WGU progress

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by gmohdez, Dec 28, 2007.

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  1. gmohdez

    gmohdez New Member

    Thanks in part to discussions in this board I decided to do my master's on educational technology at WGU.
    I have finished my first term and this is my report:
    - I did not fully understand the concept, probably because I did not read more carefully and did not properly research. I expected more "objective" testing and fewer "performance assessments".
    - Objective tests are multiple choice, performance assessments are projects, essays, or research papers.
    - For the first term I submitted 18 papers, at an average of about 10 pages each, they covered three "subjects".
    - The objective examination (multiple choice) was easy, I passed the pre-test the first time without any studies, made some mental notes of what I did not know and googled it to brush up on it, and I passed with fairly a good grade. Two hours of preparation.
    - The projects were easy, actually one of the projects was creating a web-site, and the website contains seven more of the projects, such as creating audio-visuals, a database project, a slide presentation and so on. I did not find a single one difficult, but they were all very time consuming. I did need to research some items, for example I was not very familiar with IDEA (individuals with disabilities education act) and a few other things, but everything I needed was easy to find.
    - I really needed to learn how to write in APA style, having never done it. This was probably what took me the longest as I constantly had to consult manuals to see if it was correct.

    I think this was a good choice for me as I very much prefer independent work, I expect to be able to work at a faster pace after this first encounter.

    I hope this helps anyone looking for information on the WGU process; I will post more of my experiences in the future.

    Thank you everyone on this board, it has been a great source of information on DL.
     
  2. PhD2B

    PhD2B Dazed and Confused

    For those of us that are a little slow here :D ...what is WGU?
     
  3. Dave Wagner

    Dave Wagner Active Member

    Western Governors University (http://www.wgu.edu/index.asp)...

    Dave
     
  4. Deviant

    Deviant New Member

    I'm almost done with my WGU BS degree.

    While a majority of my degree revolved around multiple choice type tests, I did have alot of papers to write.

    And still do. ((lol))

    I'd expect that the masters program would have alot more writing. I know that one of my coworkers said that they did more work in one of their masters courses than they did in their entire BS:Chemistry degree at Notre Dame.

    Keep going and good luck.
     
  5. Abner

    Abner Well-Known Member

    Good job fellas!!!! Keep going and kick ass!!!!!! Good job!

    Abner :)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 3, 2008
  6. jmetro

    jmetro New Member

    As far as writing goes...

    I have to say that at WGU while progressing towards my masters, I wrote more papers and failed more competency assessments than I did at RA/BM Jefferson State CC (6 courses taken/0 failed) or RA/BM Berea College (19 courses taken/1 dropped). Additionally, I'm not sure I've ever heard of a bachelor's level degree program requiring an 8 month project or a master's level degree program requiring a 1.5 year project to graduate. I got to plan these projects and implement them in live business settings (with the permission of my employers, of course). My project write ups were often well over 100 pages in length. Once my source data was over 600 pages - not comprised of raw un-massaged data - but instead full of calculations, lists, charts, etc...

    I can say that beyond the stuff I learned while meeting the competencies, I really became much more proficiant as a writer and a critical thinker. I learned to sell myself and my ideas to a number of audiences and really enjoyed the experience.

    Again, I don't work for WGU and have no vested interest in the school except as any loyal graduate might to his/her alma mater.

    ---Jacob M Metro, MBA
     

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