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Students in PAL are first and foremost Curry College students. The program seeks bright, college-able students who have diagnosed learning differences, executive function weakness, and/or AD/HD, and who have average to superior intellectual ability. Specifically, PAL is designed to support students who:
Please note that while PAL is designed to support students with specific learning differences and/or AD/HD, those who require significant social skills support or remediation may be better suited for the Social Achievement in Learning Program (SAIL) or may be considered for dual enrollment if they require both social and academic assistance. PAL is not tailored for students whose overall cognitive ability is in the low average range or below, or who do not have a primary diagnosis of a learning difference and/or AD/HD. However, such applicants, if otherwise qualified for admission to Curry, may still be eligible for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) through Curry's Disability Services Office.
Before starting at Curry College, students are encouraged to kick off their PAL journey with Summer PAL, an optional three-week residential program tailored for college students accepted into PAL. During Summer PAL, students have the opportunity to gain insights into their learning styles, cultivate essential skills for college success, forge new friendships, familiarize themselves with campus life, earn four credits, access assistive technology supports, and have fun while becoming more resilient for the challenges ahead.
PAL Courses:
Students enrolled in PAL are registered automatically for one PAL course, in addition to the other courses they select. In their first year, students enroll in PAL1190 in their first semester and PAL1200 in their second semester. These are credit-bearing courses (1.5 credits per course), which consist of a combination of individual and/or small group classes with students' PAL professors. PAL includes embedded instruction in students' academic coursework, and content course materials are frequently used for teaching learning strategies. In these sessions, students learn to find the tools they need for success by learning how they learn best. Students are expected to attend all scheduled PAL classes in order to earn a passing grade in PAL.
PAL Cohorts:
During the Curry online pre-registration process, deposited PAL students may choose to participate in a PAL Cohort where they meet regularly with a PAL professor who facilitates small, scheduled classes, and individual meetings, of first-year students in PAL with similar academic interests, majors, and/or topics. These groups are designed to expand students' exploration and understanding of their interest areas, and/or their major. Many students will take similar courses with others in their cohort as a learning community where they also focus on their learning profiles and metacognitive strategies related to PAL learning outcomes. Students in these cohorts have the benefit of a PAL professor who is connected collaboratively with the content area professors, providing opportunities for shared resources and support for students. There is no additional charge for participating in a PAL Cohort since it is part of their PAL1190 first-semester class.
PAL Commitment:
Students are expected to make a commitment to attending PAL and reporting accurately about their performance in classes. Attendance in classes is critical for success at PAL and Curry. Students are asked to engage in thoughtful, meaningful reflection of their learning and be willing to work to improve their skills. If students require specialized content-area work they are advised to make appointments with tutors in Academic Success. If they require personal counseling, PAL professors refer the students to the Counseling Center.
PAL academic courses facilitate students’ self-understanding and regulation of learning for strategic application and success at the post-secondary level. During the academic year, students work with faculty mentors whose educational scholarship and experience include transition studies, applied cognition, strategic learning, and emerging adult and adult development.
Courses in PAL consist of curriculum with individualized approaches in the areas of metacognition, self-regulation, active learning, critical thinking and reasoning, decision-making, and language skills:
This course is the first in the two-course sequence required for students admitted to Curry College through the Program for Advancement of Learning. Focused on the transition from high school learning expectations to those of college courses, PAL 1190 offers students a curriculum designed to foster an understanding of themselves as learners through faculty mentorship.
Students are introduced to and explore learning strategies in the following core areas: metacognition, self-regulation, active and engaged learning, critical thinking and reasoning, receptive and expressive language. Students will create an educational plan, outlining: personal and academic long-term goals, semester goals, learning strengths, challenges, and strategies. The faculty mentor and student collaborate on evaluating student progress towards these goals throughout the semester, culminating in a reflective student paper and faculty report, which outlines individualized recommendations for the PAL 1200, the second course in the sequence.
This course extends the learning insights and strategies acquired in PAL 1190, fostering greater independence and strategic learning in metacognition, self-regulation, critical thinking and reasoning, receptive and expressive language, and decision making. Students will refine their PAL 1190 educational plans, integrating lessons from the prior semester and adapting to the current semester's course requirements. PAL faculty and students jointly assess progress toward these objectives throughout the semester, culminating in a reflective student paper and faculty report.
3 elective credits
This course provides opportunities for students to learn more about different ways of knowing as they delve deeply into their own personal learning, using current theories as well as previous academic and personal college experiences as the foundation for thoughtful reflections and goal setting. Various learning theories will provide a springboard for class discussions providing forums for sharing experiences and insights within a community of learners. Connections will be made between theory and practice, to further enhance metacognitive awareness. This course is designed to practice and reinforce diverse strategies and methods of learning in order to enhance and improve personal and academic success.
Designed for students who have completed PAL 1190 and 1200, this course offers ongoing guidance from PAL faculty in refining and implementing strategic learning techniques to excel in advanced coursework. Students enrolled in PAL 1210 participate in individualized or small group sessions with their instructors twice weekly.
Available to students who have finished PAL 1190 and 1200, this course offers continuous support from PAL faculty in cultivating and employing strategic learning strategies for academic advancement. Students enrolled in PAL 1220 participate in individualized or small group sessions with their instructors once weekly. This course is repeatable.
Prerequisite: PAL 1200 or PAL 1210
The following Offices/Resources on campus work in close collaboration with PAL :
PAL instructors encourage students to utilize these support services as needed, as well as guide them to seek other assistance on campus.
The Program for the Advancement of Learning (PAL) provides instruction in learning theory, individualized support, and assistance to college students with learning differences by focusing on students' unique strengths as they become competent, effective, independent learners through heightened self-awareness and knowledge of the learning process.
I. PERSONAL AGENCY SKILLS
A. METACOGNITION
Students will define and explain their preferred learning styles, strengths and challenges, as well as the strategies (e.g. for reading, writing, communicating, test-taking) that support them; and, will explain ways they apply and reassess those strategies, as they engage in the metacognitive process of thinking about their own thinking.
B. SELF-REGULATION
Students will demonstrate self-knowledge by identifying personal goals that include appropriate academic accommodations and that include a time/materials management system; they will define a plan that incorporates an active and reflective mechanism for them to achieve those goals, through personal advocacy, and with openness to change.
C. ACTIVE AND ENGAGED LEARNING
Students will actively engage in their learning environment and personal life-learning. Students will identify connections and relationships they make between one's self and others as members of communities and will actively participate in shared activities or efforts where they demonstrate knowledge of their own and others' perspectives.
II. COGNITIVE AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS
A. CRITICAL THINKING AND REASONING SKILLS
Students will demonstrate critical and creative thinking and reasoning skills that question and evaluate their own and others' assumptions about complex problems and will provide possible solutions.
B. RECEPTIVE AND EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE SKILLS
Students will demonstrate ways they understand visual, written, and auditory information and will demonstrate ways they authentically express personal ideas, thoughts, and feelings through written, verbal, or other expressive vehicles.
PAL faculty have over 50 years of experience working with adult learners where PAL professors with expertise teach college-able adults with diagnosed learning differences, executive function challenges, and/or AD/HD. The PAL professor provides a supportive environment for undergraduate students with LD /ADHD/EF who want to understand their learning and achieve educational and vocational goals at Curry College.
