Degree Plan – BS Math Major at Excelsior

[NAP]

Analyzing & Interpreting Literature CLEP

I relied heavily on my experience with taking many reading comprehension tests and reading literature in English class during my public school education and that came through for me. Since this is not my favorite subject, I was trying to be happy with a passing score, so I was shocked (as usual) by matching my highest score of 78!

Study materials:

Literary Terms - I should have looked at examples of the main terms better and not just the definitions. It would have helped me to recognize them more quickly and saved some time.

Literary Devices

Literary Terms : SparkCharts - I looked up just a few items here.

CLEP Official Study Guide – practice test

If you need more practice with this type of test, I have seen the REA book and the Petersons practice exams recommended. (A lot of people have decided to take this exam without studying. At least, learn more about this exam and decide based on your own background how much study time and materials you will need.)

My exam had 78 questions about 12-15 reading passages, which were 20-50 three-inch lines long. Each had about 5 questions but a couple had 8-10 questions.

The passages are visible for reference on the page of each question. (You don’t need to go back and forth between the pages/questions to look up the answer.)

During the official practice test, I tried different methods of taking the exam, like reading the questions first and then reading the passage. The methods did not change my results, but I felt more comfortable with reading the passage first and then answering the questions.

On the exam, I decided to read each passage and question as it came for better concentration and felt more settled to answer the questions. I consider myself to be a slow reader. I read each passage once and tried not to get hung up on any one detail, since they might not ask about it. I did try to work quickly and kept a pace of about 1 minute per question. That is not enough time to think about things too deeply, which may have been good so that I did not over-think anything.

This is always the type of exam that I have no idea how I am doing. If I had used the other exam technique (read questions first), I would not have had a funny experience. I read a poem and thought I understood it. Then one of the questions told me an important fact about the author. It turns out that fact was what the whole poem was about, which I had completely missed!


Information Literacy – online course – through Excelsior College – 1 credit requirement

The main reason I chose to take the Excelsior course is to have credit from them on my transcript. (It can be taken through other schools, such as Penn Foster, and be less expensive and time consuming.) Now that I have taken it, I am glad I chose to go through Excelsior because of the resources related to the school and virtual library that were provided and explained. I will know about them for when I take an Excelsior research and writing course later.

I already had some familiarity with the topics covered. They chose interesting and interactive materials.

It was a much bigger time commitment with lots more reading than I realized would be involved.

First, there was an introductory course for how to use the “Blackboard” online learning system. Since I have not used it before, I spent about 2 hours on that. It would have been more time, if I had been taking a more in-depth course.

Second, there was a lot of material to read. I am not a fast reader and it took me about 13 hours over 4 days to read it all.

Third, they encourage printing the materials for reference for the 5 ungraded quizzes and final. It was needed for the final. I did this and will keep it all for future reference. It took a whole ream of paper and over 2 hours to print it all. No wonder it seemed like a lot of reading!

Tip: There are some interactive items that require being at a computer, but a lot of this can be printed and read offline (which is easier on the eyes). There is even a printer feature that allows the sections of the modules to be printed together easily.

Fourth, the final is 2 ½ hours long.

Total time was about 20 hours.

I already know a lot about computer/library research “basics” but I did learn more about personal internet privacy, search engine tips, and searching library databases.

When I had some problems viewing the pictures in the modules, the Excelsior librarians were very helpful and sent the necessary information to me.


NFA Q318 – Fire Service Supervision

I needed 1 credit to get to an “even” number to finish my associate degree. I thought this course looked interesting. It took me a total of 9 hours to complete. It has 8 reading modules – Introduction, Stress and Time Management, Interpersonal Communication, Motivation, Counseling, Conflict Resolution, and Group Dynamics. There are about 200 pages of reading, which took me 6 ½ hours. Each module has 20 review questions, which I took 2 hours to go through after finishing the reading for the course. (If you are a faster reader and do the questions right after reading each module, that would cut down the time.) This made the final very easy. It was 25 questions. I don’t know if there was a time-limit, but it took me a half hour. 70% correct is required to pass and the final can be taken 3 times.

I printed the course to take the final and for future reference

The topics were easy to follow and understand. I think it is the type of course that should be available to all college students. Learning how to manage stress and time and being a good leader and group member are important life-skills.

I do not know if I will take any more of the courses that are available through NFA, but here is a link for more information:

http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...a-ace.html