Fall 2021 Session 2 -- What is YOURPace?

[Kal Di]

Session 2 
I am enrolled in Creative Decision Making (HUM103) and Spreadsheet Applications (BUS242). 

I am pretty excited that I can burn these out and take an additional course or perhaps 2. I do work well over full time and have a conference scheduled, but I am feeling confident. 

Good Luck All.

Did you actually get HUM 103 loaded into your account? I was supposed to get that class for this session, but I got HUM 186 (Creative and Critical Thinking) instead. I sent an email to Cody. I'm curious if it was one mistake or did it happen to everyone...

We are in the same class, HUM 186. Although I was told HUM 103, HUM 186 has close to the same course name; thus, I wasn't concerned. Maybe I should be.

Well, I cc'd Jessica in the same email that I sent to Cody on Monday. She replied, "You are in the correct course. Let me know if you have any questions."

[sksandorff90]

I have already sent Jessica a detailed email with screenshots to find out what options I have, but she is out of the office this afternoon and I need to vent a little.

SPA 102 is a complete hot mess. The class is unfinished with tons of technical issues. The quizzes are filled with placeholder text instead of actual questions. The instructional material looks like it was pasted from random websites with no care to if it makes any sense. There is the occasional bit pasted from what looks like a more traditional online version of the class but they are out of context and don't make sense in the YourPace structure. A ton of the links don't go where they are supposed to go. It is incredibly unprofessional and not like the other classes. I don't know if other people have taken SPA 102 through YourPace. It was clearly a brand new setup for the class on Monday because it had an issue that caused the first lesson to crash immediately. No one could have gotten by that before. Cody had to put in a placeholder question to fix it so I could move forward at all. I thought I could just move through it quickly, do the written milestones, and get it done, with the amount of Spanish I already know. The instructor ended up making some rather rude comments indicating that she thought I was doing something inappropriate (getting outside help). This was incredibly upsetting. She made another rude comment on the "daily schedule" milestone about the time I wake up in the morning. It was weird. Why does when I wake up matter? The Spanish was correct (mostly). I answered the milestone appropriately. Insulting me for the time I wake up was out of line (9:30 am in case you are wondering).

I have asked Jessica for help. Since the class is clearly unfinished and should not be live for students, I think UMPI should make an exception to the requirement but I am not holding my breath that will happen. My plan right now is to ask for permission to take it at Study.com or Straighterline and transfer it in, drop it at UMPI, and take an elective for the three credits I will still need. I am a bit annoyed that it means an extra class and more work on my part but I just want to graduate and move on now.

I don't know how accurate the seat count listings are, but I see one other person enrolled for the term (session? I don't know what time the seat counts cover). I wonder what their experience has been? There is so much outright broken it cannot just be me.

Edit: I just got a quick email from Jessica asking to share the info with the Dean of Instructional Design. So the issue is being addressed. She will email me tomorrow to discuss it more.

This sounds incredibly frustrating. I know with French 101 there were a few broken links and videos, but I informed Mme Mendes and she thanked me for it and moved on. Nothing was broken enough that I couldn't move on. 

I believe she teaches both French and Spanish, and I will say, there were a few comments regarding my final assessment's first draft that felt judgemental toward my life as well. It was frustrating because we aren't supposed to write beyond the class level, and even though I wanted to elaborate more, I couldn't. 

I hope a solution is found for you. I'm pretty sure instacert's Spanish is the one most people recommend!

[LevelUP]

For Spanish I, I would strongly recommend InstantCert.  Everyone has gotten through the course in 1-2 weeks though it's not easy.

A large part of the CLEP exam is listening, and it takes a long while before you can understand Spanish.  You also have to be good at taking notes fast on the listening parts. Even a few native Spanish speakers have failed the Spanish CLEP.  For these reasons, I would not recommend beginners take the CLEP. 

For Spanish II, that Study.com course will be a doozy for a beginner Spanish learner with no school experience.  What's going to save beginner Spanish learners is the grading system.  If you score an average of 80% on the assignments. You only need 30% on the final to pass and expect to fail the final exam yet pass the course.

[TMcClary]

I hope a solution is found for you. I'm pretty sure instacert's Spanish is the one most people recommend!

We have found a resolution. I was offered several options. I took the one that is the most work for me but guarantees (assuming I stay on track) I will be done on time with a fair process. They are supposed to be putting together a plan to fix the class today, but that will take time. It is missing too much for there to be a quick fix. It feels like a rough draft for a class waiting for someone to clean it up and write the quizzes for it. I would rather take an extra class than be a guinea pig. My hope is they put a better review process in place before they let a class go live in the future. 

I took Instacert for Spanish 1. I need Spanish 2 as a History major. I am going to take it at Study.com and take an extra history elective to hit my 30 credits at UMPI. I was given two options that would not require me to take an extra class but both involved the same instructor so I chose this option. 

I am finishing ENG 121 this afternoon and I am almost ready to write the final for HUM 103. I only need the Spanish and elective so I should have tons of time.

[sksandorff90]

Has anyone taken COM 210 - Organizational Communications? For a public speaking class, it feels even more hands-off than my other classes so far. I've breezed through half of the content and quizzes and just looked at the final assessment instructions. I don't know how prepared I feel to actually prepare an oral presentation after doing nothing but a bunch of quizzes.

[ss20ts]

Has anyone taken COM 210 - Organizational Communications? For a public speaking class, it feels even more hands-off than my other classes so far. I've breezed through half of the content and quizzes and just looked at the final assessment instructions. I don't know how prepared I feel to actually prepare an oral presentation after doing nothing but a bunch of quizzes.

Welcome to college! You'll be fine. Just follow the directions on the Final Assessment sheet. Submit a rough draft. Make any changes the professor gives you in the feedback. Then submit your final version. 

I took a speech course at a community college years ago. There was no preparing for your speeches. You wrote some in class that day and then had to get up in front of the entire class and give them. That was really nerve-racking. Much worse than talking to yourself in a PowerPoint presentation.

[missbootyfull]

Has anyone taken COM 210 - Organizational Communications? For a public speaking class, it feels even more hands-off than my other classes so far. I've breezed through half of the content and quizzes and just looked at the final assessment instructions. I don't know how prepared I feel to actually prepare an oral presentation after doing nothing but a bunch of quizzes.

I took that. I’m very socially awkward and passed somehow. I thought I wasn’t going to pass it. The teacher gave me an extra chance to re do my speech though. It’s not that difficult I think. It’s pretty short and you can do re takes to record it if you aren’t happy with what you recorded.

[Smilejoelle1]

I believe I will be retaking Database 2021 lol, but Intro to Education and Children's Literature to start.

I have Children’s Lit on my schedule this session too! Let me know how it goes! I’m starting with Human Resources and Intro to Pedagogy. Minus that one business class I hope to knock out as many EDU as I can!

Let's do this!!

[jadkins77]

I believe I will be retaking Database 2021 lol, but Intro to Education and Children's Literature to start.

I have Children’s Lit on my schedule this session too! Let me know how it goes! I’m starting with Human Resources and Intro to Pedagogy. Minus that one business class I hope to knock out as many EDU as I can!

Let's do this!!

Yes! I'm debating between Children's Lit or Creativing in the Classroom next. How is the Children's lit class going?

[ashkir]

It feels so odd not to be taking a class after all this year with them.