At-risk
students
con-
sistently
underesti-
mate
the
time
required
to
do
assignments
and
overestimate
their
ahil-
ity
to
complete
assign-
ments
by
required
deadlines.
schedules
and
seject
a
time
and
place
for
extracurricular
activities
that
will
not
dis-
tract
them
from
their
main
agenda:
gradu-
ation
with
the
highest
GPA
possible.
Visioning
At-risk
college
students
also
need
help
in
identifying
what
they
want
to
accom-
plish
with
their
lives.
This
process
is
com-
monly
known
as
visioning,
goal
setting,
or
finding
one’s
passion.
Learning
increases
exponentially
when
one
1s
intrinsically
mo-
tivated
to
work
toward
personally
selected
goals.
Many
cducators
fail
to
help
students
develop
intrinsic
motivation
because
they
tocus
on
reasons
for
applving
oneself
and
working
toward
success.
This
approach
1s
self-defeating
for
two
major
reasons:
First,
students
from
middle-
and
upper-middle-
class
backgrounds
resist
believing
that
their
parents’
lifestyle
will
not
always
be
theirs,
while
students
from
disadvantaged
backgrounds
often
refuse
to
believe
they
are
worthy
of
the
lifestyle
taken
for
granted
by
others.
Second,
external
mot-
vation
Is
alwavs
an
outgrowth
of
a
rela-
tionship
between
the
student
and
the
edu-
caror.
If
a
student
has
a
negative
view
of
the
teacher-student
relationship,
he
or
she
will
resist,
often
at
all
costs,
anv
arrempt
at
external
motivation.
Many
at-risk
students
become
high-per-
formance
learners
the
instant
they
learn
to
identify
the
deepest
unmet
needs
of
ther
INET
PEISONs,
Or,
more
importantly,
to
clarify
what
thev
fear
the
most.
Though
some
evaluation
instruments
may
be
useful
in
revealing
the
inner
person,
this
work
oc-
curs
gradually.
Helping
students
to
visual-
ize
what
they
do
nor
want
to
become
can
often
be
far
more
powertul
than
offering
them
images
of
success.
Fear
is
commonly
thought
to
be
an
unacceptable
emotion,
but
a
rational,
balanced,
and
realistic
fear
of
prison,
public
humiliation,
and
loss
of
tcla-
tionships
has
successfully
motivated
many
people
not
to
commit
crimes.
When
stu-
dents
have
a
healthy
fear
of
not
graduating
with
their
class,
this
may
motivate
them
against
great
odds
to
graduate
m
order
to
avoid
the
shame
of
being
left
behind.
Learning
About
Learning
Styles
Instructors
can
facilitate
the
learning
for
at-risk
students
by
becoming
aware
of
the
work
of
psychologists
such
as
Howard
Gardner,
who
pioneered
the
concept
of
multiple
intelligences
in
the
early
1980s.!
In
his
book,
Frames
of
Mind,
Gardner
identitics
seven
different
intelligences
or
abilities
that
influence
students’
aptitudes
for
learning.
All
students,
to
one
degree
or
another,
display
linguistic
intelligence—
that
is,
they
are
able
to
use
language
to
ac-
complish
their
daily
responsibilities.
In
some
students,
particularly
those
who
excel
in
writing
ot
verbal
communication,
these
intelligences
are
more
refined.
any
students
display
musical,
logical-
mathematical,
spatial,
bodily-kinesthetic,
and
personal
intelli-
genes.
That
1s,
they
seem
to
perform
music
cftortlessly,
under-
stand
and
follow
difficult
mathematical
proofs
or
arguments,
conceptualize
how
parts
relate
to
the
whole,
play
sports
with
ease,
or
relate
confidently
to
people.
Gard-
ner’s
multiple-intelligence
theory
implies
that
there
are
many
equally
valid
wavs
to
accomplish
a
task.
Instructors
therefore
need
to
be
tlexible
in
allowing
students
to
solve
academic
problems.
Of
particular
import
to
teachers
1s
Gardner's
contention
that
the
various
n-
telligences
are
not
only
sets
of
aptitudes
but
also
means
of
knowledge
transmission.
Some
rasks
such
as
reading
literature,
writ-
ing
compositions,
or
giving
oral
presenta-
tions
through
the
use
of
books,
essavs,
sto-
rics,
pamphlets,
speeches,
recordings,
or
other
multimedia
presentations
naturally
build
on
linguistic
skills.
While
all
disci-
plines
to
one
degree
or
another
are
pre-
sented
via
linguistic
skills,
each
content
area
is
characterized
by
its
own
unique
n-
telligence.
Music
teachers
will
talk
about
musical
interpretation,
for
instance,
but
musical
intelligence
is
still
central.
Labora-
tory
experiments
will
require
demonstra-
tions
and
manipulation
of
technologies
and
materials.
Physical
activities
like
base-
ball
and
basketball
require
students
to
em-
ploy
bodily-kinesthetic
intelligence.
Central
to
the
transmission
of
all
of
these
content
areas
are
interpersonal
skills,
which
influence
how
the
instructor
and
students
relate
to
one
another.
To
be
suc-
cessful
in
teaching,
instructors
must
moti-
vate
their
students
to
want
to
learn,
which
requires
interpersonal
intelligence.
The
Russian
psychologist
L.
§.
Vyg-
tosky
suggested
that
we
learn
best
what-
ever
is
most
like
what
we
already
know.
The
implication
is
that
teaching
methods
that
favor
one
intelligence
may
not
be
suc-
cessful
with
students
whose
aptitudes
favor
another.
The
most
successful
lessons
em-
ploy
multiple
means
of
transmission.
A
lesson
presented
linguisticaily
may
be
more
effective
if
it
incorporates
logical
or
spatial
demonstrations
or
if
it
also
builds
on
positive
interpersonal
relationships
be-
tween
students
and
teacher.
Facilitating
Success
I.earning
is
neither
natural
nor
fun
for
at-risk
students,
but
fortunately,
there
are
things
that
teachers
and
administrators
can
do
to
encourage
their
success:
Challenge
at-risk
students.
Educators
should
encourage
at-risk
students
to
take
whatever
steps
are
required
to
improve
their
chances
for
success.
They
should
in-
form
students
of
the
positive
and
negauve
consequences
of
academic
performance.
At-risk
students
must
be
held
accountable
for
their
actions.
Thev
need
to
realize
that
a
low
GPA
can
result
in
their
being
dis-
missed
from
school.
Enrich
at-risk
students’
academic
experi-
ences.
Provide
at-risk
students
with
special
orienration
sessions
that
feature
hands-on
experiences
at
the
college’s
various
aca-
demic
enrichment
centers.
They
must
know
what
turorial
services
are
available
and
how
to
use
them.
Often,
this
means
literally
raking
rhe
students
to
various
campus
sites
and
providing
them
with
ac-
tual
assignments
that
can
be
completed
while
there.
Celebrate
at-risk
students’
small
suc-
cesses.
In
weekly
meetings,
spend
time
ADVENTIST
FDUCATION
«
ATRILAMAY
2000
35