please describe your WGU courses

[walkingbyfaith]

I have heard that Ed4Credit English Comp classes may have a bit less writing than SL or SDC. Does anyone know if WGU will accept their courses?

Sorry to butt in to this thread but I figure the answer to my question could help the OP.

[quigongene]

I have heard that Ed4Credit English Comp classes may have a bit less writing than SL or SDC. Does anyone know if WGU will accept their courses?

I believe they will if the Ed4Credit courses are ACE accredited. I CLEP'ed out of Comp 1 and 2 personally.

[rvm]

I took a total of 15 classes from WGU in 15 weeks for 55CUs (I transferred in 67):

C683 - Natural Science Lab - 2 (PA is lab report)
C168 - Critical Thinking & Logic - 3 (OA)
C842 - Cyber Defense & Countermeasures - 4 (OA is ECIH cert)
C840 - Digital Forensics in Cybersecurity - 4 (OA and PA is 1 paper)
C844 - Emerging Technologies in Cybersecurity - 4 (PA is 2 papers)
C839 - Introduction to Cryptography - 4 (OA is ECES cert)
C393 - IT Foundations - 4 (OA is 1st test of A+ cert)
C394 - IT Applications - 4 (OA is 2nd test of A+ cert)
C841 - Legal Issues in Information Security - 4 (PA is 2 papers and 2 PPT decks)
C837 - Managing Web Security - 4 (OA is CIW-WSA cert)
C172 - Network & Security Foundations - 3 (OA)
C178 - Network & Security Applications - 4 (OA is Security+)
C480 - Networks - 4 (OA is Network+)
C173 - Scripting & Programming Foundations - 3 (OA)
C769 - IT Capstone Written Project - 4 (PA is project approval & 2 papers)

Anything that just has OA above is an in house test.

Impressive!  You told me you're a geek so most of those courses were probably not difficult for you.  Still, that's a lot of dedication and motivation.  I'm sure mileage will vary per individual.  How many hours each week (or per course) did you spend?

[Johmford]

Idk... I just went to the assessments and completed them...

To be honest I think things are to find when you need them in the course.

@Jjsafari, thank you for your reply.  Would you elaborate on your second sentence, please?  I don't quite understand.

For example in the capstone, which I am currently finishing up, finding the instructions for how to use the capsim website, how to go about doing tasks, and the documents they provide as templates are difficult to locate. Often times they have spelling and grammatical errors as well. So for this course, the layout is not intuitive.

For a course like DDDM I wanted to watch some of the videos people said were helpful. Those were tucked away and I could only find them because I knew the person's name who made them so thankfully the search was useful. The task instructions for DDDM were very vague and it took a lot of feedback from people who completed the course to figure out exactly what the rubric was asking for.

[quigongene]

 How many hours each week (or per course) did you spend?

I would say 10-15 hours a week. 2 hours or so after my kid went to bed on weekdays and a couple hours each weekend day. I could have finished sooner, but I took a sabbatical the last two weeks of December.

[ztkerls]

A lot of things have been covered, but I will explain how it has gone with my mom. Every class is different but in general, you have the same resources. There are two main types of classes PA and OA. 

In a class that requires a PA, you write papers. They sometimes give a "recommended" page count, but as long as you cover everything in the rubric, you will pass. If you accidentally miss something, all they do is send it back so you can correct what you missed and resubmit. Once you resubmit, they will only regrade the sections that were not competent in the original submission so the grading process is usually faster. A lot of these classes will have a prerecorded video that explains exactly what they want from you. 

In a class that requires an OA, you will take a proctored test. Every class is going to include a textbook. The key to getting through these classes effectively is figuring out what to study in the textbook. Every OA class will have a practice test. We usually take the practice test first and see the results. If the results of the practice test are really good, then we take the OA and move on to the next class. If there are some competency in the practice test that need further studying, the test will provide a link to the chapter of the textbook that covers that competency. Prerecorded and live videos and study guides are often provided as well and are very helpful. 

Every class is going to have a "Course Tips" section which provides resources for the class. Most class will have prerecorded lectures explaining topics that will be covered on the OA or explaining how they want you to do the various PAs. A lot of classes also offer live cohorts where you can ask the course instructors questions in real time. These videos are really helpful when trying to get through classes fast. 

Like others have mentioned, the WGU Reddit has a lot of valuable resources. The best way to navigate the Reddit is to search by the course number. For example, Critical Thinking and Logics' course number is C168. That will focus the results on that particular class and show what you actually want to see. 

We also utilize the Facebook WGU accelerators group for information as well. There are a few of them but I would recommend joining the main one and the one for your major. I believe most majors have a group at this point. If you post a question in the group about a specific course, you will usually get really good advice. This is the best place to get information on courses that were just created or recently updated. Sometimes the Reddit is outdated or doesn't have information on newer courses.

Lastly, we have not done this yet because it slows done accelerating a bit, but you can easily email or make an appointment with your course instructor to talk about the course. They are known to give extra study guides and tips to focus on what is on the test. For PA classes, they are typically happy to look over your paper prior to submitting or if you are worried or are stuck on a section they will give you tips.

[bluebooger]

https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU/comments/7l...rt_1_of_2/

this person has a lot of reviews
https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU/comments/7s...s_ii_msda/

https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU_CompSci/com...oundation/

https://www.reddit.com/user/lynda_/posts/

[rvm]

 How many hours each week (or per course) did you spend?

I would say 10-15 hours a week.  2 hours or so after my kid went to bed on weekdays and a couple hours each weekend day.  I could have finished sooner, but I took a sabbatical the last two weeks of December.

Awesome!  In the case of the courses you listed above, were you mostly validating what you had already learned?

[quigongene]

Awesome!  In the case of the courses you listed above, were you mostly validating what you had already learned?

I was. I did a little research here and there because I was curious (and bored). For example, C841 mentioned dumpster diving, which isn't illegal (unless you're trespassing). There have been civil suits involving it, though. I added the cases to the paper, and ended up getting an Excellence Award for it.

[rvm]

A lot of things have been covered, but I will explain how it has gone with my mom. Every class is different but in general, you have the same resources. There are two main types of classes PA and OA. 

In a class that requires a PA, you write papers. They sometimes give a "recommended" page count, but as long as you cover everything in the rubric, you will pass. If you accidentally miss something, all they do is send it back so you can correct what you missed and resubmit. Once you resubmit, they will only regrade the sections that were not competent in the original submission so the grading process is usually faster. A lot of these classes will have a prerecorded video that explains exactly what they want from you. 

In a class that requires an OA, you will take a proctored test. Every class is going to include a textbook. The key to getting through these classes effectively is figuring out what to study in the textbook. Every OA class will have a practice test. We usually take the practice test first and see the results. If the results of the practice test are really good, then we take the OA and move on to the next class. If there are some competency in the practice test that need further studying, the test will provide a link to the chapter of the textbook that covers that competency. Prerecorded and live videos and study guides are often provided as well and are very helpful. 

Every class is going to have a "Course Tips" section which provides resources for the class. Most class will have prerecorded lectures explaining topics that will be covered on the OA or explaining how they want you to do the various PAs. A lot of classes also offer live cohorts where you can ask the course instructors questions in real time. These videos are really helpful when trying to get through classes fast. 

Like others have mentioned, the WGU Reddit has a lot of valuable resources. The best way to navigate the Reddit is to search by the course number. For example, Critical Thinking and Logics' course number is C168. That will focus the results on that particular class and show what you actually want to see. 

We also utilize the Facebook WGU accelerators group for information as well. There are a few of them but I would recommend joining the main one and the one for your major. I believe most majors have a group at this point. If you post a question in the group about a specific course, you will usually get really good advice. This is the best place to get information on courses that were just created or recently updated. Sometimes the Reddit is outdated or doesn't have information on newer courses.

Lastly, we have not done this yet because it slows done accelerating a bit, but you can easily email or make an appointment with your course instructor to talk about the course. They are known to give extra study guides and tips to focus on what is on the test. For PA classes, they are typically happy to look over your paper prior to submitting or if you are worried or are stuck on a section they will give you tips.

Kudos Ztkerls!  That is exactly what I was hoping to get - a real feel for a WGU course without taking one.  Thank you!