UMPI Class Review Master Thread

[grogers14]

Name: BUS352 Business Law II 
Subject: Business 
Semester/Term: Summer 1 2023 
Instructor: Ainsworth 
Long or Short?: Short 
Number of Outcomes: 5 (Technically 6, but #6 is ‘Are you ready for the exam?’) 
Adaptive Outcomes?: Yes 
Number of Milestone Activities: 3
Type of Milestone Activities: Short 500 word/ 1 page write up (Ainsworth isn't critical about citations or APA format in the milestones)


Type of Final Assessment: Multiple Choice Exam 
Notes & Overall Thoughts:
Same as BUS321 and BUS350 Copy all the results for all quizzes in a Google Doc/Word Doc and use them to study .

When you miss a question, there's a blurb that highlights why the correct answer was the correct answer which you can use to pinpoint where in the course materials to study.

With the adaptives, there's a question ‘bank’ for each concept/sub-concept . You will only get more of the questions from the ‘bank’ if you ‘fail’ the adaptive, so I recommend intentionally failing the quizzes maybe once or twice to try and get the most questions to add to your google/word doc .

I would take BUS350 and BUS352 concurrently as they go together and have a ton of overlap.

[grogers14]

Name: BUS343 Risk Management 
Subject: Business 
Semester/Term: Summer 1 2023 
Instructor: Dorsey 
Long or Short?: Short
Number of Outcomes: 4
Adaptive Outcomes?: Yes 
Number of Milestone Activities: 2
Type of Milestone Activities: ~500 word response to a multiple questions about something in the passage 
Type of Final Assessment: Multiple Choice Exam 
Notes & Overall Thoughts: 

I found the material to be DRY and BORING. But hey it was a short class without an essay. 

Copy all the results for all quizzes in a Google Doc/Word Doc and use them to study .

When you miss a question, there's a blurb that highlights why the correct answer was the correct answer which you can use to pinpoint where in the course materials to study.

With the adaptives, there's a question ‘bank’ for each concept/sub-concept . You will only get more of the questions from the ‘bank’ if you ‘fail’ the adaptive, so I recommend intentionally failing the quizzes maybe once or twice to try and get the most questions to add to your google/word doc .

[ishady]

Name: MAT 140 - Mathematics for Business.
Subject: Mathematics
Semester/Term: This June-,July 2023 (summer?)
Instructor: Courtney Boma.
Long or Short?: Long.
Number of Outcomes: 10 (if not mistaken)
Adaptive Outcomes?: Yes.
Number of Milestone Activities: 6.
Type of Milestone Activities: explain some Math problem.
Type of Final Assessment: Quiz in 3 hours.
Notes & Overall Thoughts: easier than Sophia's Introduction to Statistic (althou not related, should be compared to Study.com instead) could be quicker if you take tutoring, the exam was the same as the adaptive just different value.

[Tswede]

Name: Art 108 – Intro to Graphic Design
Subject: Studio Art/Graphic Design (2D requirement)
Semester/Term: Summer Term 1 2023
Instructor: Supa
Long or Short?: Medium, depending on how much time you spend on the design projects.  
Number of Outcomes: 4 
Adaptive Outcomes?: No 
Number of Milestone Activities: 4
Type of Milestone Activities: Design projects using Canva, Vecteezy, Powerpoint
Type of Final Assessment: Website Portfolio to showcase your designs completed in the milestones through Google Sites
Notes & Overall Thoughts: This class was interesting and useful. 

I do some of these things for work and have for decades, but still, it made me think and question the choices I have made and decide to make some updates to things I have been using for a long time.  It inspired me to update my professional webpage and incorporate some new designs into some paperwork I use day to day.  I would have considered myself heavily focused on design when compared to others in my highly technical field, but this class really helped me refine that.

For those without any graphic design background, I could see it being extremely useful as a first time intro course, but possibly more time consuming.

Professor Supa was flexible with allowing me to use Adobe products that I already know and use html which I already know instead of Google Sites. The professor gave useful feedback but was slow (5 days vs 72 hours) to respond to milestones.

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Name: POS 101 – American Government
Subject: Political Science
Semester/Term: Summer 1 2023
Instructor: Zaborney
Long or Short?: Short
Number of Outcomes: 3 real, 1 references 
Adaptive Outcomes?: Yes
Number of Milestone Activities: 3
Type of Milestone Activities: Short essay
Type of Final Assessment: 1500
Notes & Overall Thoughts: Relatively easy.  Could be very quick, I went a little overboard on my final paper and ended up taking a while once I got on a roll.  Material is not hard; for most of us, it’s not the first time learning it. Grading was within 12-24 hours.

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Name: BUS 200 – Intermediate Business Computing
Subject: Business/Desktop Applications
Semester/Term: Summer Term 1 2023
Instructor: Humphrey
Long or Short?: Medium
Number of Outcomes: 3, plus resources section 
Adaptive Outcomes?: No 
Number of Milestone Activities: 3
Type of Milestone Activities: Powerpoint, Excel spreadsheet and Word brochure (drafts)
Type of Final Assessment: Final versions of the milestones, plus Bibliography
Notes & Overall Thoughts: This class is required for my degree and is a bit tedious, and a bit time-consuming on the detailed projects.  It is not hard, just takes some time.  Grading was within 72 hours. Professor gave helpful feedback.

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Name: BUS244 – Management Information Systems
Subject: Business/MIS
Semester/Term: Summer Term 1 2023
Instructor: Siddiqui
Long or Short?: Medium
Number of Outcomes: 4 
Adaptive Outcomes?: Yes, short quizzes in each
Number of Milestone Activities: 6
Type of Milestone Activities: Short-answer to specific questions
Type of Final Assessment: Final Exam Multiple Choice
Notes & Overall Thoughts: The professor is helpful and thoughtful. In his feedback he gives additional important information that is relevant and useful.  Grading was within 72 hours.

The material is extremely dated and sometimes contradictory.  Hopefully, the course material gets an update with the move to Brightspace.  For example, a technology from over a decade ago is described as cutting-edge or expected to be released soon in multiple places.  There are errors in the assessment and quizzes.  You have to answer questions based on the material, not based on 2023 tech and trends.  Most of us that take this class do so because we must for our degree so just get through it as best you can.  

The adaptive quizzes are needed/important for this class.  Be sure to answer questions wrong on the quizzes so you can get a feel for what the quizzes/tests think are the correct answers and learn THAT as the material.

[virino]

Name: GEO 101 - Human Geography
Subject: Geography
Semester/Term: Summer 2023
Instructor: Sebold
Long or Short?: Long
Number of Outcomes: 5 
Adaptive Outcomes?: I don't think so?
Number of Milestone Activities: 5
Type of Milestone Activities: essays, 5-10 slide powerpoints
Type of Final Assessment: 10-part, 30+ slide powerpoint with extensive ntoes
Notes & Overall Thoughts: I dropped this course after the first milestone upon seeing that a "write 300 words" turned into 2 pages of feedback where I was supposed to incorporate incredible detail into an essay that would likely be 2000 words. I'm sure someone else would be okay with this, but I have a full-time job, kids, etc and I don't have time for this level of detail for a 100-level course. I'm going to CLEP out of this requirement instead, as I should have done before.

[grogers14]

Name: BUS330 Marketing Management/Fundamentals of Marketing 
Subject: Business 
Semester/Term: Summer 2 2023 
Instructor: Darrat
Long or Short?: Medium 
Number of Outcomes: 5
Adaptive Outcomes?: Yes
Number of Milestone Activities: 0 
Type of Milestone Activities: N/A 
Type of Final Assessment: 78 Question MC Exam 
Notes & Overall Thoughts:

Copy all the results for all quizzes in a Google Doc/Word Doc and use them to study .

When you miss a question, there's a blurb that highlights why the correct answer was the correct answer which you can use to pinpoint where in the course materials to study.

With the adaptives, there's a question ‘bank’ for each concept/sub-concept . You will only get more of the questions from the ‘bank’ if you ‘fail’ the adaptive, so I recommend intentionally failing the quizzes maybe once or twice to try and get the most questions to add to your google/word doc . 

[grogers14]

Name: FRE101 
Subject: Languages - French 
Semester/Term: Summer 2 2023
Instructor: Mendes 
Long or Short?: Long 
Number of Outcomes: 7
Adaptive Outcomes?: Yes
Number of Milestone Activities: 5
Type of Milestone Activities: Short, normally just exercises using french. I.e. write simple sentences using the lessons OR record yourself speaking in french. 
Type of Final Assessment: 2 Item Final Assessment

Item 1 - Oral Exam. There are questions in the instructions in French that you must answer in French (recording).

Item 2 - Written Exam . 500 word introduction in French. There are questions she asks you in the instructions, but it's more so just using everything you’ve learned in the course to talk about yourself, your family, your life etc. in French .


Notes & Overall Thoughts:

Mme Mendes provides you with a link to a site called Vocaroo which is a free online software that you can record your voice with and download as an MP3 or just use the link for X number of days.  I recommend instead using a film editing tool such as MS Clipchamp , record multiple takes , and splice together the best ones and remove the video and just use the audio. I sent her an MP4 with no video , just audio, and she accepted it.

Best thing to do is write your sentences out in English and then use the course materials to translate to French . I then used the pronunciation videos in the course or youtube’d samples of people speaking words I didn’t know to master pronounciation . I then wrote down my own ‘pronunciation keys’ to help myself practice.  I.e. vingt-sept ans  (27 years) I wrote my own key as VONT-SET - AWNS .

Mme Mendes wants you to master THE COURSE. NOT FRENCH. If you use grammar or phrases NOT in FRE101, she won’t get mad but she just won’t grade you on it because it’s not in the course. So if you write 500 words, but 60 words are in verb forms, grammar, or phrases NOT in the course, she won’t count it towards your 500 words. If you have prior experience with French like I did, this can be challenging as you have to bring yourself down to the most beginner level. 

[rachel83az]

Mme Mendes wants you to master THE COURSE. NOT FRENCH. If you use grammar or phrases NOT in FRE101, she won’t get mad but she just won’t grade you on it because it’s not in the course. So if you write 500 words, but 60 words are in verb forms, grammar, or phrases NOT in the course, she won’t count it towards your 500 words. If you have prior experience with French like I did, this can be challenging as you have to bring yourself down to the most beginner level. 

This is why we highly recommend students take Spanish I at Sophia or an ACTFL exam (when available). Even for sheer beginners, the language courses at UMPI are extremely frustrating due to the limitations imposed.

[xianbd]

Name: HTY 115 - World Civilization I
Subject: History
Semester/Term: Summer Term 2 2023
Instructor: Dr. Kimberly Sebold
Long or Short?: Super Long
Number of Outcomes: 6 outcomes
Adaptive Outcomes?:  No
Number of Milestone Activities: 5
Type of Milestone Activities: Essay (300 words)
Type of Final Assessment: Powerpoint Presentation with Notes Pages (1000 words)
Notes & Overall Thoughts: 

The materials of this course are a combination of the textbook Boundless World History, SUNY Press, 2018, and the CrashCourses given by John Green on Youtube. There are around 10 long readings within each learning outcome. Nonetheless, if you are pretty familiar with world history or you may have learned it in high school, you could accelerate by jumping directly to the milestone activities.

[grogers14]

Name: PHI152 Introduction to Ethics
Subject: Humanities - Philosophy
Semester/Term: Summer 2 2023 
Instructor: Matthews
Long or Short?: Long
Number of Outcomes: 6
Adaptive Outcomes?: Yes 
Number of Milestone Activities: 3
Type of Milestone Activities:  500-word Essay relating to the course content 


Type of Final Assessment: 7-10 page final essay making an argument about an issue, any issue, and using ethical arguments taught in the course to bolster your argument. 


Notes & Overall Thoughts: Don’t be fooled by the 100-level or Intro title , this course is not easy. A lot of reading, a lot of concepts.

What is nice is that Proff. Matthews gives very specific and detailed feedback, so you can tell she wants you to succeed and strive for the A not just the B-. She uses the annotation tool in Word so she can ask you to expand or fix very specific issues in your essay, which in case you aren’t aware, is not the usual for Proffs in YourPace. I definitely recommend using the draft submission in this course so you can get the 3 full attempts.

Proff. Matthews knows her stuff and is a tough grader, so follow the rubric to the T. If I am being totally frank, complete GER 4C/5D through Sophia, Study.com, or Saylor Academy.