This blog post is part of a series where I chronicle my advancement through WGU’s Bachelor of Science, Business – Information Technology Management degree. It includes detailed reports on my study methods and strategies as well as occasional tips and tricks. To see all entries in this series, click the “WGU” link under “Categories” on the left sidebar (bottom of the page if viewing on mobile).
This class was interesting, but not as enjoyable as some of the other classes I’d taken up to this point. It’s probably my own bias, but I found the content of this course to be dry. The way that the information was presented – with the inclusion of the video segments and quizzes throughout the textbook – was helpful though. Despite all of that, this low-intensity course was a good chance to relax a little bit after the intensity of Information Systems Management – similarly to how Business Ethics was a good break after the intensity of Business Law.
After taking the OA, I was definitely ready, and excited, to move on to Spreadsheets, which was more technical and a bit more challenging.
Day 1:
- Downloaded cohorts
- Converted cohorts to audio with VLC
- Uploaded audio cohorts to Overcast
- Listened to all cohorts
- Took PA #1, and analyzed results
- Began reading (including in-chapter quizzes) and taking notes on Unit X
After Pre-assessment #1 (Competent):
The PA for this class was much easier than I was anticipating. That being said, in one of the units (Unit X) I got the lowest score that I’d ever gotten in any unit in any class! However, it was also the unit that didn’t have an associated cohort, and I forgot to read the associated book chapter before the PA. Had I done so, it’s entirely possible that I would have gotten an “Exemplary” on this PA.
As always, I created my Excel table to evaluate my performance and pinpointed three units that I needed to study (Unit X being the obvious inclusion).
Day 2 (Sick): Read (including in-chapter quizzes) and took notes on Unit X
Starting on Day 2, I was sick. The sickness really messed up my schedule. Based on the results of my PA (which I took on a Friday), I was planning on taking the OA the following Monday after studying over the weekend. However, because of being sick, I didn’t get much studying done.
Day 3 (No Longer Sick!):
- Finished reading (including in-chapter quizzes) and taking notes on Unit X
- Converted notes on Unit X into flashcards
- I also figured out, at this point, that there are flashcards included as part of the course materials. Well, speed has its costs.
- Used the course-included flashcards to create my own flashcards for Units Y and Z
- At one point I said that I always create my own flashcards – this is an exception
- I still “created my own” simply so that I could import them into Anki and get the spacing and statistic benefits of having them there
- Read and took notes on the Summaries of the chapters associated with Units Y and Z
- Re-read my notes on Unit X, making sure to read carefully and reviewing any concepts that weren’t clear
- I watched the cohort videos for Units Y and Z.
- I went back and reviewed the relevant book sections for any concepts in the cohort videos that I didn’t feel 100% comfortable with, or where the presenter specifically encouraged students to refer to the book.
- Re-listened to most of the cohort audio
- Took second PA
- Scheduled OA
After Pre-assessment #2 (Competent):
I did better in PA 2 than I did in PA 1 – in no small part to the fact that I actually studied Unit X. In Unit Y, I got a perfect score, which was quite validating.
After PA 2 I went through the Coaching Report and copied-and-pasted the questions that I missed. Although the PA questions will never show up on the OA, the concepts will. I gathered these missed questions so that on Day 4, prior to the OA, I could revisit those concepts and fill in those gaps in my knowledge.
Day 4: (1) Studied the concepts surrounding the questions I missed in PA 2 – this included taking the in-chapter quizzes to ensure I was “getting” it, (2) Took the OA
After the Objective Assessment (Exemplary):
I scored perfect in some units, and barely-competent in others. The OA was a bit more difficult than the PA’s but not by a whole lot. There were about a half-dozen questions that I bookmarked and had to go back to, and I’m not confident that I ended up getting any of those right, even after reviewing them. The spread of questions across topics was similar to the PA’s.
I don’t have much to say about this class in closing. I think that if you’re doing decent, and are at least competent in all units on the PA’s, you’ll probably pass the OA without much trouble.