COURSE CONVENTIONS AND CONTENT Welcome to the section on the course conventions and content. When I say course conventions, I mean concepts and methods I will use to present material to you. The course is divided up into several chapters; many of those chapters are split up into smaller sections. Each time I start a new section or chapter, I will give you its name. During the course, I will present small quizzes to you. Typically, I ask a question, you will respond, and then I will give you an answer. For this course, however, we will need to make a couple of changes. Because some of the material is writing intensive in the mathematics section for example, I will refer you to your printable study guide that comes with the course. These study guides usually provide summaries and useful links that help students both during and after an AudioLearn course. In the case of this firefighter course, you will use the study guide as a workbook as well. Be sure you have it close at hand. Another convention that makes this course a bit unique is that I will ask you questions that do not technically have right or wrong answers. Some of the psychological testing you will encounter involves someone asking you about yourself. So, when I ask these kinds of questions, I am demonstrating the kinds of questions you may hear; you should answer the questions and think carefully about your responses. Make sure your answers reflect who you are and not what you think others want to hear. This is also true for when I discuss the oral job interview. I will pose typical interview questions to you, and you will answer them and consider your responses. Again, because the questions are posed to you and you only, there is no right or wrong answer. Whether or not your responses demonstrate that you are firefighter material, though, is another question. During the course of my lectures, I will probably use the expression “he or she” or “him or her.” While it is a bit more awkward to speak in those terms, it is important for
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