Walden U - MS Psych Learning Tempo Journey

[warriortaupou]

I will document my journey here with the M.S. General Psychology degree via their Learning Tempo (competency) program. 

I was able to receive the 50% tuition reduction "for the life of the program." See photo, my enrollment officer was able to send it to me in writing, after going back and forth with the initial intake officer. It's only for certain Tempo programs and if you are in the U.S. I signed up for the payment plan, split evenly in three and due a month from the first payment. You will automatically receive an email about payment, and I responded back requesting the payment plan....they sent me the link to setup the plan.

There are new program sessions beginning every couple of weeks. You cannot begin the course material early. You will receive access to your competency around 8am on the start date.

There are Facebook support groups; however, I am finding that those have more active participation from those going into nursing, early child development, health (tempo or regular). So far, I have only found one person in the FB groups enrolled in Psychology I/O, who is at least a month along.

Below is my conversation with Learning Coach:
6 credits minimum every term or semester (finish in a 2 year).
 
need 24 credits in each term = 6 months (2 terms)
need 18 credits in each term = 9 months (3 terms)
**need 30 - 40 hours per week.
 
**for each competency you need an assessment (written or performance-based). At top of page 5. The rubric spells out what you need for your writing. 
 
Must pass each (about 10) rubric to pass the assessment. 
You only need to revise the one rubric that you didn't do well on (only 3 tries; u can petition one time for a 4th attempt-then move over to course-based program). You have to score 2s to pass a assessment (grade achieve = B or master = A). 
 
No letter grade on the transcript until you complete all competencies. 
 
15 graduating in less than a year. Lowest GPA is a 3.0, but they've had 3.5 - 4.0. 
 
Master a course by going above and beyond what is in the rubric. 
 
Setup a customized learning plan (CLP) next Monday. You can edit plan at any time. Won't be penalized if you do less. 
 
This Friday will receive another email from Learning Coach with attachments: word doc with instructions on how to setup CLP on Monday. Document provided on how to get started. Tips to work smarter than harder. Get started right away on the 5th. LC has to approve, then I must agree. Video to watch to navigate the portal-everything is online. Learning resources can be an article, video, chapter right in the classroom. 

Get an appt for next week to talk to LC (before Friday schedule it). 
 
2 commencements, end of January or early February (winter period). Will be at Disney World, either at Tampa or Florida. (The summer one is held at National Harbor next one at San Antonio, Texas). 

[bjcheung77]

Woo Hoo! Thanks for the info and update... I haven't fully decided the I/O vs General Psychology option, but Walden is the one I am going for... thinking of starting in November or December. I am going to copy/paste your conversation with the learning coach as that font used is too small!

6 credits minimum every term or semester (finish in a 2 year).

need 24 credits in each term = 6 months (2 terms)
need 18 credits in each term = 9 months (3 terms)
**need 30 - 40 hours per week.

**for each competency you need an assessment (written or performance-based). At top of page 5. The rubric spells out what you need for your writing.

Must pass each (about 10) rubric to pass the assessment.
You only need to revise the one rubric that you didn't do well on (only 3 tries; u can petition one time for a 4th attempt-then move over to course-based program). You have to score 2s to pass a assessment (grade achieve = B or master = A).

No letter grade on the transcript until you complete all competencies.

15 graduating in less than a year. Lowest GPA is a 3.0, but they've had 3.5 - 4.0.

Master a course by going above and beyond what is in the rubric.

Setup a customized learning plan (CLP) next Monday. You can edit plan at any time. Won't be penalized if you do less.

This Friday will receive another email from Learning Coach with attachments: word doc with instructions on how to setup CLP on Monday. Document provided on how to get started. Tips to work smarter than harder. Get started right away on the 5th. LC has to approve, then I must agree. Video to watch to navigate the portal-everything is online. Learning resources can be an article, video, chapter right in the classroom.

Get an appt for next week to talk to LC (before Friday schedule it).

2 commencements, end of January or early February (winter period). Will be at Disney World, either at Tampa or Florida. (The summer one is held at National Harbor next one at San Antonio, Texas).

[warriortaupou]

Hmmm, both fonts look the same on my end. November / December sounds like a good time with holidays and extra time to work on school work. Stop by my thread when you do. I am curious if you have similar experiences in your I/O class. 

So here's another update. Had another phone session today with my LC. I am going to need to schedule weekly chats with her since that appears to be a reoccurring requirement.

I've already completed most of Comp 1. Waiting on Professor to approve my Substantive Engagement discussion so that I can submit my Written Assessment for this Comp 1. Once I can submit, I believe I am done, unless I get feedback that requires a lot of editing. However, week 1 seems to be more about the basics. How to manage your time, the pitfalls of not being organized or prioritizing, etc. 

Comp 2: I am still reading this; but it appears to focus on what is expected for the APA-7 citations, using the Walden U's library (which appears to have impressive resources), using critical thinking, and referencing assigned readings and other sources outside of the classroom. 

Here's what I asked and learned from my LC today (I am taking the liberty to expand on some of this):
Comp 1 Assessment 1 (GS001): will come back as plagiarize bcoz of the template that every student has to use.

In the discussion boards, the only mandatory communication you need to progress on is the private one with your Professor or Subject Matter Expert (SME). The SME will normally post an initial Welcome or whatever they decide to name the Post (it will show up as a private discussion). For example in Comp 1, it’s my SME's "Welcome" post. Click on post title and there will be a button on the bottom for replying to this thread. Remember to subscribe to your thread. The response is not meant to be homework like writing a paper or properly citing sources or citing sources at all!
 
Other discussion posts (which are public) are optional… You will not receive any credit for responding to those. They are good if you have questions and want to ask your peers; your peers may not necessarily answer.
 
Since I am waiting on the SME to allow me to submit my Comp 1 Written Assessment, LC said we can have 3 open competencies at a time. Still have to wait for SME to approve substantive discussion to move forward on written or project submissions; but, it allows me to readahead the Learning Resources materials, immediately begin my Substantive Discussion with my SME, and complete the quizzes.
 
As for Comp 3 – LC said it will take a whole week to complete, so I can start right now (open up template (to record my entire week's schedule) that one of my Comp 3 Written Assessments will be based on).
 
All assessments will be automatically submitted to Turnitin for originality report. Draft checker available on Walden's class website. There will be times that we all will have the same or similar citations; this will show up in Turnitin report. However, SME knows to expect this, so do not worry about it.
 
At the pace I am aiming for, LC calculated that I should be submitting an Assessment every 5 days.

---

Hmmm, both fonts look the same on my end. November / December sounds like a good time with holidays and extra time to work on school work. Stop by my thread when you do. I am curious if you have similar experiences in your I/O class. 

So here's another update. Had another phone session today with my LC. I am going to need to schedule weekly chats with her since that appears to be a reoccurring requirement.

I've already completed most of Comp 1. Waiting on Professor to approve my Substantive Engagement discussion so that I can submit my Written Assessment for this Comp 1. Once I can submit, I believe I am done, unless I get feedback that requires a lot of editing. However, week 1 seems to be more about the basics. How to manage your time, the pitfalls of not being organized or prioritizing, etc. 

Comp 2: I am still reading this; but it appears to focus on what is expected for the APA-7 citations, using the Walden U's library (which appears to have impressive resources), using critical thinking, and referencing assigned readings and other sources outside of the classroom. 

Here's what I asked and learned from my LC today (I am taking the liberty to expand on some of this):
Comp 1 Assessment 1 (GS001): will come back as plagiarize bcoz of the template that every student has to use.

In the discussion boards, the only mandatory communication you need to progress on is the private one with your Professor or Subject Matter Expert (SME). The SME will normally post an initial Welcome or whatever they decide to name the Post (it will show up as a private discussion). For example in Comp 1, it’s my SME's "Welcome" post. Click on post title and there will be a button on the bottom for replying to this thread. Remember to subscribe to your thread. The response is not meant to be homework like writing a paper or properly citing sources or citing sources at all!
 
Other discussion posts (which are public) are optional… You will not receive any credit for responding to those. They are good if you have questions and want to ask your peers; your peers may not necessarily answer.
 
Since I am waiting on the SME to allow me to submit my Comp 1 Written Assessment, LC said we can have 3 open competencies at a time. Still have to wait for SME to approve substantive discussion to move forward on written or project submissions; but, it allows me to readahead the Learning Resources materials, immediately begin my Substantive Discussion with my SME, and complete the quizzes.
 
As for Comp 3 – LC said it will take a whole week to complete, so I can start right now (open up template (to record my entire week's schedule) that one of my Comp 3 Written Assessments will be based on).
 
All assessments will be automatically submitted to Turnitin for originality report. Draft checker available on Walden's class website. There will be times that we all will have the same or similar citations; this will show up in Turnitin report. However, SME knows to expect this, so do not worry about it.
 
At the pace I am aiming for, LC calculated that I should be submitting an Assessment every 5 days.

I forgot to add that LC approved the 6 credits that is a firm number. You can have more on your CLP; but, 6 is the minimum. You have to approve it when you refresh your Walden U classroom browser (the one that shows all the competencies), and approve on your side as well. Then you are good to go!

[Unity]

I joined this forum to ask about total costs, but then decided to see how easy it was to access the information. Thanks for sharing your journey.

[Blowsley@gmail.com]

Hmmm, both fonts look the same on my end. November / December sounds like a good time with holidays and extra time to work on school work. Stop by my thread when you do. I am curious if you have similar experiences in your I/O class. 

So here's another update. Had another phone session today with my LC. I am going to need to schedule weekly chats with her since that appears to be a reoccurring requirement.

I've already completed most of Comp 1. Waiting on Professor to approve my Substantive Engagement discussion so that I can submit my Written Assessment for this Comp 1. Once I can submit, I believe I am done, unless I get feedback that requires a lot of editing. However, week 1 seems to be more about the basics. How to manage your time, the pitfalls of not being organized or prioritizing, etc. 

Comp 2: I am still reading this; but it appears to focus on what is expected for the APA-7 citations, using the Walden U's library (which appears to have impressive resources), using critical thinking, and referencing assigned readings and other sources outside of the classroom. 

Here's what I asked and learned from my LC today (I am taking the liberty to expand on some of this):
Comp 1 Assessment 1 (GS001): will come back as plagiarize bcoz of the template that every student has to use.

In the discussion boards, the only mandatory communication you need to progress on is the private one with your Professor or Subject Matter Expert (SME). The SME will normally post an initial Welcome or whatever they decide to name the Post (it will show up as a private discussion). For example in Comp 1, it’s my SME's "Welcome" post. Click on post title and there will be a button on the bottom for replying to this thread. Remember to subscribe to your thread. The response is not meant to be homework like writing a paper or properly citing sources or citing sources at all!
 
Other discussion posts (which are public) are optional… You will not receive any credit for responding to those. They are good if you have questions and want to ask your peers; your peers may not necessarily answer.
 
Since I am waiting on the SME to allow me to submit my Comp 1 Written Assessment, LC said we can have 3 open competencies at a time. Still have to wait for SME to approve substantive discussion to move forward on written or project submissions; but, it allows me to readahead the Learning Resources materials, immediately begin my Substantive Discussion with my SME, and complete the quizzes.
 
As for Comp 3 – LC said it will take a whole week to complete, so I can start right now (open up template (to record my entire week's schedule) that one of my Comp 3 Written Assessments will be based on).
 
All assessments will be automatically submitted to Turnitin for originality report. Draft checker available on Walden's class website. There will be times that we all will have the same or similar citations; this will show up in Turnitin report. However, SME knows to expect this, so do not worry about it.
 
At the pace I am aiming for, LC calculated that I should be submitting an Assessment every 5 days.

---

Hmmm, both fonts look the same on my end. November / December sounds like a good time with holidays and extra time to work on school work. Stop by my thread when you do. I am curious if you have similar experiences in your I/O class. 

So here's another update. Had another phone session today with my LC. I am going to need to schedule weekly chats with her since that appears to be a reoccurring requirement.

I've already completed most of Comp 1. Waiting on Professor to approve my Substantive Engagement discussion so that I can submit my Written Assessment for this Comp 1. Once I can submit, I believe I am done, unless I get feedback that requires a lot of editing. However, week 1 seems to be more about the basics. How to manage your time, the pitfalls of not being organized or prioritizing, etc. 

Comp 2: I am still reading this; but it appears to focus on what is expected for the APA-7 citations, using the Walden U's library (which appears to have impressive resources), using critical thinking, and referencing assigned readings and other sources outside of the classroom. 

Here's what I asked and learned from my LC today (I am taking the liberty to expand on some of this):
Comp 1 Assessment 1 (GS001): will come back as plagiarize bcoz of the template that every student has to use.

In the discussion boards, the only mandatory communication you need to progress on is the private one with your Professor or Subject Matter Expert (SME). The SME will normally post an initial Welcome or whatever they decide to name the Post (it will show up as a private discussion). For example in Comp 1, it’s my SME's "Welcome" post. Click on post title and there will be a button on the bottom for replying to this thread. Remember to subscribe to your thread. The response is not meant to be homework like writing a paper or properly citing sources or citing sources at all!
 
Other discussion posts (which are public) are optional… You will not receive any credit for responding to those. They are good if you have questions and want to ask your peers; your peers may not necessarily answer.
 
Since I am waiting on the SME to allow me to submit my Comp 1 Written Assessment, LC said we can have 3 open competencies at a time. Still have to wait for SME to approve substantive discussion to move forward on written or project submissions; but, it allows me to readahead the Learning Resources materials, immediately begin my Substantive Discussion with my SME, and complete the quizzes.
 
As for Comp 3 – LC said it will take a whole week to complete, so I can start right now (open up template (to record my entire week's schedule) that one of my Comp 3 Written Assessments will be based on).
 
All assessments will be automatically submitted to Turnitin for originality report. Draft checker available on Walden's class website. There will be times that we all will have the same or similar citations; this will show up in Turnitin report. However, SME knows to expect this, so do not worry about it.
 
At the pace I am aiming for, LC calculated that I should be submitting an Assessment every 5 days.

I forgot to add that LC approved the 6 credits that is a firm number. You can have more on your CLP; but, 6 is the minimum. You have to approve it when you refresh your Walden U classroom browser (the one that shows all the competenc ies), and approve on your side as well. Then you are good to go!

I'm enrolled in the same program and am encountering issues with SME response time.  Any advice?

[ss20ts]

I'm enrolled in the same program and am encountering issues with SME response time.  Any advice?

This thread is 4 years old. Some of the previous posters haven't been here in awhile.

[ivanswk78]

12 days in the program so far so good (20% complete), think can finish in one term
my current strategy
request your coach to pause the module when pending SME to confirm engagement, so you can keep moving on to next module
even in pause mode you still can submit your assessment and resubmission

After every assessment submitted, you can open new competency about 20mins after that
what i do is especially by friday evening (Asia time), i will request my coach to pause 3 module (that is pending SME), so i can open another 3 module to work on the weekend
so i have 3 module in pause mode pending SME to confirm their engagement (while working the assessment)
then i can work on the 3 open module, the quiz, reading and discussion forum
all in i be working around 6 assessment over the weekend, if the SME confirm engagement over weekend which is rare,
but all in I can most probably have 6 assessment submit by tuesday

[JamesSneider111]

12 days in the program so far so good (20% complete), think can finish in one term
my current strategy
request your coach to pause the module when pending SME to confirm engagement, so you can keep moving on to next module
even in pause mode you still can submit your assessment and resubmission

After every assessment submitted, you can open new competency about 20mins after that
what i do is especially by friday evening (Asia time), i will request my coach to pause 3 module (that is pending SME), so i can open another 3 module to work on the weekend
so i have 3 module in pause mode pending SME to confirm their engagement (while working the assessment)
then i can work on the 3 open module, the quiz, reading and discussion forum
all in i be working around 6 assessment over the weekend, if the SME confirm engagement over weekend which is rare,
but all in I can most probably have 6 assessment submit by tuesday

I'm looking to start the MS Psych Learning Tempo next month. What is a realistic timeline for completing a program in 6, 9 or 12 months? How would you rate level of effort needed per course in terms or hours per week and grading level?

[bjcheung77]

@JamesSneider111, Welcome to the board... Everyone is going to be different, without knowing your various variables at play (you haven't done the addendum or template, so we can't gauge how fast and well you do things, nor your commitments, study habits, etc). The person you're quoting has several degrees under their belt and am familiar with the traditional and CBE options, they're going at a very fast pace.

If I had to hazard a guess, I would 'gauge' your speed to be similar to what a member Supermind has done, he completed the Walden MS Psych in 4.5 months after he completed the TESU BALS Psych in 9 months. TESU didn't have any society to join, he joined PHI CHI Society when he completed the Walden program. All in all, if you can get this done in about 5.5 to less than 6 months, it's just a bit over $6K for two terms of 3 months each...