Overview

The U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) offers the Strategies for Academic Success course to U.S. and international cadets based on a composite score. This score, developed by our admissions office to identify students who may need assistance in expanding their academic skills, compiles data from geographic regions, test scores, grades, and prior educational institutions. This course is part of the Academic Success Center, which also offers the Reading Enhancement Program, the Writing Center, the Graduate Studies Program, and the Quantitative Reasoning Center. All students are served through our center; however, there is special assistance for ESL students in the Writing Center and separate courses for Reading Enhancement and Strategies for Academic Success.

Currently, 56 international cadets representing 25 countries at USAFA participate in the 4-year exchange program. USAFA also operates exchanges with seven countries accounting for another 30 international cadets who study for one semester. The majority of international students are identified and enrolled in Strategies for Academic Success. In light of the differences in both educational and military institutions, this group performs extremely well academically.

Course Description and Requirements

Study Skills 101 (Strategies for Academic Success) is a two-semester-hour course course administered by the Academic Success Center in the fall for fourth-class cadets identified as “academically at-risk.” However, unidentified cadets occasionally volunteer to take this course. Students are given a reduced course load in the fall and spring semesters to help them adjust to the rigors of the academic, military, and physical training at the USAFA. Because of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) core requirements, students have a heavy course load of six courses per term for all 4 years. Those in Study Skills will normally take four courses in the fall semester, five in the spring semester and one more course during the summer. However, many of the international cadets are high achievers, and if they earn a grade point average of 3.0 or above, they can opt to take a sixth course in the spring instead of taking the additional course in the summer (USAFA Learning Strategies Syllabus, 2015).

Study Skills operates on a block system of forty 53-minute lessons. The first block of 10 lessons is devoted to learning styles, time management, goal setting, individual appointments, preparing for exams, test-taking techniques, and reading skills. The second and fourth blocks serve as a study hall during which students can make appointments for extra instruction with their teachers, go to the library, study in the classroom, or meet with their Study Skills instructor. The third block revisits time management as the key to success, mnemonics, note-taking, presentation skills, oral presentations, and library research. Requirements to pass the course include a one-page essay, “My Plan for Academic Success at the Academy,” and a final three-page paper, “My Plan to Excel at the Academy” along with an oral presentation on that topic. All of these are useful assignments because they model expectations in other courses. Cadets are required to give frequent presentations in all of their courses and in their squadrons. Cultural expectations are introduced and discussed throughout the course for international students (USAFA Curriculum Handbook, 2015).

It is crucial that international students comprehend U.S. expectations of student performance. One of the most common complaints that I hear is: “In my country the teacher explains everything in class.” As most have come from a teacher-centered experience, it’s a difficult adjustment to be made responsible for large chunks of learning outside of classroom time. Many of our international students are products of Freire’s (1993) banking concept of education; Freire asserts, “Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiqués and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat.” No wonder students are frustrated with all of the presentations, papers, projects, quizzes, and required participation, much of which must be done electronically. According to authors Greenlbatt and Eland in their article “U.S. Classroom Culture,” a publication by NAFSA Association of International Educators, it would seem overwhelming to some students to navigate this new system. Although approaches can vary by discipline and be combined, the authors describe the teacher-centered approach as one governed by lecture, where the instructor is the authority in the subject area and whose role is to explain and interpret material while the students are expected to complete reading assignments, listen, take notes, memorize, and regurgitate memorized material on exams and papers.  On the other hand, the learner-centered approach, widely used in the U.S., favors discussion, groups, pairs, and critical thinking while applying theory to practice.  The teacher using this approach is viewed as a facilitator rather than a director. Students are thus expected to think critically and express their own views and interpretations of texts in class. Computers are central to the learner-centered approach and students are often required to participate in online discussions with both the instructor and peers. (2004). These very different approaches often lead to not only frustration, but confusion, so it is imperative that these differences be carefully examined in class.

Student Feedback

Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. As you will note, I have maintained the authentic writing of the students’ feedback and papers.

“I think this course was very interesting and useful. Personally for me, it helped me to organize and manage my personal and academic time wisely. There were many useful advices such as planner, studying approaches etc.” (Kazakhstan)

“Ma’am, the scheduling exercises were the best thing I took out of that class…making those schedules and learning different techniques to keep track of our classes was a great tool.” (Pakistan)

As students participate in our low-context culture with high expectations for punctuality, time management is key to their success. Tardiness and late papers are unacceptable. Cadets are required to keep a detailed monthly and weekly calendar, which is reviewed at the beginning of every class and during individual appointments. Although many keep electronic calendars, we encourage the use of paper planners to circumvent computer or connectivity issues.

Student Plans to Excel

The course ends with a paper and oral presentation on their final plan to excel, and the following comments demonstrate an understanding of U.S. expectations in tertiary institutions.

“Now that I learned that you can easily get professor’s points by participating in class. Participating in class will not only make me an active student but will also demonstrate that I read the material…No man is an island. And I am no exceptional. We all need help. I am not used to American system of education, for this reason. I will always check in with my papers on QRC or Writing Center before they are due.” (Rwanda)

“Start a healthy time-management, stop ‘switchtasking’, and continue doing things in advance; these are the components of my plan in achieving a continued academic success.” (Philippines)

The course reinforces the importance of time management and other study skills over the course of a semester, along with frequent individual appointments to review grades, schedules, and other needs. The cadets are poised for continued success at the USAFA and beyond.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Air Force, The Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

References

Freire, P. (1993) Pedagogy of the oppressed. Retrieved from http://faculty.webster.edu/corbetre/philosophy/education/freire/freire-2.html

Smithee, M., Greenblatt, S. L., & Eland, A. (2004) U.S. culture series: U.S. classroom culture. Washington, DC: NAFSA Association of International Educators. Retrieved from http://www.nafsa.org/
Resource_Library_Assets/Publications_Library/
U_S__Culture_Series__U_S__Classroom_Culture

U.S. Air Force Academy. (2015). Curriculum handbook. Colorado Springs, CO. Retrieved from http://www.usafa.edu/df/dfr/curriculum/handbook.cfm?catname=dfr2.

U.S. Air Force Academy. (2015). Learning strategies 101 syllabus. Colorado Springs, CO.

Constance Leonard teaches English for Academic Purposes, Reading Enhancement, and Study Skills for International Students at the U.S. Air Force Academy. She has taught and trained teachers in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Yemen, the United States, Greece, and Cambodia.