PowerPoint, and readings about boredom and concentration. Your map will not cover all of the week’s content, nor be a simple listing of what was included. Instead, it will be used to show connections among what you consider to be some of the most important ideas.

Maps may be drawn by hand or on computer software. Just as there are advantages and disadvantages of taking notes by hand versus on the computer, there are advantages and disadvantages of mapping by hand versus the computer.

In this case, though, I think that making maps using a computer is preferable to using paper and markers because it makes the mapping process faster, creates clearer maps, and allows for easier revisions. There is a program within Microsoft Office, called SmartArt, that I encourage you to use. If you have not used SmartArt before, watch this short tutorial, which is captioned. They are using an older version of Microsoft Office, but the steps are the same. Note that if you use Office online, SmartArt is not available, so you can either go to a lab computer or as a student you can download it for free as a feature of your technology fees here.

Decide if you want to use SmartArt or make the map by hand. If you draw the map by hand, you will need to find a larger, unlined piece of paper and have access to different colored pens or markers. If you use SmartArt, you will have a wider ranger of layouts and colors, and the potential for a more attractive design. There is a learning curve to using SmartArt, but watching the video and spending a few minutes experimenting with the program is all that it will take to learn how to use it, and it will prove itself handy in the future.

Your map will need to have at least 3 to 4 levels of information. This site describes what it means to have levels of information in a map. Figure 1 is a map with one level of information, Figure 2 has two levels of information, Figure 3 has three levels of information, and Figure 4 has four levels of information. If you use SmartArt, levels of information are indicated by the bullets, so if you have bullets that look like this, you have 4 levels of information:

Topic is Level One.
- Subtopic is Level Two.
  - Detail on Subtopic is Level Three.
    - Sub-detail on Detail is Level Four.

Here is another example layout of what the sidebar in SmartArt might resemble. Notice that the rules for mapping are not like the rules for outlining. You can have as many or as few subtopics, details, or subdetails as you wish. In outlining, there is a rule that if you have an A, you need a B, if you have an i., you need an ii., etc, but that is not true of maps. Also notice that there are four levels of information.

XXX
- XXX
- XXX
  - XXX
- XXX
XXX
- XXX
  - XXX
    - XXX
- XXX
XXX
XXX
- XXX
  - XXX
    - XXX
    - XXX
- XXX
- XXX
- XXX
  - XXX

Here is the same information as it appears in a SmartArt layout:

SmartArt image

Your outline needs to have at least 20 points of information. In this example, there are 20 bullets, meaning there are 20 points, meeting the assignment’s guidelines. Also note that there are 4 levels of information, also meeting the assignment’s guidelines.

If you make your map by hand, you will also need to meet these requirements.

Finally, this map will be submitted a little differently than other assignments. Rather than submitting to the dropbox, submit it to the designated discussion board so your classmates can view your connections. This is easy to do in SmartArt; just right-click on SmartArt map and select “Save as Picture.” That will save your image in a format that allows you to embed it directly into the message of the discussion board by opening to create a new message and clicking the image icon that looks like mountains and a sun. If you make your map on paper, the easiest thing to do is to take a photo of it, email that photo to yourself, and upload the .jpeg file, or you can scan the map, convert the scan to a .jpeg or other image file and upload it. Do not upload your map as an attachment, please.

Grading Rubric:

Your map will be graded holistically. These are the elements that will be assessed:

Did you create a map that has a logical structure?

Did your map make significant, thoughtful connections between boredom and concentration?

Did your map contain 3 or 4 levels of information?

Did your map contain at least 20 points of information?

Was your map free of spelling, grammatical and stylistic errors?

Assignment Two: View CPEL Video 5

Dr. Chew’s fifth video addresses what students should and should not do if they earn a bad grade on an exam. This video will be the basis for a discussion question and 3 quiz questions.

CPEL Video 5

CPEL Video 5 (Captioned)

Assignment Three: Discussion Questions

DQ One:

Take the Boredom Proneness Survey, which was briefly described in the boredom video. It downloads as an Excel file. As noted in the video, average scores range from between 81 and 117. Once you take the survey, privately consider your results and their impacts on you, either positively or negatively.

For the discussion question, choose two questions on the inventory that you feel might connect to college student’s study strategies and describe how a student with a propensity toward boredom might use these specific strategies to reduce or negate the negative effects of boredom.

Note that the creators of the BPS created the survey questions so that a “1” is not always the “best” nor is always the “worst.” The reason it’s an Excel file is because there is a complicated (and secret!) system for determining the scores.

DQ Two:

You have now watched all five videos in Dr. Chew’s series. From the videos, what are two concepts that you found to be the most helpful and relevant to you and why?At first glance, modules six and seven seem to have a lot of content. Please be reassured that it isn’t more work than usual, just a larger number of smaller readings. However, the module components are closely related, and one of your main goals will be to connect the topics.