AAA 090 Course Overview
AAA 090 is the first year experience (FYE) course currently offered at Aims Community College. FYE courses introduce students to the academic expectations of college, connect them to resources and create settings for them to interact with faculty and each other. They are currently offered by almost 90% of U.S. institutions of higher education. The movement to offer FYE courses has grown in the past 30 years due to empirical research validating the positive impact to student success including correlations of FYE courses with increased first to second year retention.
Instructor Requirements
AAA 090 Course Description
Develops personalized approaches to learn and succeed for easier transition into college. Topics include goal-setting, time management, textbook reading strategies, note-taking, test-taking, listening techniques, concentration and memory devices, and critical thinking for student success. Three credits
Specialized Class Sections
Career Themed
- Human Services – This course is designed for students intending to pursue careers related to families and human needs such as social workers, counselors, psychologists and non-profits sectors. (Pilot Fall 2015)
- Education- This course is designed for students intending to pursue careers in early childhood education, K-12 teaching and higher education. (Pilot Fall 2015)
- Allied Health – This course is designed for students intending to pursue careers in healthcare including medical clinical assisting, nursing, surgical technology, radiologic technology, etc.
- Business - This course is designed for students intending to pursue careers in business such as accounting, marketing, management, banking, human resources, finance, government, legal, small business, etc.
- Veterans - This course is specifically designed for students who are former veterans and active duty members of the United States Armed Forces. Curriculum is geared toward assisting in the transition from military life to a college environment. (Pilot Fall 2015)
Linked
- MAT 050 & AAA 090 - The AAA 090 content will also provide extra support to MAT 050 increasing the relevance of study skills to math success. (Pilot Fall 2015)
* The benefits of "specialized" sections students include the community and connections that students make with each other within a student cohort as well as study groups formed. Students also have a greater ability to learn more about their intended career/degree program of their choice and find out early on if it's a right fit for them.
Growth Mindset (Overarching epistemological foundation)
- Stanford Psychology professor Carol Dweck began her research on mindset when she observed people have very different reactions to failure – some were defeated by it and some strangely fueled by it. From her research she found that it was due to the person’s underlying belief about their intelligence and abilities and coined the terms – growth and fixed mindset to explain the difference. The concept of Growth Mindset is incorporated throughout AAA from a Growth Mindset Essay, to a Visioning Assignment, to future “SMART” Goal setting.
Carol Dweck: The power of believing that you can improve
Why Take AAA Video!
Bachelor's degree in education, English, reading, psychology, sociology, human services, communication studies OR bachelor’s degree in any academic discipline AND 18 graduate hours in education, counseling, psychology, sociology or closely related discipline.