IND 301 Cornerstone Review

[MISin08]

IND301 is a baby-steps refresher on writing research papers, mixed in with a sort-of continuation of the Information Literacy course. It’s supposed to be the first course you take at EU (I'm returning after a long break); there’s a similar lower-level version for those coming in with less than 60 credits. Week-by week, there’s quizzed reading and discussion on topics such as critical thinking, bias, disinformation and fake news, what it takes to stay employable, value of general education, and diversity and inclusion, plus you take learning assessments called the DAACS on self-regulated learning and writing. There’s a weekly assignment in support of the final research paper, and a career action plan. You can download the syllabus at EU and there’s a page on the background and philosophy of the course at https://www.excelsior.edu/article/from-c...-capstone/, and I recommend reviewing both before starting the course. I googled the syllabus topics ahead of the start of term (there’s several Ted Talk videos presented during the course, and you may have already watched them. TED is so 2013, but they’re well chosen.)
 
The last time I was in college 15 years ago I was comfortable with my research and writing skills, but this time I’ve had difficulty finding my groove. I think it’s partly that my job is more cognitively demanding than what I was doing 15 years ago, and I have greater and less flexible demands on my time, so time management is tough.  This is an easy class, and midway through, I was pulling a B, largely due to posting discussions/replies at the last minute, and some of my replies not really moving the discussion forward or only posting 1 of 2 required. Compared to my previous experience, they want more genuine engagement in the discussion forum and expect students to reference sources for both initial posts and replies in APA. 2 of the discussions are video/audio presentations and this is a pain in the neck if you already have business experience. 
 
The course has a $90 “webtext” you can’t really manage without. You take quizzes inside the webtext, totaling 25% of your overall grade, and some of the assignment details are in the text. I’d like to print sections from it but that’s not easy to do the way I want. You can take notes in it and print those. I want to print pages and take handwritten notes on them (grumble). Some of your responses require a text answer, and I find the small text boxes annoying, but it’s not a show-stopper. 
 
The course is designed to get you into the swing of academic research and writing, as well as the pacing of 8-week online courses, and if you don’t need that it’s going to be tedious, but if you can set aside the time (or work ahead) the work is not difficult. I found it a good refresher. I was at a standstill completing two simple papers for SDC’s Global Business class and I’ll be well-equipped after this.  Most of my peers can’t write and that makes the discussions painful, though I can’t seem to manage time this term so I’m not going to throw stones. There’s also a bit of general student support woven into the course, where they make sure you know how to get help, find stuff, understand your relationship with Advising, etc (interestingly my Advisor and the head of Advising have both taught the class previously and had tips for me, while my instructor was contract faculty with an Art History background, super nice and accommodating).  EU’s library and writing resources are as good as anyone’s and I like having access to them. I don’t anticipate doing any more undergrad writing, but this refresher has both primed me for graduate study and made me fear the time management side of it. During the second half, I needed to take my wife to the ER, and she spent 4 days in the hospital, with 2 follow-up outpatient procedures requiring extensive aftercare, so I ended up taking a 30-day extension to finish the course and got an A on possibly the worst paper I’ve ever written. 
 
If I were re-entering now at 40ish with 30 in-person credits I would look at UMPI. However, I have residency at EU and I can meet most of my remaining requirements through alternative means and if I can keep up the pace this will be the only EU course I take. I paid for IND 301 with tuition reimbursement, so overall I am satisfied with this course.
 
Btw I use a 2015 MacBook Pro running Monterey and MS Word, and EU’s LMS and everything else I needed runs fine.  

Phillip

[bjcheung77]

Awesome review of their class... Congrats on completing the IND-301 Cornerstone! You're just the Capstone away, if I recall correctly, from getting that elusive Bachelors! Great job so far, looking forward to seeing the review you're probably going to make on the capstone course!