Leo

Descriptor: College Student unsure of what are the new expectations of a college History degree.

Needs: Requires clearly articulated expectations and well-explained processes that can lead to the cultivation of better research skills and habits.

“It has been hard to figure out what to do when there aren’t clear yes-or-no answers”

Who is it?: Male, college student. 22 years-old. History major. Middle class professional parents. Goes to school full-time but also has a part-time job in retail. 

Goals: Leo is not sure what career he wants to pursue after college. He would like a career in government or maybe teaching History.

Attitude: As a high school students, he always enjoyed history classes. College has been very different from high school. A lot more reading and writing and longer papers.  He is still a little confused about how to do well in his history classes.

Behavior: Leo used to do very well in his history classes when he was in high school. In fact he used to do well overall. But it has been hard to keep that up now that he is in college. He used to get-by with memorizing things, but that is not enough now. He makes sure to attend classes regularly, but has more problems with the amount and difficulty of the readings he is asked to do. He does not like to participate in class discussions because he is not always sure he understands the readings. Writing papers is particularly hard. He is supposed to think of questions and organize arguments, but he has difficulty with that. His confidence has taken a bit of a tumble. He is trying to prove to himself that he can do well in school. He would like to have a better idea what is expected from him and maybe a more step-by-step approach on how to get there. He used to be faster making decisions, but he has been slowed down. He relies more on facts than emotions. 

Chloe

Descriptor: Curious high-school student interested in History but not contemplating a History degree in college.

Needs: Clear articulation of the purpose of materials. Ability to self-pace, deliberation and self-discovery.

“DBQs are too high-pressure. It is hard to learn when you are up against the clock”

Who is it?: Female, high school student. Sixteen years old. Youngest of two siblings. Professional parents of Hispanic background. 

Goals: Wants to do well in school and go to college. Probably in a career related to computer science. Wants to do well in sports too. She is a cross-country runner. She does not think she can get a cross-country scholarship, so she tries to study hard so she can get an academic scholarship for college.

Attitude: She usually finds history classes interesting, but she does not like having to memorize stuff. She would like to find a  way to enjoy studying history and feel less pressure.

Behavior: Chloe spends a lot of time on youTube. She learns a lot from videos that she finds online. She particularly likes watching videos that have history content, which is why she finds it annoying that her history classes seem so boring and that she has to memorize so much stuff. She likes to check around the things she learns online. She reads a lot of Wikipedia to see if she can verify some of the information she finds online. She is very eager to please, but this also makes her resentful of being forced to do things without understanding the benefits or reasons. She appreciates mostly functional benefits because this reduces the stress of not knowing how to act, or having to act too quickly. She takes her time making decisions, she likes to deliberate and she resents being rushed into giving answers. Her emotions can get the best of her sometimes, she is eager to please and be accepted. This eagerness can add emotional charge to her outlook. She values being comfortable.