MBA 500

[COURSE DESCRIPTION]

MBA 500 Foundations of Problem-Based Learning

Course Description

This course introduces new graduate students to strategies for academic success within the University of Phoenix. Topics include University of Phoenix Graduate School tools and competencies and written and verbal communication skills. This course introduces the conceptual, analytical, and practical foundations of problem-based learning. This will be done in the context of problem definition, research and information utilization, critical thinking, written and verbal communication skills, negotiation skills, and stakeholder communication skills. Problem-based learning will be framed in the context of the alignment of societal, organizational, and personal values.

[MY WRAPUP]

Paul, Class,

What suggestions do you have to improve this course?

Overall I was very impressed. I don’t have any other online learning experiences to compare to; however when comparing the experience of the MBA 500 class to my expectations I was pleasantly surprised. I thought that the structure of the course was very clear and rigid, the communication and interaction with the professor was superb and the content was relevant and always placed in the right order with proper context.

I found the postings confusing, the naming convention was hard to follow and by the sixth week it was almost impossible to find postings, arrange Discussion Questions in order and easily navigate what the class had amassed. So I suggest that the University comes up with a streamlined manageable protocol for posting names and arranging the data of the class.

I also was not able to access any of the quizzes. This made it impossible for me to experience a test where I can evaluate how much information I was able to retain. So while everyone may have negative comments about the quizzes I am neutral since I have no experience.

In what ways was I least effective?

I thought that the participation part of the class was a bit loose. I understood the requirements and what was expected of me, however it was hard for me to manage whether I participated enough or not, I think the student web site should be able to communicate (1) how many times I entered the classroom, (2) how many postings I made for the week and how many days I posted, (3) how many words I posted and (4) some way for me to understand who I responded to and who responded to me without me having the search the group for some metric of such.

I thought that there should be weekly conference calls facilitated by WebEx or something of the sorts, where the professor can verbally and visually outline the expectations for the week and take questions. While the newsgroup format lent itself well to the problem based leaning model, a bit of personal interaction over the phone would have kept some coherence in the class.

What would you like to see more of?

I would like to see more online simulations for the scenarios; I thought that while fictitious it encouraged us students to think of the learning topics covered in context of real-world applications.

I would also like to see more visuals. There was too much information communicated textually and not enough visually.

What would you drop from the syllabus?

I would probably want the quizzes dropped but then again I didn’t get a chance to experience them. I would drop the extensive reading and replace it with audio files to listen, more case studies, video dramatizations and news articles. At this point in my life reading content in a textbook like delivery is just not worth my time. I want the facts, the applications, the implication and the alternatives and I want them now.

Conclusion

In conclusion I thought the course was very beneficial, I found it to be an eye opener and I thought it set the expectation properly for the rest of my degree.

Thanks
Richie Etwaru