Straighterline Macroeconomics WOW.........

[armyb77]

After realizing that there is no way I would pass the CLEP I decided to take the Straighterline path. I read some of the reviews on the forum, and there were a lot of people that said it is a lot of tests but all you need is the book to be good. I started Macroeconomics yesterday. I read the first chapter and did great on the quizzes. I figured I was good to go! WRONG!!! So I took the exam and the questions weren't even close to the quizzes! I ended up with a 62% After the score I decided to start looking back for the information I missed. Two things became apparent. 1. I should have kept my graphing calculator, and 2. Just because you get the quizzes right doesn't mean you are ready!

The although a lot of people on the forum said don't worry about the study guide, I believe the study guide SHOULD BE USED in this course! All the things I missed if I had used the study guide I would have been better prepared for.

A lot of the problem was the first chapter talked about graphs but not to the point that I really paid attention to them. That cost me pretty good, I spent so much time on the math part during the exam that I didn't even really read the other questions.

So today I spent my time on Chapters 2 and 3 with the Study Guide, and then read the textbook. I just completed the two chapter exams and got a 97.5%, and a 95% respectively Chapter 2, and 3 focused more on understanding the principles and terms than the math so that made me get through it a lot faster. Also a lot of the questions were somewhat common sense. I hope the rest of the course is like the last two I just took. My goal is to get each course done within 2 weeks.

If there is any other advise that someone has who took the course or knows of another chapter exam that is a shocker compared to the quizzes please let me know!

Thanks,
Armyb77

[Can219]

Thanks for the feedback....My book is arriving any day

[Can219]

Also what calculator would you recommend??

[armyb77]

The math can be done with a regular calculator on your computer, but a scientific calculator, or graphing calculator would be much easier!

[EI2HCB]

Thanks for the update on straigherline economic's looks like the book is important. I'm reviewing their U.S History 1 for my blog in few weeks and took their Demo on U.S History yesterday and it had really simple quizzes. I did applied economics for my FETAC in Ireland and found that as a "popcorn" foundation learner.org has a series called economics usa or U$A which is certainly worth watching as you eat supper to give you a broad overview of economics it certainly helped me.

[NatashaB]

Yup, in my limited experience of straighterline, you definitely need the textbooks that go along with the course. I plan to do Macro and Microeconomics next... any recommendations for a good, cheap calculator?

[armyb77]

Any calculator should work, you just need to make sure you know the formulas.

Example: slope and intercept of a straight line y= a + bx (x=vertical axes or independent variable, y=horizontal axes or dependent variable, a= intercept, and b=the slope), it wasn't hard math, I just didn't pay attention enough to do it. For me, I never did well with graphs. I was always much better at the linear equations, so because I didn't have the linear equations in my head, I had a rough time with the first test.


Anyways here is some other information I figured I would share with everyone:

For anyone taking both Macro and Micro economics with Straighterline; you should know that the first 5 topics are the same for both courses. This means that the exam questions are pretty much the same type of questions as well. The only difference is that Macro Quizzes are 40 questions and Micro's are 30.

I have taken up to exam 5 for both courses now and aside from exam 1 on Macro I have not gotten below a 95% on any other exam. Here are some extra study references I am using.

Here is the Web-study for Macroeconomics: Macroeconomics
Here is the Web-study for Microeconomics: Microeconomics

Lastly, here are some helpful links on each topic/chapter for Macro and Micro Econ with Straighterline:
Macro/Micro Topic 1
Macro/Micro Topic 2
Macro/Micro Topic 3
Macro/Micro Topic 4
Macro/Micro Topic 5
Macro Topic 6
Macro Topic 7
Macro Topic 8
Macro Topic 9
Macro Topic 10
Macro Topic 11
Macro Topic 12
Macro Topic 13
Macro Topic 14
Macro Topic 15
Macro Topic 16
Macro Topic 17
Micro Topic 06
Micro Topic 07
Micro Topic 08
Micro Topic 09
Micro Topic 10
Micro Topic 11
Micro Topic 12
Micro Topic 13
Micro Topic 14
Micro Topic 15
Micro Topic 16
Micro Topic 17
Micro Topic 18
Micro Topic 19
Micro Topic 20
Micro Topic 21
Micro Topic 22
Macro Topic 18/Micro Topic 23
Macro Topic 19/Micro Topic 24

Hope this helps others!
~armyb77

[NatashaB]

Thanks.... really helpful! Math is not my strong point - going to need all the help i can get!

[Can219]

Army B...

Thanks for the info. I'm taking Macro and Micro next.

Do you think you need the study guide for Micro too??

Thanks,

[armyb77]

Army B...

Thanks for the info. I'm taking Macro and Micro next.

Do you think you need the study guide for Micro too??

Thanks,

I used the study guide throughout both micro and macro. Its one study guide for both courses anyway. Once I found these slide shows though, I probably could have done without it. Usually I would read the overview in the study guide, then watch the slideshow, and highlight the text in the book at the end to make sure I had a quick reference. Everyone's ability to grasp things is different of course , but this worked for me.

Hope this helps!