William P. Clement
Temporary Special Lecturer
Department of Geosciences
Boise State University,
Boise,
Idaho
Office: Math/Geosciences Room 131
Office Hours: 3:00-4:00 PM, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thrusday, but I am always happy to
talk with students!!
Telephone: (208) 426-3645
email: wclement@boisestate.edu
Here is a list of critical competencies for citizens and workers from leaders in business, industry, and government (Gardiner, 1994):
You should keep these competencies in mind throughout your Boise State experience. Mastering these skills will make you employable. Notice that not one of the items on the list mention “knowing the subject”. That comes under lifelong learning, epsecially in our fast changing society. Your Boise State education is much more than learning the material from your classes. Take advantage of the fantastic opportunities at Boise State to broaden your interests and knowledge!
The Association of American Colleges and Universities looks at issues that are of concern to Higher Education. An exerpt (in either pdf or jpg format) from their report Liberal Education Outcomes: A Preliminary Report on Student Achievement in College lists skills that business people consider important. The Association of American Colleges and Universities is an association that helps Colleges and Universities improve student education and Higher Education governance.
Here is a list of books about Geology that are for the non-Scientist:
For those interested in Idaho Geology, the book Exploring Idaho Geology by Terry Maley is an easy read at an enjoyable level. Also, the web site the Digital Atlas of Idaho contains alot of great information about Idaho geology as well as its Natural History. I recommend that you check it out. Rocks, Rails, and Trails is another excellent web resource about Idaho geology and history. This site is the “digitized” version of the book of the same name. The book, by Paul Link and E. Chilton Phoenix details the geology and history of Southeastern Idaho. The site is another excellent source about Idaho's geology.
Fundamentals of Geology Texts
Environmental Geology Texts
Historical Geology Texts
Paleontology Texts
Here is an excellent link to help you understand trigonometric functions. From this page are other excellent links. Especially look at the Unit Circle in Trigonometry and sin(x), cos(x) and tan(x) link near the bottom of the page. This webpage shows how the trigonometric functions are related to the unit circle. Check out the tutorial! Other good pages from the trigonometric functions webpage are the sin(x), cos(x), etc. links. Once at these pages, click the tutorial button. These sites show the general form of the trigonometric functions and how changes to one of the parameters, a, b, c, d, change the shape of the plot of the trigomometic function.
This site provides a crash review of Trigonomety. You may find it useful as well. It is always a good idea to brush up on your Trigonometry if you haven't used it for a while.
I have developed a webpage that has much useful information to better your writing. This page also has a link to help you write critical book reviews. A critical book review by Randy Moore of the book Not In Our Classrooms edited by Eugenie C. Scott, NCSE’s executive director. This review is one example of a critical book review, although it is shorter than what you will produce. Other examples are:
Academic Support Services at Boise State is provided to help you improve your chance at success at Boise State. They have tips on how to study, take notes, prepare for exams, take exams, etc. Academic Support Services is an excellent resource to improve learning skills and therefore enjoy Boise State more. As part of Academic Support Services is a webpage called the Study Skills Resource Center. Many helpful links to improve the quality of your study habits are at this site. I urge you to at least look at this site. I found many interesting and helpful ideas here! For example, here is a link to help you set up study groups.
The Cornell Method for Note-taking is a simple system for note-taking and organizing your notes. The link is to a pdf file. The method suggests that you use telegraphic sentences. I had to look this up. In their book How to Study for College, Pauk and Owens indicate that “[t]he best way to take notes is telegraphically. Long before e-mail and the fax machine were invented, important business and personal messages were sent by telegraph. The sender paid by the word; the fewer the words, the lower the cost. To save valuable time when you’re taking notes, leave out unneccessary words such as articles (a, an, the), abbreviate words you use often, and streamline definitions by using a colon (:) or a dash (-).”
Rio Salado College in Tempe, AZ has a nice webpage on how to read a textbook. I wish I had this strategy when I was in college. Some of these are ideas are good study tips in general.
I found a webpage that has the steps to problem solving recommended in the book How To Solve It: A new aspect of Mathematical Method by George Polya. The webpage was written by Peter Alfeld, a math professor at the University of Utah. He has some other links on this website that you might find helpful and interesting.
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Styles. You might find it interesting to see the levels of knowledge proposed by Bloom, a seminal pioneer in learning styles.
Prof. Richard Felder is a Chemical Engineering Emeritus Professor at North Carolina State University. He is a highly regarded engineering professor who focuses on learning and engineering education.
Vark Guide to Learning Styles. Here is another survey to find your learning style.
Characteristics of a Successful Student from Cuesta College.
The Critical Thinking Community is an organization to help you learn how to think critically. Here, you will find a definition of Critical Thinking. Another good link at this site is the Critical Mind is A Questioning Mind, an essay about critical thinking.
You may find the books Studying Engineering: A Road Map to a Rewarding Career by Raymond B. Landis (available from Discovery Press) or How To Study In College by Walter Pauk and Ross J. Q. Owens helpful.
Studying Engineering discusses the engineering profession and provides a lot of helpful information to succeed in your studies. The book also discusses the different types of engineering and provides information to help with your job search, either for summer employment or full-time work after graduation. I found this book informative about the engineering profession, study skills, and job searches.
How To Study In College is a basic book that discusses studying strategies for success in College. This book goes into more detail about studying, note-taking, and reading strategies than Studying Engineering. However, this book does not cover the engineering profession or job seeking skills. The book is aimed at a broader student audience.
Many other good books to help you study and succeed are available. I offer this list as a starting place (I got these books from Boise State’s Library.):
A book aimed at problem solving is How To Solve It: A new aspect of Mathematical Method by George Polya. This book is highly regarded and often recommended to help improve your problem solving skills.
An excellent book for Calculus is titled Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus P. Thompson and Martin Gardner. (Yeah, I know, Calculus and Easy should never appear in the same title.) The book was written in 1904 and has recently been re-printed (1998). The book explains calculus as a scientist would use it. I think it is a useful source to refresh your calculus or to use to help solve geophysical problems. I really enjoyed the book and found it quite revealing. Read it to understand the physical concepts of calculus.
A book I found unexpectedly fascinating is Wins, Losses, and Lessons: An Autobiography by Lou Holtz, the retired football coach. This book is not really about football; it is about the importance of learning throughout life. When I started reading it, I thought it would be a rather poorly written, corny coach’s memoir. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the book and how much I learned from it. Some of the terms Holtz uses, like “learning how to learn” are the same terms as books on teaching use. Holtz is a strong proponent of life-long learning and taking advantage of opportunities.
I am an avid mystery reader and I have found several authors whose mysteries focus on Geology or take place in a wonderful geologic setting, or both. Some of the “detectives” are geologists, others are just into the “Great Outdoors” and happen to stumble onto murder in beautiful, scenic spots of Geological interest. Here is a starter list for you:
I have listed some articles about learning or math that you may find interesting. Read them if you wish in your spare time. Let me know what you think about them. Are they interesting? Worthwhile? Motivating?
Last updated September 21, 2009 by wclement@boisestate.edu.
© William P. Clement 2009
