Sophia Public Speaking

[monchevy]

so what timeframe is reasonable to finish the course I have two other course going on right now and some cleps to take can I do this course over two weekends? I am also an introverted person so it is good to know others like myself are also in or gone on the same boat.

I only just started it last night. I finished Unit 1 and submitted the first touchstone (written). I did Unit 2 today during work downtime, but haven't started the touchstone yet; will get on that after work. So I haven't done a video yet, but not looking forward to it. I started a community college online course last week and it's full of video journals and endless mandatory interaction with classmates. I don't know why they can't just teach us the material and test us on it. There's been literally no interaction with the instructor at all. So far she's just posted the assignments.

[jch]

  Thanks for that, I needed the laugh! A big problem is that I dislike speaking at all. Let alone for 5 minutes. I really don't have all that much to say!! What are the rest of the assignments like? Hopefully less cringe-y.

There are no other assignments.  All you have to do is sit down and write a 500 word document about your position on a subject, then read it in front of a camera.  

For the second video, change a handful of words to stuffier, more collegiate-sounding ones, print out an 8.5x11 visual aid (monochrome is fine) that is at least tangentially related to your subject, and hold it up once or twice.  Oh, and brush any Cheetos dust off your shirt before you start.

I put Public Speaking off for the essentially the same reasons you described and when it was over I realized that, in comparison to pretty much any other college course I've ever taken, it was a stroll down a tree-lined promenade with a fine lady and a white poodle.

I successfully finished public speaking a month ago. I had more than enough points to pass even without the final touchstone and there wasn't any obvious visual aid for my topic, so I just skipped that requirement. Compared to my first video, I also dressed in a nicer shirt, tweaked a few words, and smiled more. I was awarded all the points on the second video rubric, except for the visual aid section of course. 

Once I got over my panic and procrastination related to public speaking, this was an enjoyable and worthwhile course. The first two written worksheets really help a lot to lay out your speech. I used my responses from those assignments as the scaffolding for my actual speech, with additional details and transitions added in.

[monchevy]

I got my first touchstone back and didn't do great on it. Normally that wouldn't get me down, but I can see that my grader and I are not on the same page at all. I answered the questions and followed the rubric, but she didn't see it that way. Like they ask who is your audience, what are their characteristics, etc. and the rubric demands insights and details. So that's what I did... I said they were family members, and noted relationships and dynamics between them that I had to consider when preparing my speech.

I did that for all the questions, and she pretty much ripped out everything except the first sentence of each section, saying it was all irrelevant. OK, so why did they ask for characteristics, details and insights... and also for 300-500 words? It's been days and I still can't figure out how her feedback aligns with the questions and the rubric. And honestly, I have no desire to waste any more time on it because it's clear that she has her own ideas about what she likes to see (one short sentence for each question) as opposed to what is asked for, but if I try to follow that for the next assignments, she'll probably swing the other way. The mental gymnastics of trying to read her mind... not worth the aggravation.

It sucks, since this was free, but it is what it as.

UPDATE: I decided to put on my big-girl panties and try ONE MORE TIME, and submitted Touchstone 2. If she rips me a new one again, then I give up.

[LongRoad]

I got my first touchstone back and didn't do great on it. Normally that wouldn't get me down, but I can see that my grader and I are not on the same page at all. I answered the questions and followed the rubric, but she didn't see it that way. Like they ask who is your audience, what are their characteristics, etc. and the rubric demands insights and details. So that's what I did... I said they were family members, and noted relationships and dynamics between them that I had to consider when preparing my speech.

I did that for all the questions, and she pretty much ripped out everything except the first sentence of each section, saying it was all irrelevant. OK, so why did they ask for characteristics, details and insights... and also for 300-500 words? It's been days and I still can't figure out how her feedback aligns with the questions and the rubric. And honestly, I have no desire to waste any more time on it because it's clear that she has her own ideas about what she likes to see (one short sentence for each question) as opposed to what is asked for, but if I try to follow that for the next assignments, she'll probably swing the other way. The mental gymnastics of trying to read her mind... not worth the aggravation.

It sucks, since this was free, but it is what it as.

UPDATE: I decided to put on my big-girl panties and try ONE MORE TIME, and submitted Touchstone 2. If she rips me a new one again, then I give up.

When I take courses through colleges - either online or B&M - the grade for the first quiz or test or whatever is irrelevant, but it DOES teach me what the instructor does, so I know how to proceed. That's the trouble with courses like Sophia (which I love) and submissions that aren't graded by a computer. You never get the kind of feedback that you get with a live instructor. Good luck. I've just submitted my first Milestone. We'll see what we will see.

[P226mem]

I got my first touchstone back and didn't do great on it. Normally that wouldn't get me down, but I can see that my grader and I are not on the same page at all. I answered the questions and followed the rubric, but she didn't see it that way. Like they ask who is your audience, what are their characteristics, etc. and the rubric demands insights and details. So that's what I did... I said they were family members, and noted relationships and dynamics between them that I had to consider when preparing my speech.

I did that for all the questions, and she pretty much ripped out everything except the first sentence of each section, saying it was all irrelevant. OK, so why did they ask for characteristics, details and insights... and also for 300-500 words? It's been days and I still can't figure out how her feedback aligns with the questions and the rubric. And honestly, I have no desire to waste any more time on it because it's clear that she has her own ideas about what she likes to see (one short sentence for each question) as opposed to what is asked for, but if I try to follow that for the next assignments, she'll probably swing the other way. The mental gymnastics of trying to read her mind... not worth the aggravation.

It sucks, since this was free, but it is what it as.

UPDATE: I decided to put on my big-girl panties and try ONE MORE TIME, and submitted Touchstone 2. If she rips me a new one again, then I give up.

I hope it goes well. I was reading your reply and can't help but wonder if the parts that she said were "irrelevant" were because you didn't use some buzz words from the course to define characteristics of audience. When I took public speaking at community college, talking about audience was not the stuff you talked about in terms of the "noted relationships and dynamics". In the class I took when I had to write about audience it was about demographics, educational and connected background that was related to the topic, and stuff like that. I haven't taken sophia public speaking to know the rubric, but I always tried to include one or two buzz words or phrases from a lesson when I could, or make sure that my answers came from the lessons.

From what you said, I don't know if she wanted one short sentence to answer, or 300 words. But I do hope it goes better this time and that you still pass the course. I'm glad there are opportunities for do overs and grade improvement in sophia.

[rachel83az]

I agree; the reason why the parts were considered irrelevant was probably because you chose family members as your audience. It probably would've been better if you'd said something like "teachers" or "high school students" or something like that. Unless the Sophia text says otherwise, I'm not sure that family members qualify as an audience when writing a speech for public speaking.

[monchevy]

I agree; the reason why the parts were considered irrelevant was probably because you chose family members as your audience. It probably would've been better if you'd said something like "teachers" or "high school students" or something like that. Unless the Sophia text says otherwise, I'm not sure that family members qualify as an audience when writing a speech for public speaking.

One of the options they gave was a speech celebrating someone's graduation. So the audience was family.

[P226mem]

I agree; the reason why the parts were considered irrelevant was probably because you chose family members as your audience. It probably would've been better if you'd said something like "teachers" or "high school students" or something like that. Unless the Sophia text says otherwise, I'm not sure that family members qualify as an audience when writing a speech for public speaking.

One of the options they gave was a speech celebrating someone's graduation. So the audience was family.

In my community college class, we were allowed also to have family/friends as audience for one of the speeches. I would have described audience as in terms of "demographics" (members of same family, age range) and "situational analysis" (voluntary attendance, genuine interest in celebrating the graduate). That kind of stuff that you'd find in lessons and articles like this: https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_stan...lysis.html

[monchevy]

I agree; the reason why the parts were considered irrelevant was probably because you chose family members as your audience. It probably would've been better if you'd said something like "teachers" or "high school students" or something like that. Unless the Sophia text says otherwise, I'm not sure that family members qualify as an audience when writing a speech for public speaking.

One of the options they gave was a speech celebrating someone's graduation. So the audience was family.

In my community college class, we were allowed also to have family/friends as audience for one of the speeches.  I would have described audience as in terms of "demographics" (members of same family, age range) and "situational analysis" (voluntary attendance, genuine interest in celebrating the graduate).   That kind of stuff that you'd find in lessons and articles like this: https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_stan...lysis.html

I hate this class with the fire of a thousand suns.

[LongRoad]

Monchevy,
I haven't gotten back my first Touchstone, but I think that the posters who said you have to use the buzz words are correct. A question used the word "context." I did a global search of "context" to make sure I covered the bases that needed to be covered.
As I said with previous tests/quizzes/etc. I try to figure out what the instructor wants, and I give it to 'em. Even if I think it's stupid. It appears that the Sophia graders want you to show that you've read the text book and can regurgitate it.
That's not uncommon. I think the same thing is true for the Purdue course I'm taking on-line. Just stick to their facts, and I do really well. I'm not even chewing the cud, ruminating (?) on it, and spitting it back out. I take the words, chew them into a different order, cite properly, and move on. It's been working for me so far. I'm getting an "A," and I don't know that the "A" reflects anything particularly outstanding.