Habits of Mind:
Designing Courses for Student Success
Edited by Julia M. Gossard & Chris Babits
Although content knowledge remains at the heart of college teaching and learning, instructors have started to recognize that we must also provide twenty-first-century college students with transferable skills to prepare them for their futures (Vazquez, 2020; Hazard, 2012; Ritchhart, 2015; Venezia & Jaeger, 2013). In order to “grow their capacity as efficacious thinkers to navigate and thrive in the face of unprecedent change,” students should learn important skills and strategies throughout their educational careers (Costa, Kallick, and Zmuda, 2022). Utah State University instructors are particularly adept at providing these competencies and skills in introductory, mid, advanced, and even career-preparation courses. Habits of Mind: Designing Courses for Student Success brings together transformative Utah State University instructors to highlight their experiences in developing “Habits of Mind” assignments and frameworks in their courses, ensuring student success along the way.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements & Land Acknowledgement | Dedication | Contributors
Introduction
Julia M. Gossard and Chris Babits
SECTION I: STARTING
Chapter 1: Using Habits of Mind to Reduce DFWI Rates in a Gateway History Course
Chris Babits
Chapter 2: Preparing Students with Habits of Mind for the First Day of Class
Jennifer Grewe
Chapter 3: Improving the general education experience through equitable and inclusive pedagogical practices
Cree Taylor
Chapter 4: With Sustainability in Mind: Twelve Habits of Mind for a Successful Learning Experience in the Second-Language Classroom and Beyond
Doris McGonagill
Chapter 5: Structure for Success: Incorporating Habits of Mind into Online Courses
Missy Kofoed
SECTION II: REFLECTING
Chapter 6: #DigitalPowerups: Creating safe and brave spaces in online discussions to support student choice and voice
Leonard Henderson, Travis Thurston, Mehmet Soyer, Gonca Soyer, and Josie Tollefson
Chapter 7: Learning Beyond Content: Using Weekly Reflection to Promote Student Confidence and Lifelong Learning
Nichelle Frank
Chapter 8: Making Asynchronous Online Discussions Meaningful: An Introduction to The Pioneer Method with Robust Scaffolding
Matthew D. LaPlante
Chapter 9: “I’m just not good at history”: Fostering a Growth Mindset with Habits of Mind
Julia M. Gossard
Chapter 10: Mindful Teaching, Leadership, and Reflection Practices
Jessie Koltz
Chapter 11: Hindsight is 20/20: The role of reflection in learning
Jenifer Evers
SECTION III: GROWING
Chapter 12: Weaving purposeful worlds of discovery: Merging CliftonStrengths® with Habits of Mind for low income, first-generation students
Kimberly Hiatt, Kelsey Bushman, Heather Lyman, and Sarah Gosney
Chapter 13: Habits of Mind Courses for College Success: Empowering Students to Plan and Read
Melanie Chambers and Sharon Lyman
Chapter 14: How Instructors Can Help Students Embrace a Growth Mindset: The Importance of Applying Theory to Practice
Antje R. H. Graul and Ayse Sapci
Chapter 15: Leap and the Net Will Appear: Risk-taking and Creative Flexibility in the Face of the Unknown
Raymond Veon
Chapter 16: If at First You Don’t Succeed: Promoting a Growth Mindset by Quelling Student Fear of Failure
Jason Twede
Chapter 17: TikTok is not peer reviewed: Modifying assignments to nurture Habits of Mind
Rachel Robison-Greene
SECTION IV: MOORING
Chapter 18: “An Amazing Change in Mindset”: Student Psychosocial Development and Social Science Research Methods
Sarah Tulane and Travis Thurston
Chapter 19: “I see research questions everywhere”: Developing Metacognitive Skills in an English-Major Research Methods Course
Joyce Kinkead, John Draeger, and Jill K. Singer
Chapter 20: Service-learning and community-engaged projects for international and domestic students
Ekaterina Arshavskaya
Chapter 21: Searching as learning: A scaffolded approach to the research paper assignment
Karin deJonge-Kannan
Chapter 22: Developing Classroom Management Skills: Leveraging Habits of Mind in Pre-Service Teacher Education
Rachel K. Turner
Afterword
Julia M. Gossard and Chris Babits
Book Details
Recommended APA Citation
Gossard, J. & Babits, C. (Eds.) (2023). Habits of mind: Designing courses for student success. Utah State University.
Habits of Mind Podcast
Coming Summer 2024
About Empower Teaching Open-Access Series
The Empower Teaching Open-Access Book Series features a variety of peer-reviewed books focused broadly on the multi-disciplinary work of teaching in higher education. Books in the series align with the mission of the Center for Empowering Teaching Excellence (ETE) to bolster the culture of teaching excellence for students, staff, faculty and administrators. The books in this series share insightful and innovative perspectives on teaching and learning, and through a partnership with USU Libraries the books are offered in an online and open-access format to amplify the voices of authors and contributors in the series.