Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

NOLAJ

Psoasman wrote: »

Passed the MCG1 this morning. Not a difficult exam. I read through the entire book and took notes on the key terms. Onto the Project+

Congrats! I took and passed my Project+ this morning. Just read the Sybex book from Books 24X7 add some common sense and you'll be fine. I think I spent a week or week and a half total. Dry, but actually informative! How was the MGC1 course?

usagent27

congrats on the pass!

NOLAJ

usagent27 wrote: »

congrats on the pass!

Thanks!

Psoasman

NOLAJ wrote: »

Congrats! I took and passed my Project+ this morning. Just read the Sybex book from Books 24X7 add some common sense and you'll be fine. I think I spent a week or week and a half total. Dry, but actually informative! How was the MGC1 course?

Thanks! The MGC1 is easy. It covers some material you've probably seen in Project+ I just read through the book, I skipped the other parts of the COS. The ORC1, which I think is now BNC1 is also easy. Both ORC1 and MGC1 have a lot of overlap. You could have your mentor add both courses and knock them out.

bull3t_six

Edit: Answered own question

NOLAJ

Psoasman wrote: »

Thanks! The MGC1 is easy. It covers some material you've probably seen in Project+ I just read through the book, I skipped the other parts of the COS. The ORC1, which I think is now BNC1 is also easy. Both ORC1 and MGC1 have a lot of overlap. You could have your mentor add both courses and knock them out.

Looking at my degree plan only a 51% and 52% for ORC1 and MGC1 are required to pass?

demonfurbie

NOLAJ wrote: »

Looking at my degree plan only a 51% and 52% for ORC1 and MGC1 are required to pass?

yep i think i got like a 70 with out doing anything

erpadmin

NOLAJ wrote: »

Looking at my degree plan only a 51% and 52% for ORC1 and MGC1 are required to pass?

"Modified Angoff" something-or-other...I wrote about it here awhile ago. It explains why 50/60/70 percent is equal to a "B."

NOLAJ

erpadmin wrote: »

"Modified Angoff" something-or-other...I wrote about it here awhile ago. It explains why 50/60/70 percent is equal to a "B."

That makes sense(after Googling). Well that takes a little of the stress off finishing up my degree next term. Next term starts June 1.

petedude

erpadmin wrote: »

"Modified Angoff" something-or-other...I wrote about it here awhile ago. It explains why 50/60/70 percent is equal to a "B."

. . . and I groused about that not being high enough. Such a grumpy old man I am.

erpadmin

petedude wrote: »

. . . and I groused about that not being high enough. Such a grumpy old man I am.

I'm just the messenger, buddy....I just went with the program...literally.

erpadmin

erpadmin wrote: »

A lot of those schools you mentioned are on this database you speak of, specifically this one: National Student Clearinghouse. By the time you're my age (34) you'll see that online degrees will be very commonplace.

Has anyone seen the above clearinghouse in the Resources tab within the WGU portal? This must be new, because in addition to ordering transcripts, I'm able to go back a few years (but not all the way back) on all of the schools I've been to.

Very cool.

NOLAJ

erpadmin wrote: »

Has anyone seen the above clearinghouse in the Resources tab within the WGU portal? This must be new, because in addition to ordering transcripts, I'm able to go back a few years (but not all the way back) on all of the schools I've been to.

Very cool.

It is cool! I still don't see the Clearinghouse link.

NOLAJ

I see it now...it's linked together.

erpadmin

NOLAJ wrote: »

I see it now...it's linked together.

Yeah, you can order transcripts, see which schools are reporting to your DL servicers, get loan information, etc.

That is a very nice thing WGU has done. Not to mention, you get to see how a potential employer can verify enrollment/graduation from a legit school [for free.]:)

TLeTourneau

NOLAJ wrote: »

I see it now...it's linked together.

Strange, I do not see it. What's it's heading?

NOLAJ

TLeTourneau wrote: »

Strange, I do not see it. What's it's heading?

All under request transcript.

TLeTourneau

NOLAJ wrote: »

All under request transcript.

Why yes, there it is. Thanks for that!

jmasterj206

If anybody has the Java programming classes coming up and wants to work together let me know. I am totally lost.

hiddenknight821

WGU's Software Development Learning community disappointed me as well as the course developers for KFT1, GUT1, and ABT1. Personally, I would like to blame the course mentor for not doing anything about the obvious flaws in the task instructions. I found out the hard way this morning when I was about to start implementing the calculateTuition() method in my program. That's when I had a realization and said to myself, "Where the hell does 'number of credits hours' in the calculation come from?" "Why do we even need the method itself since there is no 'tuition' field in the 'student' database table?"

So rather than emailing the course mentor directly, I decided to post a thread about it in the Community forum there and I was rather blunt about my issue. I am surprised no one got the balls to post the same issues in the Community forum. Did anyone here have the same problem? I tried searching calculateTuition() here and I can only find two posts about it, but it wasn't helpful.

jmasterj206 wrote: »

If anybody has the Java programming classes coming up and wants to work together let me know. I am totally lost.

Where are you now? I'm still working on Task 4 for KFT1 (ABT1, GUT1).

petedude

hiddenknight821 wrote: »

So rather than emailing the course mentor directly, I decided to post a thread about it in the Community forum there and I was rather blunt about my issue. I am surprised no one got the balls to post the same issues in the Community forum. Did anyone here have the same problem? I tried searching calculateTuition() here and I can only find two posts about it, but it wasn't helpful.
.

They'll either zap the post, or ignore it.

There are a few serious communication issues WGU could stand to work on, starting with course mentors and Community forums.

I understand the need to avoid people passing answers directly, but you've got to build some sort of communication between students such that they can learn from each other.

Personally, I think WGU needs to build a randomized database of tasks, rubrics and possible acceptable answers. This way, fewer students will get the urge less even have the ability to pass answers around.

Course mentors should be able to tutor in very general concepts of the courses. If they can't, tutors should be hired and made available.

jmasterj206

hiddenknight821 wrote: »

Where are you now? I'm still working on Task 4 for KFT1 (ABT1, GUT1).

I am just starting on KET1, so I am too far behind you. I am just kinda stumped on the first task. I have been through most of the COS and it is just not sticking. I have the form working and the quit button working

hiddenknight821

petedude wrote: »

They'll either zap the post, or ignore it.

There are a few serious communication issues WGU could stand to work on, starting with course mentors and Community forums.

I understand the need to avoid people passing answers directly, but you've got to build some sort of communication between students such that they can learn from each other.

Personally, I think WGU needs to build a randomized database of tasks, rubrics and possible acceptable answers. This way, fewer students will get the urge less even have the ability to pass answers around.

Course mentors should be able to tutor in very general concepts of the courses. If they can't, tutors should be hired and made available.

Really? I didn't realize I was over the line. I was just exercising my first amendment. At a traditional university, I would have asked the instructor in front of the class for clarifications on problems I am stuck on, and then he would explain it to the whole class. It would make his job lot easier if he can admit there was a mistake and asked the students to ignore some of the requirements or take note of something that he may have overlooked. What's the difference between asking that at WGU and there? The WGU's way of communication isn't as helpful and frustrating.

By the way, I wasn't trying to ask for answers, but it's really difficult to ask what I am trying to ask without having someone giving me the answer that is too excessive or too obvious. All I was asking is.... Is the instruction is clearly written? (which I doubt) If the instruction is in fact flawed, why can't WGU make that known to all of their programming students? I can't stand someone who couldn't admit their mistakes. And of course, I would want the ANSWER meaning the CORRECT instruction given to me, so I can get my work done.

For example, let's say you are given the following problem:

What is 1 + 1? And you must provide a mathematical proof that your answer is correct using one kind of theory.


And the second part of the problem after the question is a mistake and should have been omitted since it is irrelevant to the problem. That's what burning me up. I am not a cheater, but I hate vagueness, and that's just as bad as cheating in my opinion.

petedude

hiddenknight821 wrote: »

Really? I didn't realize I was over the line.

You weren't over the line, and your expectations were exactly the same as mine when I started using the forum. My rant wasn't directed at you as much as it was directed at how WGU handles certain things. There's this whole culture of "we can't really communicate things directly, or students won't complete their assignments on their own".

Case in point, there was this post asking what resources students had used to complete GTT1. I responded with a huge list of things I'd used, after which students piped in with "thank you" and other posts. Within a few days, all but my post were cut, and the thread was locked. How are people supposed to benefit from each other's experiences if we can't share them?

I would expect a course mentor to be able to answer basic conceptual questions regarding the course work without giving away the answer. He could at least cite a relevant chapter in the assigned text(s) for more intense reading. Most course mentors won't even do that much.

Sorry about violating your no-rant mentra, veritas_libertas. I am hoping to be able to get a say in via my alumni connection at some point.

petedude

jmasterj206 wrote: »

I am just starting on KET1, so I am too far behind you. I am just kinda stumped on the first task. I have been through most of the COS and it is just not sticking. I have the form working and the quit button working

Don't worry. Keep pounding away at it. Some things will start to stick as you make progress.

erpadmin

petedude wrote: »

Sorry about violating your no-rant mentra, veritas_libertas. I am hoping to be able to get a say in via my alumni connection at some point.

Not Veritas, but I personally don't mind reading rants if they are both valid and from other students and alumni (as opposed to those basing their rants on non-valid reviews/personal bias against online schools found all over the interweb...) I think what Veritas wanted was not for folks to come to the WGU threads and start talking ----. [At least, that's how I read it.] That was why I was very defensive with that one gentlemen a few weeks back.

I felt the exact same way you guys did for INT1, but not for looking for resources, but how the presentations were to be presented. My beef with those chicks was how is a sample format not proving competancy? All of my tasks were good though except for the final task and after I reached out for guidance (with the gentleman who is a course mentor) I was able to modify my experiment and call it a day.

WGU is growing at a fast rate......they are bound to make changes a long the way. Hopefully these changes will be for the better.

jmasterj206

Alright so I am making some progress on KET1. I've been able to create the array with all the try catch blocks, but I am having trouble putting it in the text area. Any ideas?

swild

I created a blank array with 100 rows and 2 columns. I then counted through the array with a For loop: for x=0, x++ print array[x][0] print array[x][1] "/n"; technically you are supposed to use a nested for loop, but I got full credit this way.

N2IT

Completed the EWB and awaiting the AAV with my mentor (Tuesday). So far so good he is a pretty nice guy and seems fairly knowledgeable. Everything has been pretty straight forward so far which I appreciate. I'm sure I will have questions in the future, but that goes without saying.

The first course is Human Resources. I have gone through all the rubrics and feel comfortable with this course. Supply chain might be a little different

NOLAJ

N2IT wrote: »

Completed the EWB and awaiting the AAV with my mentor (Tuesday). So far so good he is a pretty nice guy and seems fairly knowledgeable. Everything has been pretty straight forward so far which I appreciate. I'm sure I will have questions in the future, but that goes without saying.

The first course is Human Resources. I have gone through all the rubrics and feel comfortable with this course. Supply chain might be a little different

Are his initials T.M.?