Scholars Fall Orientation Presentation
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Scholars 2014 Fall Orientation Presentation
Wednesday, August 13, 2014, 12:00-1:30 PM, SC 212
Scholars Cabinet
President: Agnessa Kasumyan
Vice President: Anush Kadoyan
Secretary: Ani Hakobyan
Treasurer: Dikran Matevosyan
Campus Relations Director: Sophie Mirzaian
Ambassador: Svetlana Davtyan
Marketing: Reef Oldberg, Mohamed El-Farra, Renita Moradian
Fundraising: Patrick Novshadian, Karin Saran, Nineli Mirabian
Community Service: Mineli Tarverdian, Misak Khachatryan, Kristie Nassar, Erica Stepanian
Events: Emile Giragosian, Andrew Ovakimyan, Lilia Iskandaryan
Journal: Pauline Pechakjian, Naris Barseghian, Ani Mosinyan
IOC Representatives: Melvin Dilanchian and Martin Zakarian
Michael C. Harnett [hár–net], Ph. D.
Professor of English and Humanities
Scholars Program Director
Main Email: mharnett@glendale.edu
Alternate Email: mharnettgcc@gmail.com
Office: LB 211. I will be moving into LB 216.
A.B., English (Honors), USC
M.A., English, The Claremont Graduate University
Ph. D., Educational Psychology, UCSB. Specialization: Motivation.
I also attended The University of Texas at Austin for graduate coursework in
Linguistics, English, and English Education. I won a National Endowment for the
Humanities grant to study Romanticism and William Blake at UC Berkeley as
well.
I have been teaching since 1986, since 1997 at GCC. I was Interim Director last
year, and this is my first year of a 3-year appointment as Scholars Director.
Welcome to Scholars! In my job description as Scholars Director, you are
described as “motivated and academically advanced students” showing “the
potential for success” and who are about to embark on “a rigorous curriculum
that emphasizes critical thinking, in-depth analysis of issues, research
experience, and evaluation of problems across a variety of disciplines.” We
“prepare [you] for transfer to the four-year institution through mentorship
opportunities, activities, and research…” We seek “to create a social environment
that will develop the students’ sense of altruism and social conscience.” We also
aim “to help foster an academic and social environment that will provide [you]
with leadership training, opportunities for tutoring, and engagement with the
campus and larger community.” So Scholars is all about supporting you. It is
my great pleasure and honor to do so.
Job Description/Responsibilities:
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Meet weekly with Cabinet, which we began doing already this summer.
Work with Ms. Roxanne Dominguez, Scholars Counselor, on admissions
and ensure that all Scholars remain in good standing in the program.
Participate in General Assembly and other Scholars meetings.
Participate in and oversee committee meetings and functions.
Participate in TAP (Transfer Alliance Program at UCLA) and the Honors
Transfer Council of California, and work with other Honors Program
directors in the Western Region.
Chair the faculty and administrator Scholars Advisory Committee.
Administer funds allocated to Scholars and raised during the year.
Recruit new Scholars through high-school visits, Club Rush, college fairs,
and other projects and events.
Help coordinate and participate in Scholars events and those in affiliation
with other groups at GCC and in the community.
Oversee and maintain the Scholars website.
Counsel students on probationary status and mediate conflicts.
Be available to answer questions, listen to concerns, discuss options, and
otherwise be of help in office hours.
Help students prepare for transfer, including writing letters of
recommendation, assist students with application essays, discuss options,
and other assistance.
Mentor students for honors research conferences, including helping them
with applications (see below).
Participate in the scholarship selection process.
Teaching: This semester, I am teaching 2 classes of English 101H
(Honors Freshman Composition), which pushes you into new levels of thinking,
organization, depth of development, and precision of expression. Readings
address topics such as Nature and Optimal Experience, looking for deep levels of
understanding. Writings stretch and develop your research-writing abilities.
Please note that there will be a short reading and writing assignment that
will be completed on the first day; I will post the readings on my website (see
below) so that you can prepare beforehand.
I am also team-teaching Humanities 120 (Literature and the Cultural
Arts) with Professor Emeritus Leonard DeGrassi.
Research: My own research interests include primarily Motivation to
Learn (especially writing motivation), particularly Humor and Motivation. My
dissertation, a book-length study of motivation in English 101 classes, showed
that humor in prewriting exercises enhances motivation to write academic essays.
I have interest as well in several literary areas and authors, including
Medieval Literature, California Literature, Victorian Literature, Charles Dickens,
Oscar Wilde, William Blake, and poetry and poets, such as Amy Clampitt.
Honors Research Conferences
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Honors Transfer Council of California (HTCC) Research Conference at UC
Irvine in Spring, 2015: Proposals (250-word description of what you plan
to do) plus a 25-word summary for the conference program are due in
November-December. Projects can be oral presentations, as
individuals or in groups, or poster presentations. Prizes in the form of
checks and scholarships are awarded for the best revised abstracts
describing your project that you will do before the conference if you are
accepted. Website: http://htcca.org/conference/
Bay Honors Consortium Honors Research Symposium, held in Northern
California (alternating between UC Berkeley and Stanford in recent years,
at Stanford in 2015). Proposals due in February, conference in late April or
early May. Website:
http://www.losmedanos.edu/honors/research/info.asp [note: 2015
conference information is not available yet.]
Some of my former students’ experiences with honors research
conferences:
Benefits of Doing a Research Conference
1. Gives the opportunity for the student to stretch his/her mind;
2. push themselves to their limit because knowing your
academic/mental/presentation limit allows you to realize your weaknesses and
improve on them
3. Great practice conducting research!!(not easy at all!!!)
a. Primary/secondary sources (interviews, books, academic journals)
b. Reading/analyzing all the info you take in
c. Time management
4. Great practice on finding out specific subjects that you really enjoy and have a
passion for.....will help you decide and be more confident on the major you
chose... also possibly a path you can take in graduate school
5. Opens the door to the world of research on a very BASIC level....students that
are at a community college do not usually have it.
6. Four year institutions offer their students multiple pathways into research at
a CC you don’t have that path way except through HTCC and BHRS...SO TAKEIT!!!!!!.
7. looks good on resume/transcripts
8. opens your eyes to what other students at your level (meaning CC) are doing and
accomplishing...
9. Will definitely help out in courses
10. Practice on presenting your research
11. Great experience with advisors and mentors
12. Might have the possibility to publish your research!!!! (WHICH
IS RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING especially from a CC)
13. Also at the end of the day if students are serious about transferring and
completing an undergraduate degree at a four year institution then for their
senior project in any major they have to conduct research/process/write
up/present/defend their project....this is a great way to practice and prepare
for that....
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14. also THERE IS NO REASON WHY STUDENTS SHOULD NOT TAKE THIS
OPPORTUNITY....its one of the best choices I made at Glendale Community
college and it helped me transfer and most importantly made life long
relationships in the process.
(DB)
The HTCC Research Conference was an important experience in
my educational career. It not only allowed me the opportunity to
create, present, and publish my very own study, but it also helped
me realize that I want to become a researcher. This experience
prepared me for the type of research I am currently a part of at
UCLA. As I apply to graduate schools this fall, having a
presentation and publication on my resume/CV makes me stand
out from other applicants. It is rare and impressive for
undergraduates to have this type of research experience, making
my application that much stronger. (LM)
"The HTCC Research Conference was a very rewarding experience and really
useful to participate in prior to transferring, because it prepares you for the big
research assignments that are typically assigned in almost all Upper Division
courses. Besides that, it is a great way to learn something new and interesting,
create your own original ideas, and maybe even collaborate with a friend. Getting
published early like this also has the benefit of showing prior experience if you
ever want to get involved in any undergraduate research program. Overall, I think
it is a great way to help ease the transfer process and contribute to your success as
a transfer student!" (SJA)
Motivation and/or Approaches to Optimal Experiences in College. The
idea of controlling how a person feels at any time, and its effects on attitudes,
etc.: Situational Motivation.
How Your Motivation is Important
Question: Can you stand on your head? Contrast a room of 5-year-olds with a
room of college students: Who is more likely to try? Why?
1. All humans have an instinctive motivation to learn that is self-rewarding
and enjoyable. Learning includes every fact, method, or other form of
knowledge, not just school learning. Education can be formal, like in
school or college, or informal, through experiences, advice from other
people, or other ways of gaining knowledge.
2. Education in the formal sense is simply a structured way to allow people,
especially the new generation, to learn what society considers important.
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Often, but certainly not always, school can take away from the instinctive
enjoyment of learning by over-relying on inflexible structure, rules, lack of
variety, and other factors that make learning seem more like work and
leaving students feeling bored or anxious. Bored, anxious, and otherwise
unmotivated students tend not to learn or acquire skills efficiently, causing
the often-criticized lack of preparation for college or career that many
suffer.
Question: Who holds the key to motivation and success in
college?
Answer: You. It’s all on you.
The key to success in learning of any kind is optimal intrinsic
motivation. When people really want to do something, they tend to do
their best. If you can find ways to pursue learning, complete tasks, and
achieve to your highest potential (which you may assume is massive), then
high grades, transferring to a university, and a brilliant career in your
chosen field will follow naturally.
Stress is frequently and pervasively a part of the work of dedicated
people. The stress can seem overwhelming at times. How can you deal
with it? Recent Research indicates that when people focus on and
develop a strong sense of purpose in their work, the negative effects of
stress are alleviated. So this finding suggests that if you dedicate yourself
to your roles, in Scholars as well as all of the contexts and organizations in
which you participate, you will be better off than if you focus solely on
“getting done” and other outcomes. In fact, focus on processes and you
will do well.
Other research also shows that although people seek contentment or
happiness in some form or another, that happiness remains elusive to
many. One research finding indicates that morality shapes such
happiness, that if a person is doing what he or she knows is the right thing,
that person is more likely to be happy. So do the right things as a student
and a member of organizations, including Scholars. You, and the
organization as a whole, will thrive as a result.
Elements of intrinsic motivation:
a. Challenge: includes goals and effort
b. Curiosity: the most fundamental kind of motivation
Note that curiosity is all about dealing with incongruities—things that are
outside of norms and/or are not expected. This includes new learning.
When a person is presented with a highly enjoyable incongruity, learning
is fun! In fact, “enjoyable incongruity” describes the phenomenon of
humor, a useful motivator to say the least! If a job to do is approached
with humor, or in another enjoyable, self-motivated way, then it will tend
to be a success.
c. Control: note that when you choose how to feel, when to exert
effort, etc., you feel in command and happier than when others tell
you—and you tend to succeed. Control is about mastery.
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d. Fantasy: imagination, including seeing yourself in new and greater
perspectives
A Little Exercise: Look at these photos and tell me your responses, initially and
then upon further examination. For each photo, we might consider one or more
of the elements of intrinsic motivation:
 Challenge: List the elements of the photo and describe the scene that it
shows. Interpret aspects of the photo that may be ambiguous.
 Curiosity: What questions do you have about this photo and the scene
shown?
 Fantasy: Describe what you imagine that the photo inspires—a scenario,
for instance, that people or animals shown might be doing or could carry
out.
 Control: Note that as you identify aspects of the photo, and describe them,
you gain an understanding of the subject matter, the technique of taking
the picture, your skills of observation and deduction, and other factors.
Photos:
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8. Summary: If you can maximize your involvement and motivation to
learn, along with your independent efforts and persistence, you will
succeed. Rely on your own abilities; seek to expand them; and shape your
own feelings, effort, and powerful motivations to learn.
Questions?
Website for my Classes: ENGL 101H, 9:10 MW & TuTh, also HUMAN
120, 10:45-12:10 TuTh: http://mharnett.weebly.com/
Website for Scholars: http://gccscholars.weebly.com/ (under construction)
Readings for ENGL 101H to complete prior to the first day of class—
posted on the website ASAP. Also emailed by request; just contact me.
“My Name”
“The Ultimate College Application Essay”
“Frida Kahlo in Gringolandia” article
Activities with Scholars
Hikes—starting this week? I will post an announcement on the
Scholars Facebook page.
Basketball—starting in September, most likely on Fridays at 7:309:10 AM.
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Running?
Museum Visits?
College visits? (aside from UCLA and USC, how about The
Claremont Colleges, Cal Poly Pomona, LMU, Occidental, Whittier College, others
in the area? You might find one that suits you ideally!)
Other?
Please feel free to contact me or come by my office. I am happy to meet you and
am dedicated to your success.
We are looking forward to a great year in Scholars!