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).
Principles of Management was different than I thought it would be, but it’s not difficult. My method was pretty simple for this class. I listened to the cohort videos and all other recommended audio/visual resources, and I read (and took notes on) the high-importance chapter summaries. Occasionally I’d delve into the actual chapter content and take some notes if I felt like I wasn’t really getting a topic. But most of my “study” for this course was in listening and re-listening to the audio. I did create some flashcards for this course, but I didn’t really use them.
If you want to check out my Anki flashcard deck for this course, you can download them here. If you need help importing the deck, check out my guide here.
Day 1:
- Download study guide,
- Download audio of provided videos,
- Upload audio to Overcast,
- Listen to all audio,
- Took 1st Pre-Assessment
After Pre-assessment #1 (Competent):
I scored surprisingly high in all areas except for “Organizational Structure”. As is my method, I analyzed the high-importance sections along with my competency. I pinpointed three sections I wanted to do better on and planned out the rest of my study time accordingly.
Day 2: (1) Continued listening to audio, (2) Studied and took notes on the three sections
Day 3: (1) Continued listening to audio, (2) Took 2nd Pre-Assessment
After Pre-assessment #2 (Exemplary):
I scored higher on pre-assessment #2 than I did on pre-assessment #1. Most importantly, I had boosted the areas that I was low on in pre-assessment #1. With that affirmation, I went ahead and scheduled the OA for the next day.
Day 4: (1) Continued listening to lectures and cohort audio, (2) took the OA
After the Objective Assessment (Exemplary):
I did well on the OA. I didn’t do as well in the “Conflict and Change” competency as I would have liked, and I wish I would have studied the book chapters relating to that competency a little more, but *shrug* I passed the OA by a fair margin, so I suppose I can’t complain.
Hello there! I wanted to ask if you take notes as you are watching the videos? I think I may try your method of taking the pre-assessments after watching all the videos. In this course I feel a little lost. I passed the business law course in 3 days but I had a decent amount of knowledge on that subject.
Hi Dianna,
Good job on Business Law! Even with some existing knowledge, 3 days is impressive!
No, I usually don’t take notes on the cohorts, but each course is different (for Information Systems Management, for example, I *did* go back and watch the co-horts and take notes, after taking the first PA).
To be honest though, I don’t usually *watch* the cohort videos. I download them, convert them to mp3, and then listen to them on my phone at ~2x speed as I commute or drive around town. I can usually knock out at least a single play-through in about a day or a day and a half, and then I take the pre-assessment right after that.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Chad
Thank you for all you post to help us. I’m
Just starting in Principles of Management. I need to get it done in 2-3 days. How do you convert the videos to an mp3? I have an iPhone if that makes a difference.