Student Experiences at Western Governors University (WGU)

This thread is intended for students to write about their experiences at Western Governors University.

Please keep it civil, and do not spend your time bashing the school, and its policies. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but if you have a problem you need to take it up with your professor or mentor. Please no Flaming on this thread.

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freshbaklava

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Well since starting at WGU in March, I have already completed four classes:
Education Without Boundaries: A class to introduce you to how WGU's classes function, and how to use the WGU online portal.

IT Fundamentals I: Based on the CIW Foundations certification

IT Fundamentals II & III: Based on the A+ certification

I now have the two language classes to do, and I just added the Operating Systems class (based on the MS 70-680 certification.) If everything happens right I should be able to finish seven classes during this first semester. If I am able to finish seven classes this semester I will have seventeen left to complete. I intend to graduate at the end 2011 which means I will have to be doing at least five classes per semester to get there. I honestly don't see this as being a problem.

WGU has enabled me to have the freedom to move as quickly or slowly as I need to with my Bachelor degree program. I'm newly married and I also work full time. For those reasons my life is busy as it is, and I don't need it to get any busier.

How did it turn out?? Were you able to finish in the timeframe you wanted?

freshbaklava

spiderjericho wrote: »

Well gentlemen, I'm officially done with WGU. I took my last exam, DFV1 (third time is the charm), and passed.

Honestly, I expected to complete my bachelor's of science in IT Net Admin in one term, since I transferred in 90ish credits. However, life sort of took over. I have an infant daughter who was born with congenital heart disease.

I planned on starting WGU in the fall of 2011. But my dear daughter ended up having her second open-heart surgery around then. So, I waited until she was stabilized and out of the hospital.

Fast Forward to 2012, and I started my first term last June. Honestly, my mind wasn't in the right place. My Layla was in the midst of heart failure. As much as I wanted to complete my degree in one term, I couldn't as my motivation/focus wasn't there. My only stress reliever during that time was escaping into work and moving at a brisk pace to keep my mind off of the situation. Every time I'd try to focus on my studies, it was difficult. Before my daughter's birth, I was an extremely motivated self studier.

Anyways, I ended up coming to the end of my first term still needing to complete DFV1. Programming and web development isn't my forte'. I only had a week or two to complete the exam, so I tried to go into the exam without studying. I failed. I then tried again a few day before the term was over and the same thing happened. But it was definitely my fault, since I didn't want to crack open the book or do the labs (again my aversion to the material and lack of motivation).

I started my second term in March. My daughter, post heart transplant, is now out of the hospital. But I was still not crazy about the material. But slowly, I read the material. Then I did the Measure Up questions (which definitely help A lot).

I wasn't confident walking into the exam, but I managed to eek by with a victory.

The one thing that is reiterated over and over again is WGU is definitely a great school for a self-motivated person. I guess the "cool" thing is you can pass classes based on competency. I think it's a great school for the older crowd. I think for a younger person, I'd advise the brick and mortar, since college is half about the "experience." For an older person, they're pursuing the degree as a stepping stone or check box for higher job prospects. All of that partying/social experience, class room debate, etc is fluff.

This is my second bachelor's degree. I'm probably going to take a year off from school to pursue a few Cisco (since my CCNP/CCDP expires next year) and other vendor certs. The decision will then be on if I'll continue at WGU or pursue my Master's at another school.

Good luck to everyone who is currently going after that piece of paper. And definitely spread the word about WGU to your peers. I respect the school a lot more than Univ of Phoenix or Devry (but not knocking their hustle).

Congrats on finishing despite everything?

CenturionMario

Questions for KET1 Task 1:

*Am I supposed to create methods for the buttons and text fields (I'm sure the answer is yes)?
*Do I place the array in the main method, and if so, am I supposed to use the numbers from the sample, or does the user input the numbers?
*For the minutes and earnings, do they belong in a separate class from the main method (I believe the answer is yes)?
*When adding input to the text fields, do I use a system.out.print() method, or hasNextDouble() method, or both?

I'm only asking for guidance, not assistance. It seems whenever I conjure on to something, I hit a roadblock. I pretty much have the GUI (buttons, text fields) implemented, I just need to add functionality to them (the hardest part). If there is any other advice that I need to know, please let me know. Thanks.

ArabianKnight

When you take an assessment and fail, then take it again, are the questions the same like the pre-assessments are or do they change?

DPG

Has anyone heard that passing Web Technologies (CUV1) will also give you credit for Web Development Fundamentals (EUC1) and Project in Web Development Fundamentals (EUP1)?

Further research shows that I am not the only one to hear this. Apparently WGU has recently begun to waive the lower-level courses if you complete the upper-level.

ArabianKnight

I had all my MTA's waived!

CenturionMario

Sledge: I have the same problem, with KET1 and KFT1. I only have 4 classes left (and from what I have read, the capstone and the technical writing classes should take no more than 2 weeks, combined). This is the first class (besides Database) that has given me serious problems. I've used the WGU book resource (not that great, by the way), the NewBoston (has helped me a lot), and Google. I am still on KET1 Task 1 (I've built the GUI, and have added functionality to the quit button, but I'm stuck as far as adding a 2D Array, and trying to add functionality to the enter button, report button, and getting the calculations). I've looked at KET1 Task 2, and it looks like I could get that task done sooner than later.

I feel like I'm somewhat close, but I seem to be missing a concept, even though I've gone through so many resources. It has been really frustrating, because I was actually excited to take the Java classes and try to learn programming in depth.

gc8dc95

DPG wrote: »

Has anyone heard that passing Web Technologies (CUV1) will also give you credit for Web Development Fundamentals (EUC1) and Project in Web Development Fundamentals (EUP1)?

Further research shows that I am not the only one to hear this. Apparently WGU has recently begun to waive the lower-level courses if you complete the upper-level.

My mentor has told me the same that there are several classes that will be satisfied by completing the higher level ones.

NicWhite

Can someone please list out the upper level classes that cover the lower level classes. That would be very helpful. I know some one who is starting out with no prior college.

Thanks in advance. This sounds like great news.

colemic

Sledge,

I can't help as I haven't had those courses (or programming experience) but I wanted you to encourage you to stick with it. I hope fellow TechExam'rs have stepped up and provided you with the assistance you need.

tekalon

I just recently passed both KFT1 and KET1. I can give hints and suggestions. I totally agree that those two classes were a pain and agree that they should be scrapped and anyone currently enrolled should be able to switch to new ones (which may mean more work, but better constructive work). If you want to PM me with questions go ahead.

Codyy

DPG wrote: »

Has anyone heard that passing Web Technologies (CUV1) will also give you credit for Web Development Fundamentals (EUC1) and Project in Web Development Fundamentals (EUP1)?

Further research shows that I am not the only one to hear this. Apparently WGU has recently begun to waive the lower-level courses if you complete the upper-level.

Anyone find out if this is true? I just emailed my mentor about this. I was just on the phone with him earlier and he literally just enrolled me into EUP1 and EUC1 this term, CUV1 is scheduled for next term. Hopefully I'm not stuck with being enrolled in those classes if they could've been waived by completing CUV1 ..anyone ever successfully backed out of an enrolled class and replaced with others?

CenturionMario

Tekalon: I tried sending you a PM, but for some reason, it doesn't work. This is what I sent:

I am currently on KET1 Task 1, and I have been having some trouble with it. I have built the GUI for the task and have added functionality to the "Quit" button. Right now, I'm stuck as far as adding a 2D Array, and trying to add functionality to the "Enter" button (The "Enter" button works, but not in the way that I want it to, it only prints out to the textarea from one textfield, not from both (so it only prints out the minutes area, but not both the minutes and wage)), and the "Report" button.

I feel like I'm close to finishing Task 1 of KET1, but I seem to be missing something, even though I have gone through the WGU book (which I am not too fond of). The NewBoston has been great for me, but it doesn't quite go into detail as I would like it to (for some concepts).

My main questions (I might have more, depending on how things go):

*Do I place the 2D array in the main method, or in another class?

*For the minutes and earnings, do they belong in a separate class from the main method? (Side note: I would assume that the minutes and earnings variables belong in the same class as the 2D array).

*I seem to have trouble assigning the double minutes and double earnings variable to a Double.parseDouble(textfield.getText()). When I assign it and run the program, it creates an error. Is there something I'm missing?

I think if I have those down, then this task might be a little easier. I think I know what to do to implement the try-catch exceptions, as well as the formulas for the run reports. I hope I was clear on my questions. Thank you.

milieu

CenturionMario wrote: »

*Do I place the 2D array in the main method, or in another class?

*For the minutes and earnings, do they belong in a separate class from the main method? (Side note: I would assume that the minutes and earnings variables belong in the same class as the 2D array).

Both of these most likely belong in a class. If a variable is only used in a single method, and never again, then it can be local to that method. Otherwise, it's probably class data for the class that is going to be using it.

*I seem to have trouble assigning the double minutes and double earnings variable to a Double.parseDouble(textfield.getText()). When I assign it and run the program, it creates an error. Is there something I'm missing?

If I had to guess, I'd say the textfield variable doesn't exist. Check that you have actually created an object, not just declared a variable:
JTextField textfield; //error, this just declares it without initializing
JTextField textfield = newJTextField (); //declares and creates it

amcnow

It sounds like this KET1 Task 1 focuses on developing applications with Java Swing. Quite a bit of time has passed since I lasted developed a Swing application. Oracle has a decent Swing tutorial, in case you haven't already found it.

WARNING: In the world of programming, your questions are considered vague. Unless someone is intimately familiar with what you're doing and how you're doing it, you'll most likely get vague answers.

CenturionMario wrote: »

*Do I place the 2D array in the main method, or in another class?

I'm assuming you are referring to the proper placement for the declaration of this array. There are three main types of variables: fields, local variables, and parameters. Parameters are variables declared within method declarations (versus arguments which are passed into parameters when the respective method is called). It sounds like we can rule this out for now.

Local variables are declared within methods or blocks of code (e.g., if-conditions and for-loops). Fields, a.k.a. class variables or member variables, are declared at the class level. Here's a quick tutorial on Declaring Member Variables. As milieu said, this 2D array is most likely class data which should be declared as a member variable.

CenturionMario wrote: »

*For the minutes and earnings, do they belong in a separate class from the main method? (Side note: I would assume that the minutes and earnings variables belong in the same class as the 2D array).

I think the advice already given for your first question, by me and milieu, applies here as well.

CenturionMario wrote: »

*I seem to have trouble assigning the double minutes and double earnings variable to a Double.parseDouble(textfield.getText()). When I assign it and run the program, it creates an error. Is there something I'm missing?

The static method, Double.parseDouble, can throw one of two exceptions (not errors, but I will let that slide

). If it throws a NullPointerException, then the string argument (the value being passed in) is null. This happens when the string isn't initialized (and therefore is null). In your case, as milieu already pointed out, the JTextField may not be properly initialized. Calling a method on a null object is always fun...

If it throws a NumberFormatException, then the string doesn't contain a number that can be converted to a double. We won't be able to help too much with this one without knowing the value of the string argument. This is best done by providing us with code snippets. Stack Overflow is the best place for this. If done here, I'm sure a few of us can properly examine the code snippets and stack traces. I'd first make sure this doesn't violate WGU policy...

Sirbloody

Just passed CTV1, time to start working on LAE1

DPG

Codyy wrote: »

Anyone find out if this is true? I just emailed my mentor about this. I was just on the phone with him earlier and he literally just enrolled me into EUP1 and EUC1 this term, CUV1 is scheduled for next term. Hopefully I'm not stuck with being enrolled in those classes if they could've been waived by completing CUV1 ..anyone ever successfully backed out of an enrolled class and replaced with others?

I found out that this is true. Completing CUV1 or BOV1 will satisfy both EUP1 and EUC1.

sanrus

Anybody completed TXC1, TXP1 or TYC1, TYP1? Wondering how hard those are. BOV1 wasn't that hard.

petedude

What I did about the Java courses. . . I stuck them out. Ended up going a term over my projected finish, but gained a pretty good foundation in "newer" development technologies because of it.

kgb

For those having issues with the Java classes. Which IDE are you using? I recommend Netbeans. Their visual gui builder is a big time saver (while it does generate some "magic" code, for small applications I don't see an issue with it).

I also would give the advice, not to overthink it. Get it working, then you can refactor it into a more elegant/proper structure if you desire.

CenturionMario

I was able to add the 2D Array and assign the two variables to the textfields. I think I am almost done with KET1 Task 1. The main issue I have right now is that when I input the minutes and amount earned into the textfields, it only stores one, and the rest are discarded (not stored). This is obvious when I use the run report, and it reports only the last inputs that I entered for the minutes and amount earned.

Also, I tried used an exception for the minutes and amount earned, using an if-statement, that would print some text if the variables where out of range, but the exception doesn't seem to be working (Example, if the minutes doesn't allow any number over 240, and you input 250, it would still print out 250.

I think if I can get those two out of the way, then Task 1 should be finished.

amcnow

CenturionMario wrote: »

I was able to add the 2D Array and assign the two variables to the textfields. I think I am almost done with KET1 Task 1. The main issue I have right now is that when I input the minutes and amount earned into the textfields, it only stores one, and the rest are discarded (not stored). This is obvious when I use the run report, and it reports only the last inputs that I entered for the minutes and amount earned.

It sounds like you are overwriting data within the 2D array rather than inserting into the next empty element. I'm assuming this 2D array stores the minutes and amount earned. So your array declaration should look something like this:

double[][] input = new double[MAX_INPUTS][2]

(where MAX_INPUTS is the max number of times a user may enter values for minutes and amount earned). This 2D input array can be read as having an array of 2 arrays (minutes and amount earned). In other words, the above is a more concise way of saying:

double[] minutes = new double[MAX_INPUTS]
double[] amountEarned = new double[MAX_INPUTS]

I'm assuming your application will not have the capacity to modify or remove elements within the array. In this case, I recommend declaring a variable to keep track of the next free index in the array. Here's some sample code I just whipped up:

// class variables (access modifiers are beyond the scope of this code snippet)
int nextIndex = 0;
double minutes = 0.0;
double amountEarned = 0.0;
double[][] input = new double[10][2]; // 10 user inputs
JTextField minutesField = new JTextField();
JTextField amountEarnedField = new JTextField();

// retrieve user input
minutes = minutesField.getText();
amountEarned = amountEarnedField.getText();

// write user input to array
if (nextIndex < 10) { // avoid ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException
input[nextIndex][0] = minutes;
input[nextIndex][1] = amountEarned;

nextIndex++;
}

Unless you're doing something else with the minutes and amountEarned variables, you can retrieve user input directly into the array.

CenturionMario wrote: »

Also, I tried used an exception for the minutes and amount earned, using an if-statement, that would print some text if the variables where out of range, but the exception doesn't seem to be working (Example, if the minutes doesn't allow any number over 240, and you input 250, it would still print out 250.

Your best bet would be to set break points just before (or on) and just inside this if-statement and run your application in debug mode. If you're not comfortable with your IDE's debug functionality, printing to the console is the next best thing. You can strategically place System.out.println() within your source code to make sure certain points of your application are behaving as expected. For example:

System.out.println("Evaluating the if-condition for minutes >= 240.")

if (minutes >= 240) {
System.out.println("The if-condition for minutes >= 240 triggered properly.")

// TODO: Finish coding this if-statement
}

If the first one (break point or println) fails to trigger, then something in your source code is preventing your if-statement from being evaluated. If the second one fails to trigger, then the conditional clause for your if-statement needs to be revisited.

You mentioned using an exception. Does that mean you're actually trying to throw an exception?

CenturionMario

I appreciate all the advice, and I am making major steps. The last major issue is to implement a run report. I'm trying to figure out how I would make variables out of the total minutes, average wage per hour, total earnings, and the wage analysis. Getting the average wage per hour and the wage analysis should be really easy, once I get the total minutes and total earnings.

Edit: I've pretty much have the run report up, but the only thing (the last major piece for this task) that seems to be messing me up is that it still discards all but the last array and outputs just the last array from the user input.

Another (minor issue) is that I want to have the average wage per hour having 2 decimal places, for the cents. I tried using %02d, but it doesn't work, and I'm not sure how to go about utilizing it without using the print() method (which wouldn't do, since I am trying to output to the GUI, not the command line).

djfunz

I've just taken the pre-assessment for INC1 and it was an absolute bear! It covers so much material I have the feeling I'm going to be studying for 2 months! Can anyone confirm if the pre-assessment is similar to the objective assessment? This has to be one of the toughest gen-ed courses WGU offers.

amcnow

CenturionMario wrote: »

I appreciate all the advice, and I am making major steps. The last major issue is to implement a run report. I'm trying to figure out how I would make variables out of the total minutes, average wage per hour, total earnings, and the wage analysis. Getting the average wage per hour and the wage analysis should be really easy, once I get the total minutes and total earnings.

Edit: I've pretty much have the run report up, but the only thing (the last major piece for this task) that seems to be messing me up is that it still discards all but the last array and outputs just the last array from the user input.

I assume you mean the last element of the array. Taking my previous advice into account, your method of parsing the array may be flawed. It could also be your method of printing the data retrieved from the array. I will need more details on how you are parsing the array and printing the data before I can effectively help with this. A code snippet would be ideal. You can PM me if you aren't comfortable providing that in this thread.

I should also ask if you are looking to print every element of the array or the total minutes and earnings from the array.

CenturionMario wrote: »

Another (minor issue) is that I want to have the average wage per hour having 2 decimal places, for the cents. I tried using %02d, but it doesn't work, and I'm not sure how to go about utilizing it without using the print() method (which wouldn't do, since I am trying to output to the GUI, not the command line).

DecimalFormat will help with this. For example:

DecimalFormat df = new DecimalFormat("#.00")
System.out.println(df.format(avgWagePerHour)) //Replace println() with your method of printing to GUI

Disgruntled3lf

Does anyone know of a master list of upper level courses that waive lower level ones? That would be highly relevant to my interests.

CenturionMario

Thank you so much, amcnow. I made adjustments and tested the program and everything works. Now moving on to Task 2. I've looked at the task and I don't think it will take as long as Task 1 (I hope).

amcnow

You're welcome. Hopefully, task 2 proves easier for you.

Nemowolf

So sharing some good news on my front:

After 12 weeks of plowing through the material for CUV1! I am now finishing up DIV1 and hopefully will be requesting access to the final this weekend. I have hopefully 3 months to complete the last two classes of this term and hopefully get another one done to move my graduation date up a bit!

CenturionMario

I'm on part B of KET1 Task 2, and I'm running into some issues. I made a try-catch block, where within the code, it says to input the file (the catch block will say "file not found", if the file isn't detected in the directory). When I type in the listings text file, it says file not found, but when I type in the full path, nothing happens. I put in a system.out.println() method that says "output of file", and while the "output of file" shows on the command line, the overview text file isn't printed to. When a program goes through properly, it will say: "Build Successful", so I know the program is still running (even though it isn't supposed to) when I input the file path. Any help would be greatly appreciated, as this is probably my main issue with part B.