Review of Straighterline's Introduction to Communication

[sanantone]

If you can't take the DSST for Public Speaking, which I heard is an unpleasant experience, then I highly recommend Straighterline's Introduction to Communication course to fulfill TESU's oral communication requirement. The only test center for CLEP and DSST in my city doesn't offer the DSST for Public Speaking, and I didn't want to drive to Austin.

If you have a social science background, the course is pretty easy. On some of the questions, it's easy to determine the answer just on a basic understanding of sociology. Plus, there's some overlap with organizational behavior, which I've taken at the undergrad level and practically studied again in a leadership course in my doctoral program. On the other questions, you can just look up the answers in the book. The quizzes were 25 questions each, and you're given an hour for each one. The final exam is open book.

I ended up finishing the course with a 97% which is much higher than I thought my final grade would be. I had a 94% after the quizzes and exams and expected my score to go down after the speeches were graded because I rushed them. There is a required introduction speech that's not graded and two graded speeches. The introductory speech only has to be 2-3 minutes. The first graded speech is 4-6 minutes. The final speech is supposed to be 8-9 minutes, if I remember correctly. You also have to turn in an outline for the final speech. I recorded everything with my webcam while sitting down.

With my experience with teaching college courses and facilitating therapy groups, I could have gone the PLA route; but, that would have been more expensive and time-consuming.

[Devanna]

When I took it I was surprised at how lenient they were with grading the speeches. Easy-peasy.

[SuzanneD]

Thanks for the feedback I am registered for this now. I need to buy the book though.

[bjcheung77]

If you can't take the DSST for Public Speaking, which I heard is an unpleasant experience, then I highly recommend Straighterline's Introduction to Communication course to fulfill TESU's oral communication requirement. The only test center for CLEP and DSST in my city doesn't offer the DSST for Public Speaking, and I didn't want to drive to Austin.

If you have a social science background, the course is pretty easy. On some of the questions, it's easy to determine the answer just on a basic understanding of sociology. Plus, there's some overlap with organizational behavior, which I've taken at the undergrad level and practically studied again in a leadership course in my doctoral program. On the other questions, you can just look up the answers in the book. The quizzes were 25 questions each, and you're given an hour for each one. The final exam is open book.

I ended up finishing the course with a 97% which is much higher than I thought my final grade would be. I had a 94% after the quizzes and exams and expected my score to go down after the speeches were graded because I rushed them. There is a required introduction speech that's not graded and two graded speeches. The introductory speech only has to be 2-3 minutes. The first graded speech is 4-6 minutes. The final speech is supposed to be 8-9 minutes, if I remember correctly. You also have to turn in an outline for the final speech. I recorded everything with my webcam while sitting down.

With my experience with teaching college courses and facilitating therapy groups, I could have gone the PLA route; but, that would have been more expensive and time-consuming.

Thanks for the informative review. I will take this over the DSST as I would rather not drive to a testing location.

[defscarlett]

Do they give you prompts for the speeches or can you do them on any topic?

[sanantone]

Do they give you prompts for the speeches or can you do them on any topic?

The intro speech requires that you choose three words: one to describe your past, one for your present, and one for your future. The informative speech is on a component of a culture that you do not belong to such as music, religion, or food. The persuasive speech is on a charity that you're trying to get people to support.

[bjcheung77]

Do they give you prompts for the speeches or can you do them on any topic?

If you are taking the course, many people post it on Youtube.
If it's not set on private, you can get a preview of how you need to do it.

[kb4ns1]

I agree with the OP. This course was definitely much better than I expected and, in my case and opinion, the best option for fulfilling the related requirement.

When I took it I was surprised at how lenient they were with grading the speeches. Easy-peasy.

A couple of weeks after I passed the course, I went back into my YouTube account to delete the speech videos. I noticed that the speech I did about another culture had ZERO views. I'm not saying that they didn't even watch it and gave me a great grade, but I am saying it showed no views. The other one showed three views - two of which were me verifying it uploaded correctly.

[sanantone]

You have to upload the video to YouTube, and they advise you to choose the unlisted option. I chose to upload mine as unlisted, which means that you need a direct link to find it. Putting a video on private means that you have to give an account permission to see the video. I never looked to see how many people have their videos available publicly.

I'm of the belief that they may not watch all of the videos or may not watch them all the way through. If I were grading myself, I would not have gotten an "A" on those speeches.

[Inteljustice2]

If you can't take the DSST for Public Speaking, which I heard is an unpleasant experience, then I highly recommend Straighterline's Introduction to Communication course to fulfill TESU's oral communication requirement.

I concur. S/L intro to comm is relatively straight forward and easy. The 3 presentations are simple. The last 2 presentations take a little prep, and one requires an outline to be submitted with it, but its not that hard. Knock out all the quizzes, do the presentations, and then the final.

I was concerned on my presentation style so it took a few rehearsals to get my presentations right, but its worth it. I ended up getting 90%'s on all 3 presentations.