The horrible writing quality of some of the posts in my communications class have caused me to wonder if everyone is given a passing grade. If so, the University of Phoenix is undermining its credibility by bestowing master's degrees upon these folks.
The prose from some students can be a real chore to read. Here are some snippets from one of the more painful posts I was exposed to this week:
" . . . Business should be gender natural . . . " ". . . It is becomes publicly aware that two employees are dating . . ." ". . . needs to cracked down on to really inforce the policies . . ." " . . . Having a three stikes policy . . ." " . . .I know this seems harse . . ."
What I find "harse," my dear and loyal reader(s), is having to read this garbage. What makes it even more unbearable is the knowledge that at least some of this offensive drivel could be fixed by the spell checker that is already provided by the UoP online. These are master's-level students; how did they finish their baccalaureate degrees?
To make matters more interesting, the plagiarism that I stumbled upon early in the program is evidently still rampant. One student whose writing is consistently awful turned out a very nicely written post this weekend that positively astonished me. I pasted a paragraph into Google, and voila - there was the original source! No quotation marks or source credit in the post, just blatant copying and pasting - not a skill that should carry a student through a master's degree program, but at Phoenix it appears to be a real possibility.
It shouldn't be difficult for facilitators to spot plagiarism in the forums. When one student submits posts with very different writing styles, a warning bell should go off. The student I noticed this week usually put out such gems as:
" . . . There was also an unsaid understanding or organizational to not communicate any opinions . . . ," and, from a different post in which nearly every sentence was unintelligible, "I believe that my analytical skills and attention to detail is higher than most of my colleges. I perform reconciliation's on a daily basis. I am communication with auditors financial information. I am always double checking myself and trying to look at the situation from all perspectives. I do not perform all reconciliation independently. I sometimes have to depends on information from others."
"I am always double checking myself . . ." Umm, really?
It is easy to see how even the rankest of amateurs should be able to spot most of the plagiarizers, who aren't bright enough to avoid using readily checked sources such as web pages. But, as I've pointed out before, dropouts don't pay tuition. The greater the number of students that stay in a program, the more a school makes. The quality of an education in the United States may be trending steadily downwards, but profit margins are up.
Ka-ching!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
University of Phoenix: Master's Students Writing Expectations
The facilitator for my communications class, highly resistant to my suggestions that the APA format was totally inappropriate for forum posts, asked if I thought that master's level students should necessarily be expected to write at a higher level than undergraduate students.
My answer:
Absolutely.
Master’s level students have, presumably, at least the writing experience of a baccalaureate under their collective belts. It is reasonable to expect students with this level of education to have a wider degree of skill in written communication – to have available more styles and formats in their repertoire.
Do I believe that this is true of all students? No. Setting the bar higher is more likely to result in higher performance, though, than leaving it at a point where only the least cerebral performers will trip. I am a stalwart defender of the superiority of the experiential learning model over the transmission model.
I would also expect a curriculum to require a certain degree of flexibility from its students. Business writing may take the more familiar form of a memorandum or client letter, or forms that fewer students will use in their careers – such as executive summaries, technical bulletins, marketing proposals, web pages, and HR manuals, to name just a few.
Citing sources is important for legitimate academic reasons. But business students will benefit more (in my humble, yet invariably correct, opinion) from learning to integrate references into their documents in a more dynamic, and less pedantic, format. The use of a hyperlink to reference the reader without interrupting the flow of communication is just one example of the type of integration I am suggesting.
Some other practical habits are beneficial to the development of communications skills for students in a business degree program, particularly one taken online. Composing a draft of a forum post offline with word-processing software that is capable of auto-saving can save a student considerable grief, as I have recently learned (my entire post disappeared as the UoP website crashed mid-composition: I received reference ticket number 15214703, which, as you may well imagine, made me feel loads better).
Reference ticket numbers do little for my grade, but had I heeded the lessons I learned in my information systems classes while studying for my business administration degree, I would have written using word processing software that automatically saved my writing, providing the all-important back-up.
So.
If you'll excuse me.
I have a post to rewrite.
My answer:
Absolutely.
Master’s level students have, presumably, at least the writing experience of a baccalaureate under their collective belts. It is reasonable to expect students with this level of education to have a wider degree of skill in written communication – to have available more styles and formats in their repertoire.
Do I believe that this is true of all students? No. Setting the bar higher is more likely to result in higher performance, though, than leaving it at a point where only the least cerebral performers will trip. I am a stalwart defender of the superiority of the experiential learning model over the transmission model.
I would also expect a curriculum to require a certain degree of flexibility from its students. Business writing may take the more familiar form of a memorandum or client letter, or forms that fewer students will use in their careers – such as executive summaries, technical bulletins, marketing proposals, web pages, and HR manuals, to name just a few.
Citing sources is important for legitimate academic reasons. But business students will benefit more (in my humble, yet invariably correct, opinion) from learning to integrate references into their documents in a more dynamic, and less pedantic, format. The use of a hyperlink to reference the reader without interrupting the flow of communication is just one example of the type of integration I am suggesting.
Some other practical habits are beneficial to the development of communications skills for students in a business degree program, particularly one taken online. Composing a draft of a forum post offline with word-processing software that is capable of auto-saving can save a student considerable grief, as I have recently learned (my entire post disappeared as the UoP website crashed mid-composition: I received reference ticket number 15214703, which, as you may well imagine, made me feel loads better).
Reference ticket numbers do little for my grade, but had I heeded the lessons I learned in my information systems classes while studying for my business administration degree, I would have written using word processing software that automatically saved my writing, providing the all-important back-up.
So.
If you'll excuse me.
I have a post to rewrite.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Finding Jesus
I was accosted the other day by an old man demanding to know if I had found Jesus. I was astonished. I had no idea He was lost!
It is tough to take these recruiters seriously. Far too many churches measure their success nowadays by the numbers on their financial statements rather than the souls they have saved. Americans in particular seem all too happy to drive their SUVs to church and let their eyes glaze over as the preacher in residence talks about how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.
Cash flow and marketing are now the name of the game. Tithes go to the church rather than the needy, placing one of the five pillars of Islam, Zakat, far closer to the spirit of the Son of God than the Christian tithe. The church's use of the tithe may not win any brownie points with the Almighty, but it does do a significant bit for Christian architecture and church investments.
I hasten to point out that not all churches are multi-million dollar behemoths that seem to believe that God is far more impressed with great architecture than good deeds. Some tithe strictly for the sake of the needy. Sadly, architectural evangelism seems to be winning the souls of many - and church mortgages were never mentioned by Jesus Christ so much as once during His ministry.
When Christ said "I am the Way," He wasn't referring to a street sign pointing to a glorious monument of aesthetic self-worship of man's ability to create. He was referring to Himself - to the way He lived His life. So think of a man of the greatest humility, washing the feet of another, and give that shiny megachurch a pass - instead, pull in at the tired, run-down old church with all the paint peeling in the corner of that old neighborhood, and ask if you can help out in the soup kitchen. Or kick a dollar their way to help with their charity efforts.
Stretch yourself for the Way.
Trust me, you can afford it. Think about the day you will lie on your deathbed and reflect on what your life amounted to - the answer won't lie in your bank account.
It is tough to take these recruiters seriously. Far too many churches measure their success nowadays by the numbers on their financial statements rather than the souls they have saved. Americans in particular seem all too happy to drive their SUVs to church and let their eyes glaze over as the preacher in residence talks about how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.
Cash flow and marketing are now the name of the game. Tithes go to the church rather than the needy, placing one of the five pillars of Islam, Zakat, far closer to the spirit of the Son of God than the Christian tithe. The church's use of the tithe may not win any brownie points with the Almighty, but it does do a significant bit for Christian architecture and church investments.
I hasten to point out that not all churches are multi-million dollar behemoths that seem to believe that God is far more impressed with great architecture than good deeds. Some tithe strictly for the sake of the needy. Sadly, architectural evangelism seems to be winning the souls of many - and church mortgages were never mentioned by Jesus Christ so much as once during His ministry.
When Christ said "I am the Way," He wasn't referring to a street sign pointing to a glorious monument of aesthetic self-worship of man's ability to create. He was referring to Himself - to the way He lived His life. So think of a man of the greatest humility, washing the feet of another, and give that shiny megachurch a pass - instead, pull in at the tired, run-down old church with all the paint peeling in the corner of that old neighborhood, and ask if you can help out in the soup kitchen. Or kick a dollar their way to help with their charity efforts.
Stretch yourself for the Way.
Trust me, you can afford it. Think about the day you will lie on your deathbed and reflect on what your life amounted to - the answer won't lie in your bank account.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Great Ministry Ideas Can't Always Find Support, But Great Breasts Can
I had this great idea for a ministry some years ago, but I never could find the supporters to bankroll me. Still, I am passionate enough about the idea to settle for doing my missionary work in my free time, and totally without funding.
My idea was to help save the souls of the many ladies who work at strip clubs all over the country. The most important component of my ministry was the laying on of hands.
Come to think of it, that was the only component of my proposed ministry. It wasn't a bad idea; maybe I just need to flesh it out a bit.
Speaking of flesh, I was reading over the reviews at Netflix for Rumpole of the Bailey, one of my all-time favorite television shows, and I was surprised to run across a rant about the "graphic frontal nudity" that one viewer was confronted with while watching an episode. It took a moment for me to figure out what the reviewer was talking about: an episode that opened with an elderly man painting his much younger wife, who was naked from the waist up. The episode was "Rumpole and the Genuine Article."
The reviewer went on to opine that such a scene was "definitely not for the family or for that matter anyone." I didn't realize I ran the risk of being mentally and emotionally scarred by being exposed to human breasts, especially as I was mercilessly and repeatedly exposed to them during the entire first year of my life. Ditto my daughters, the youngest of whom will very probably be confronted with "graphic frontal nudity" by my wife bare minutes from now.
I am greatly concerned about this problem that has so recently been brought to my awareness. People need to be protected. So I stand ready to combat the problem the instant the need arises. Perhaps I can even work my heroic efforts into my proposed ministry.
The next time I see a pair of bare breasts, I will not hesitate to valiantly intercede by thrusting myself between them and the innocent public - even covering them with my bare hands if necessary!
My idea was to help save the souls of the many ladies who work at strip clubs all over the country. The most important component of my ministry was the laying on of hands.
Come to think of it, that was the only component of my proposed ministry. It wasn't a bad idea; maybe I just need to flesh it out a bit.
Speaking of flesh, I was reading over the reviews at Netflix for Rumpole of the Bailey, one of my all-time favorite television shows, and I was surprised to run across a rant about the "graphic frontal nudity" that one viewer was confronted with while watching an episode. It took a moment for me to figure out what the reviewer was talking about: an episode that opened with an elderly man painting his much younger wife, who was naked from the waist up. The episode was "Rumpole and the Genuine Article."
The reviewer went on to opine that such a scene was "definitely not for the family or for that matter anyone." I didn't realize I ran the risk of being mentally and emotionally scarred by being exposed to human breasts, especially as I was mercilessly and repeatedly exposed to them during the entire first year of my life. Ditto my daughters, the youngest of whom will very probably be confronted with "graphic frontal nudity" by my wife bare minutes from now.
I am greatly concerned about this problem that has so recently been brought to my awareness. People need to be protected. So I stand ready to combat the problem the instant the need arises. Perhaps I can even work my heroic efforts into my proposed ministry.
The next time I see a pair of bare breasts, I will not hesitate to valiantly intercede by thrusting myself between them and the innocent public - even covering them with my bare hands if necessary!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Curbed Creativity at the UoP
Plagiarism is a problem at every college and university. Limiting research paper topics is one way of fighting this problem.
At the University of Phoenix Online, this tactic has been taken to extremes.
I have a 1,500-word paper due this week on organizational commitment and communication. The organization I write about must be the same organization that I wrote about in my first paper two weeks ago, from a list of only eleven permitted organizations: Walt Disney, Cisco Systems, GE, Nordstrom, Starbucks, Google, IBM, 3M, Southwest Airlines, the U.S. Army, and the American Red Cross.
Ah, but the limits haven't been laid out yet in their wretched entirety. The paper must "explain how different leadership styles [. . .] affect group communication" in the organization I chose; "analyze the different sources of power found in the organization;" "identify the motivational theories that would be effective within" the culture of the organization; "evaluate the role of communication as an element of" said theories; and "describe the commitment of the workforce to the organization and their relationship to the organization's communication."
The paper practically writes itself! Apart from being horribly boring, such strictures placed on paper topics and content do not lend themselves to a positive learning experience. Research paper assignments at most schools allow the student enough leeway to permit him or her to engage the learning experience in a way that best suits the individual student's areas of interest.
There are aspects to the programs at the University of Phoenix Online that can be disheartening, but are in truth no different than the problems experienced by brick and mortar institutions. This is one of the few exceptions that give me heartburn. The situation is hardly as bad as that in the team learning assignments, but it is still irritating.
I've whined at length about other objections I have to the learning format in place for my MSA program at the UoP, but this one doesn't deserve as much attention - but it is worth knowing about for those of you considering the UoP for further education.
So excuse me - I've got a paper to write.
At the University of Phoenix Online, this tactic has been taken to extremes.
I have a 1,500-word paper due this week on organizational commitment and communication. The organization I write about must be the same organization that I wrote about in my first paper two weeks ago, from a list of only eleven permitted organizations: Walt Disney, Cisco Systems, GE, Nordstrom, Starbucks, Google, IBM, 3M, Southwest Airlines, the U.S. Army, and the American Red Cross.
Ah, but the limits haven't been laid out yet in their wretched entirety. The paper must "explain how different leadership styles [. . .] affect group communication" in the organization I chose; "analyze the different sources of power found in the organization;" "identify the motivational theories that would be effective within" the culture of the organization; "evaluate the role of communication as an element of" said theories; and "describe the commitment of the workforce to the organization and their relationship to the organization's communication."
The paper practically writes itself! Apart from being horribly boring, such strictures placed on paper topics and content do not lend themselves to a positive learning experience. Research paper assignments at most schools allow the student enough leeway to permit him or her to engage the learning experience in a way that best suits the individual student's areas of interest.
There are aspects to the programs at the University of Phoenix Online that can be disheartening, but are in truth no different than the problems experienced by brick and mortar institutions. This is one of the few exceptions that give me heartburn. The situation is hardly as bad as that in the team learning assignments, but it is still irritating.
I've whined at length about other objections I have to the learning format in place for my MSA program at the UoP, but this one doesn't deserve as much attention - but it is worth knowing about for those of you considering the UoP for further education.
So excuse me - I've got a paper to write.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Fun with APA at the University of Phoenix Online
The gears of change grind slowly forward, so when the movers and shakers within society have to cope with the shortcomings of any given process, they often have fun at the expense of the more conservative factions in the interim.
It was in this spirit that I wrote my first answer to the discussion question forum post at the beginning of my Communications for Accountants (COM 530) class at UoP:
Week 1 Discussion Question 1
Week 2
Abstract
The primary resource that will benefit the author as he enters the Communications for Accountants graduate school course will be The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition. The author contends that additional texts will be useful, and further contends (in satirical form) that the APA format was never intended for online posts, is ill-suited for such use, and fails to be conducive to an optimal learning environment. The author closes with a summary of his personal plan for success.
Week 3
The APA format style is in use by a broad spectrum of academic disciplines (Purdue, 2004). Its suitability for such broad use is questioned by this author. The American Psychological Association is the authority for the APA format; as the association's name suggests, the APA style was developed for use in the social science disciplines (American, 2008). The requirements of this class have prompted the author to choose The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition, as his most beneficial resource, despite his belief that substance is more important than style.
The University of Phoenix has an outstanding online library, which has up to this point in time been underutilized by this author. An attempt to make better use of this resource will be integral to his personal plan for success in this course. Additional sources this author intends to rely on consist of the following: The Gregg Reference Manual, 7th Edition; Writing Research Papers: Investigating Resources in Cyberspace, 2nd Edition; and The Elements of Style, Third Edition. This list is by no means exhaustive, and the author has no intention to restrict his resources to the aforementioned texts. A focus on the procedural over the substantive aspects of communication is regrettable, even farcical in a communications course; unfortunately, the strict requirements about the utilization of the APA style in the forum posts - in addition to yet more burdensome rules involving subject line edits, posting restrictions, and suchlike - have dictated that a significant portion of valuable learning time be spent on procedural trivia. It is notable that this is the first class the author has taken that has imposed such stringent requirements on the forum posts.
The University of Phoenix contends that master's level students lack the maturity and work experience that would already have developed within them an ability to work in teams (University, 2004). Thus, collaborative projects are required in this class (as well as others), irrespective of the suitability of the subject or the assignments to a group approach. This is especially absurd in accounting, which is sequential in nature, and thus, does not lend itself to a module-based approach that can be logically distributed among team members. It is also noteworthy that real-world work collaboration in the online environment typically uses many formats, the static posting forum not being one of them. It follows, then, that the Online Campus Learning Team Handbook, available in PDF from the University of Phoenix, will round out the author’s front-line choice of resources for the Communications for Accountants class.
In summary, the author's brief personal plan for success centers on valuable, authoritative resources on procedure and style. The author's extended network includes family members that teach at the University of Idaho and Lewis-Clark State College, and their personal libraries will be plundered for texts (such as The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition) that the author does not personally own. In brief, effective time management is an essential component that will complete the author's personal plan for success.
Week 4
References
American Psychological Association. (2008). Homepage. Retrieved October 28, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.apastyle.org/.
Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2004). American Psychological Association (APA) Style Workshop: Introduction to APA Style. Retrieved October 28, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/apa/introduction.html.
University of Phoenix. (2004). Learning Team Toolkit. Retrieved October 28, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://ecampus.phoenix.edu/.
It was in this spirit that I wrote my first answer to the discussion question forum post at the beginning of my Communications for Accountants (COM 530) class at UoP:
Week 1
Week 1 Discussion Question 1
[Name Omitted]
University of PhoenixCommunications for Accountants (COM 530)
Faculty Facilitator [Name Omitted]
October 28, 2008
Week 2
Abstract
The primary resource that will benefit the author as he enters the Communications for Accountants graduate school course will be The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition. The author contends that additional texts will be useful, and further contends (in satirical form) that the APA format was never intended for online posts, is ill-suited for such use, and fails to be conducive to an optimal learning environment. The author closes with a summary of his personal plan for success.
Week 3
The APA format style is in use by a broad spectrum of academic disciplines (Purdue, 2004). Its suitability for such broad use is questioned by this author. The American Psychological Association is the authority for the APA format; as the association's name suggests, the APA style was developed for use in the social science disciplines (American, 2008). The requirements of this class have prompted the author to choose The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition, as his most beneficial resource, despite his belief that substance is more important than style.
The University of Phoenix has an outstanding online library, which has up to this point in time been underutilized by this author. An attempt to make better use of this resource will be integral to his personal plan for success in this course. Additional sources this author intends to rely on consist of the following: The Gregg Reference Manual, 7th Edition; Writing Research Papers: Investigating Resources in Cyberspace, 2nd Edition; and The Elements of Style, Third Edition. This list is by no means exhaustive, and the author has no intention to restrict his resources to the aforementioned texts. A focus on the procedural over the substantive aspects of communication is regrettable, even farcical in a communications course; unfortunately, the strict requirements about the utilization of the APA style in the forum posts - in addition to yet more burdensome rules involving subject line edits, posting restrictions, and suchlike - have dictated that a significant portion of valuable learning time be spent on procedural trivia. It is notable that this is the first class the author has taken that has imposed such stringent requirements on the forum posts.
The University of Phoenix contends that master's level students lack the maturity and work experience that would already have developed within them an ability to work in teams (University, 2004). Thus, collaborative projects are required in this class (as well as others), irrespective of the suitability of the subject or the assignments to a group approach. This is especially absurd in accounting, which is sequential in nature, and thus, does not lend itself to a module-based approach that can be logically distributed among team members. It is also noteworthy that real-world work collaboration in the online environment typically uses many formats, the static posting forum not being one of them. It follows, then, that the Online Campus Learning Team Handbook, available in PDF from the University of Phoenix, will round out the author’s front-line choice of resources for the Communications for Accountants class.
In summary, the author's brief personal plan for success centers on valuable, authoritative resources on procedure and style. The author's extended network includes family members that teach at the University of Idaho and Lewis-Clark State College, and their personal libraries will be plundered for texts (such as The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition) that the author does not personally own. In brief, effective time management is an essential component that will complete the author's personal plan for success.
Week 4
References
American Psychological Association. (2008). Homepage. Retrieved October 28, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www.apastyle.org/.
Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2004). American Psychological Association (APA) Style Workshop: Introduction to APA Style. Retrieved October 28, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/apa/introduction.html.
University of Phoenix. (2004). Learning Team Toolkit. Retrieved October 28, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://ecampus.phoenix.edu/.
Monday, November 10, 2008
UoP: Bring on the Pain
In my running review of my experience on the MSA program at the University of Phoenix online, I feel it is necessary to share what a candidate might expect in terms of peer contributions, since the UoP still forces its students to endure group assignments in every class.
Recently, one of the students posted the following in a discussion forum in my communications class:
My response was profound: huh?
Imagine working with a group of students that write at this level - master's candidates, no less - and having your grade depend upon their performance. Noun-verb agreement? Forget about it. A basic grasp of the rules of pluralization? Not in this class, baby. Sentences that at least make sense? You're asking a wee bit much. Spell colleagues c-o-l-l-e-a-g-u-e-s instead of c-o-l-l-e-g-e-s? Hey - never mind anything the spell checker doesn't catch.
The top ten percent tends to pull the load for the bottom ninety percent in a group situation, in my experience. In a work situation, however, high performers tend to work for organizations that hire other high performers - so the performance margin difference is slim at best. In the United States school system, however, if you can pay your tuition, you're in.
Somehow, in my latest class, I got saddled with riding herd on the lowest half of the bell curve. So if the subject of group assignments is getting old, beware of what is ahead of you if you are entertaining thoughts of attending the University of Phoenix online. This week alone, I was forced to combine several badly written segments to form a three-page (it ended up running to six pages) memo. I had to combine prose like "Reality is based on how we see it. We see reality by using our experiences, background, motivations, and needs" with works of Shakespearean genius such as "When a receiver receives information that has been manipulated by the sender is called filtering. When people filter information, the information usually is in companies with hierarchies. An employee will only tell their boss what they think their boss wants to hear just to keep them happy and pleased with them. The disadvantages to this is that their boss could need to make improvements to help the company succeed and the boss thinks that they are doing a job good, when there are opportunities for improvement that are not being heard."
And everybody's compliance with APA standards? Don't even get me started.
This has all made me deeply unhappy. I am engaged in an ongoing battle with UoP staff over the appropriateness of group work in an online environment. Apart from that, my experience has been largely positive; the stress created by the group assignments, however, cause me to question my choice of school.
To be fair, the Senior Faculty Liaison that has followed up on my complaints about group projects has responded to every email I've sent - and sympathetically so. However, this person is not empowered to do anything other than listen. The Powers That Be escape my scathing indictments of the group assignment policies in curriculum design at the UoP.
Sound like the Sears Complaint Line service model? It is much the same. This isn't a recipe for responsive governance.
Worse, students like myself that are constantly exposed to below-par writing begin to wonder about the quality of the school. What will my degree be worth when so many UoP graduates with master's degree certificates can't even write a sentence? The UoP needs to work hard to get away from the reputation it has earned in some quarters as a degree mill. If the cream of the UoP crop tells horror stories to everybody they know about pulling the collective load in group work, it will put other potential UoP students off of the school.
Even Ivy League schools are more worried about ability to pay nowadays than ability to learn. My own brick-and-mortar school graduated some real winners, too, so it isn't just the UoP online that has problems. Academia in the United States has problems caused by the mad dash for the tuition dollar. Still, it is little comfort to know that I am part of a proud collection of individuals who were capable of landing a student loan. That isn't much of a distinction.
But at least I need not feel lonely. Nowadays, who isn't in debt?
Recently, one of the students posted the following in a discussion forum in my communications class:
I believe that my analytical skills and attention to detail is higher than
most of my colleges. I perform reconciliation's on a daily basis. I
am communication with auditors financial information.
My response was profound: huh?
Imagine working with a group of students that write at this level - master's candidates, no less - and having your grade depend upon their performance. Noun-verb agreement? Forget about it. A basic grasp of the rules of pluralization? Not in this class, baby. Sentences that at least make sense? You're asking a wee bit much. Spell colleagues c-o-l-l-e-a-g-u-e-s instead of c-o-l-l-e-g-e-s? Hey - never mind anything the spell checker doesn't catch.
The top ten percent tends to pull the load for the bottom ninety percent in a group situation, in my experience. In a work situation, however, high performers tend to work for organizations that hire other high performers - so the performance margin difference is slim at best. In the United States school system, however, if you can pay your tuition, you're in.
Somehow, in my latest class, I got saddled with riding herd on the lowest half of the bell curve. So if the subject of group assignments is getting old, beware of what is ahead of you if you are entertaining thoughts of attending the University of Phoenix online. This week alone, I was forced to combine several badly written segments to form a three-page (it ended up running to six pages) memo. I had to combine prose like "Reality is based on how we see it. We see reality by using our experiences, background, motivations, and needs" with works of Shakespearean genius such as "When a receiver receives information that has been manipulated by the sender is called filtering. When people filter information, the information usually is in companies with hierarchies. An employee will only tell their boss what they think their boss wants to hear just to keep them happy and pleased with them. The disadvantages to this is that their boss could need to make improvements to help the company succeed and the boss thinks that they are doing a job good, when there are opportunities for improvement that are not being heard."
And everybody's compliance with APA standards? Don't even get me started.
This has all made me deeply unhappy. I am engaged in an ongoing battle with UoP staff over the appropriateness of group work in an online environment. Apart from that, my experience has been largely positive; the stress created by the group assignments, however, cause me to question my choice of school.
To be fair, the Senior Faculty Liaison that has followed up on my complaints about group projects has responded to every email I've sent - and sympathetically so. However, this person is not empowered to do anything other than listen. The Powers That Be escape my scathing indictments of the group assignment policies in curriculum design at the UoP.
Sound like the Sears Complaint Line service model? It is much the same. This isn't a recipe for responsive governance.
Worse, students like myself that are constantly exposed to below-par writing begin to wonder about the quality of the school. What will my degree be worth when so many UoP graduates with master's degree certificates can't even write a sentence? The UoP needs to work hard to get away from the reputation it has earned in some quarters as a degree mill. If the cream of the UoP crop tells horror stories to everybody they know about pulling the collective load in group work, it will put other potential UoP students off of the school.
Even Ivy League schools are more worried about ability to pay nowadays than ability to learn. My own brick-and-mortar school graduated some real winners, too, so it isn't just the UoP online that has problems. Academia in the United States has problems caused by the mad dash for the tuition dollar. Still, it is little comfort to know that I am part of a proud collection of individuals who were capable of landing a student loan. That isn't much of a distinction.
But at least I need not feel lonely. Nowadays, who isn't in debt?
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Who Is This God Guy, Anyway?
Nary a church service can be found where a good portion of time is not devoted to praising God. It set me to wondering: who is this God guy, anyway? Why is He so insecure that He is in need of constant praise?
The questions continued unmercifully and unbidden, once they started. Why oh why, given His omniscience, would He need us to pray out loud, anyway? Is the Old Man getting deaf with age?
I am reminded of a snippet from Rumpole and the Judge's Elbow:
I suppose my own faith is grounded less in what my fellow man tells me I should think than what I know to be true in my heart. Faith in the Bible, I have often said, is less important than faith in God. After all, those with faith in the Bible must be asked, "Which one?" Many Christians do not realize that not only are there many translations, but there are Bibles that differ in composition as well.
Martin Luther, convinced that the Jews held the authority where Old Testament texts were concerned, persuaded his followers to remove the so-called "apocryphal" books from the Bible. So the Protestants took them out.
The irony of thinking that the Jews should decide what is canonical for Christians is self-evident, one would hope.
Canonical issues make many a priest and parson uncomfortable - and with good reason. We can't have Christians thinking for themselves! No, that would just not do. They might begin donating their money to the poor, instead of to the new addition for the church, or, better yet, a newer and even more glorious structure, often financed to the tune of millions of dollars in some cases.
No, far better to go to church and talk about our values than to live them. Didn't Jesus Christ say "I am the Way," you ask? Must have been your imagination.
I am aware that there are those who would rather drive their high-end SUVs to church and drift off into a reverie while the preacher talks about good works than simply doing good works. And I'm afraid I can't helps these folks. In fact, I don't need to; there are multi-million dollar ministries with Armani-attired evangelists that will fill this void. They'll tell you exactly what you want to hear, rather than what you need to hear - God wants you to be wealthy. Forget about doing good works!
Too bad saying it doesn't make it so.
Further investigation into the composition of the Bible leads to yet more uncomfortable questions. Why need there be so many books after the gospels? Did the Son of God forget to say something important while He was around? Did he mean to engage in a solid round of homosexual bashing, but simply ran out of time? I find the idea farcical myself, so I read whatever fills me with the Spirit, and leave the rest for those that would place Man's institutions over pure faith.
Sooner or later, if you insist on a canon, you'll have to either gather your own, or accept somebody else's. Ignore your inner Spirit, and you'll place your faith in your fellow man over your faith in God.
So choose wisely. And beware those that insist they speak for God - I sincerely doubt He needs their help.
The questions continued unmercifully and unbidden, once they started. Why oh why, given His omniscience, would He need us to pray out loud, anyway? Is the Old Man getting deaf with age?
I am reminded of a snippet from Rumpole and the Judge's Elbow:
Dr. Horridge: "The line of the body, Mr. Rumpole, is the line of God.
We are all of us created in His image."
Rumpole: "Yes. I've often thought He must be quite a strange-looking
chap."
I suppose my own faith is grounded less in what my fellow man tells me I should think than what I know to be true in my heart. Faith in the Bible, I have often said, is less important than faith in God. After all, those with faith in the Bible must be asked, "Which one?" Many Christians do not realize that not only are there many translations, but there are Bibles that differ in composition as well.
Martin Luther, convinced that the Jews held the authority where Old Testament texts were concerned, persuaded his followers to remove the so-called "apocryphal" books from the Bible. So the Protestants took them out.
The irony of thinking that the Jews should decide what is canonical for Christians is self-evident, one would hope.
Canonical issues make many a priest and parson uncomfortable - and with good reason. We can't have Christians thinking for themselves! No, that would just not do. They might begin donating their money to the poor, instead of to the new addition for the church, or, better yet, a newer and even more glorious structure, often financed to the tune of millions of dollars in some cases.
No, far better to go to church and talk about our values than to live them. Didn't Jesus Christ say "I am the Way," you ask? Must have been your imagination.
I am aware that there are those who would rather drive their high-end SUVs to church and drift off into a reverie while the preacher talks about good works than simply doing good works. And I'm afraid I can't helps these folks. In fact, I don't need to; there are multi-million dollar ministries with Armani-attired evangelists that will fill this void. They'll tell you exactly what you want to hear, rather than what you need to hear - God wants you to be wealthy. Forget about doing good works!
Too bad saying it doesn't make it so.
Further investigation into the composition of the Bible leads to yet more uncomfortable questions. Why need there be so many books after the gospels? Did the Son of God forget to say something important while He was around? Did he mean to engage in a solid round of homosexual bashing, but simply ran out of time? I find the idea farcical myself, so I read whatever fills me with the Spirit, and leave the rest for those that would place Man's institutions over pure faith.
Sooner or later, if you insist on a canon, you'll have to either gather your own, or accept somebody else's. Ignore your inner Spirit, and you'll place your faith in your fellow man over your faith in God.
So choose wisely. And beware those that insist they speak for God - I sincerely doubt He needs their help.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
We Value Your Feedback - But Not Really
One of the most consistent criticisms of the University of Phoenix on the Internet - and frequently from those who otherwise praise the program they went through - involves the mandatory team assignments.
I blast this practice every time I evaluate a course in my MSA program. I have received yet another email from a UoP official on the matter of group assignments, or more specifically, on the matter of how desperately I need them and how valuable they are.
I was informed, in part, that "team experience and the ability to solve problems within teams is a powerful tool for you to develop." Apparently I have not developed the ability to work in groups yet. Yet I rather imagine that most of the crowd that the UoP caters to with their master's degree offerings are considerably mature and have some work experience under their belts. So I apologize to my fellow students - were it not for my total lack of experience in working with groups, these hated team assignments would not be necessary.
The Senior Faculty Liaison further enlightened me as to the fact that "as in the 'real-world,' you may be faced with students that do not meet performance expectations." Gee, really? The important difference here is that in the "real-world," such persons tend to have their employment terminated. Students are not fired; that would not be profitable for the University.
The email also noted that "while you may face difficulties, you will come out with the most gained from the experience." What I am supposed to learn, or any student is supposed to learn, from the portion of the assignment done by another student is well beyond me. And will likely remain that way, until I take the time to learn what I missed thanks to the UoP's stubborn inability to admit that the many students that complain about group assignments have a valid point.
As I have pointed out in an earlier post, the UoP forums do not lend themselves to teamwork, and I doubt any business uses such a horrible system for collaborative work when it is necessary to do it online. In stark contrast to my last class, where I and one other student were forced to the entire group assignment ourselves or forfeit points, in my latest class everybody is scrambling for the crumbs of credit for work done. The assignment is this: create a three-page memo to a fictional replacement manager wherein we 1) briefly describe the five stages of group development; 2) analyze barriers that may exist in group communication; and 3) describe techniques to overcome those barriers and enhance group communication.
This assignment lends itself to three parts, does it not? Maybe four if we include compiling and editing as a fourth function. My group has six people.
Oops.
Concerned for their grades, everybody stampeded to the forum to declare: "I'll take the analysis!" or "I've got the five stages part!" Those too slow on the draw were left with nothing to do. So much for coming to any consensus. It was every man for himself - and my group was composed of mostly women!
So now I have to deal with a communications instructor that is so crass he USES CAPS TO TELL STUDENTS NOT TO DO SOMETHING, a Machiavellian group of students that weren't even assigned with respect to similar time zones (that darn instructor again), and a University that would rather shrug off legitimate criticism like so much rain off a well-oiled leather duster.
I'll keep complaining, but I suspect that most students get discouraged when they realize that the University isn't actually listening to them. As I was told:
"All your comments are reviewed by administration and archived."
Well, I guess being preserved for posterity is something.
I blast this practice every time I evaluate a course in my MSA program. I have received yet another email from a UoP official on the matter of group assignments, or more specifically, on the matter of how desperately I need them and how valuable they are.
I was informed, in part, that "team experience and the ability to solve problems within teams is a powerful tool for you to develop." Apparently I have not developed the ability to work in groups yet. Yet I rather imagine that most of the crowd that the UoP caters to with their master's degree offerings are considerably mature and have some work experience under their belts. So I apologize to my fellow students - were it not for my total lack of experience in working with groups, these hated team assignments would not be necessary.
The Senior Faculty Liaison further enlightened me as to the fact that "as in the 'real-world,' you may be faced with students that do not meet performance expectations." Gee, really? The important difference here is that in the "real-world," such persons tend to have their employment terminated. Students are not fired; that would not be profitable for the University.
The email also noted that "while you may face difficulties, you will come out with the most gained from the experience." What I am supposed to learn, or any student is supposed to learn, from the portion of the assignment done by another student is well beyond me. And will likely remain that way, until I take the time to learn what I missed thanks to the UoP's stubborn inability to admit that the many students that complain about group assignments have a valid point.
As I have pointed out in an earlier post, the UoP forums do not lend themselves to teamwork, and I doubt any business uses such a horrible system for collaborative work when it is necessary to do it online. In stark contrast to my last class, where I and one other student were forced to the entire group assignment ourselves or forfeit points, in my latest class everybody is scrambling for the crumbs of credit for work done. The assignment is this: create a three-page memo to a fictional replacement manager wherein we 1) briefly describe the five stages of group development; 2) analyze barriers that may exist in group communication; and 3) describe techniques to overcome those barriers and enhance group communication.
This assignment lends itself to three parts, does it not? Maybe four if we include compiling and editing as a fourth function. My group has six people.
Oops.
Concerned for their grades, everybody stampeded to the forum to declare: "I'll take the analysis!" or "I've got the five stages part!" Those too slow on the draw were left with nothing to do. So much for coming to any consensus. It was every man for himself - and my group was composed of mostly women!
So now I have to deal with a communications instructor that is so crass he USES CAPS TO TELL STUDENTS NOT TO DO SOMETHING, a Machiavellian group of students that weren't even assigned with respect to similar time zones (that darn instructor again), and a University that would rather shrug off legitimate criticism like so much rain off a well-oiled leather duster.
I'll keep complaining, but I suspect that most students get discouraged when they realize that the University isn't actually listening to them. As I was told:
"All your comments are reviewed by administration and archived."
Well, I guess being preserved for posterity is something.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Maybe the APA Format Will Save Us
Fresh from being run through the ringer in Taxation (ACC 547), I have started my third class at the UoP online. For once, my problems center around the instructor, not the course structure and requirements.
You may recall, my dear and loyal reader(s), that one of the few praises I had for my last course at the UoP was for the facilitator. I made a point of indicating his helpfulness in my course review during the last week. Imagine my surprise, then, when after logging into my Phoenix email (who is that tasty, exotic-looking little treat that greets me at the login screen, anyway?) I found that Phoenix had replied to my review comments with the following:
Does that sound like they "value my input?" So much for any real interest in my concerns from the UoP.
Maybe too many of my peers submit useless or inane review comments, and the university has since become immune to them. This isn't hard to imagine; one of my fellow students, a resident of Texas, revealed that she was "going overseas" for vacation. I asked her where. Her reply: "Mexico." Of course, this doesn't speak well of the UoP's policy of requiring team projects in the curriculum. Because only the top ten percent of students complain about this policy at any school, and the bottom fifty percent think it is great (after all, somebody else pulls their load), this abysmally ill-conceived learning approach remains alive to this day.
Another requirement of the UoP exists that I find quite irritating: the insistence on using the APA format for assignments. Of all the myriad business writing tasks that business students will undertake upon embarking upon their career paths in the real world, none, I am certain, will involve use of the APA format. In the face of a flagging economy, one might think that business schools across the nation would wish to reappraise their curriculums for more effective learning. The last thing our nation needs at the moment are more ill-prepared business students piloting the corporate ships that ply our stormy economic seas.
I do understand the need for students to cite their sources, but the inflexible APA style was never intended for business use. No school does its business students any favors by not preparing them for the real writing requirements of the business world. The facilitator has met my satirical forum post on this topic with indifference, unfortunately.
Worse, the facilitator for COM 530 stringently requires the use of the APA format even for online forum posts! His marketing background is, no doubt, largely responsible for his love of style over substance. This does little for advancing the learning agenda. I suggested that more appropriate substantiation could be used in our forum posts, such as the inclusion of hyperlinks, or mentioning the source of a comment in the prose itself.
My facilitator prefers verbal yoga, sadly enough. So I will be stretching to improve my form over my substance in the following six weeks as I slog through Communications for Accountants, or COM 530.
I reserve the right to continue doubting that accountants ever communicate using the APA format in the meantime.
You may recall, my dear and loyal reader(s), that one of the few praises I had for my last course at the UoP was for the facilitator. I made a point of indicating his helpfulness in my course review during the last week. Imagine my surprise, then, when after logging into my Phoenix email (who is that tasty, exotic-looking little treat that greets me at the login screen, anyway?) I found that Phoenix had replied to my review comments with the following:
Re: SEOCS Comments - Request for Contact Thank you for your comments on the student End of Course Survey (SEOCS) for your recently concluded class. SEOCS comments regarding the faculty member or the course content are read by a staff member in Academic Affairs and action is taken as appropriate. You will be contacted should we need information beyond that provided in your SEOCS. Please do not reply to this email as it will go to an unmonitored email address.If you have any questions regarding this or other matters, please contact your Academic Counselor by calling US +1 8003669699 Call and following the prompts. Please understand that due to confidentiality requirements, neither your Academic Counselor nor the Academic Affairs department can provide you with details regarding the actions taken in faculty concerns.Thank you again for your comments. We value your input toward continuous improvement and wish you all the best in your academic endeavors.SEOCS Administration TeamAcademic AffairsUniversity of Phoenix OnlineThis message is private and confidential. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and remove it from your system.
Does that sound like they "value my input?" So much for any real interest in my concerns from the UoP.
Maybe too many of my peers submit useless or inane review comments, and the university has since become immune to them. This isn't hard to imagine; one of my fellow students, a resident of Texas, revealed that she was "going overseas" for vacation. I asked her where. Her reply: "Mexico." Of course, this doesn't speak well of the UoP's policy of requiring team projects in the curriculum. Because only the top ten percent of students complain about this policy at any school, and the bottom fifty percent think it is great (after all, somebody else pulls their load), this abysmally ill-conceived learning approach remains alive to this day.
Another requirement of the UoP exists that I find quite irritating: the insistence on using the APA format for assignments. Of all the myriad business writing tasks that business students will undertake upon embarking upon their career paths in the real world, none, I am certain, will involve use of the APA format. In the face of a flagging economy, one might think that business schools across the nation would wish to reappraise their curriculums for more effective learning. The last thing our nation needs at the moment are more ill-prepared business students piloting the corporate ships that ply our stormy economic seas.
I do understand the need for students to cite their sources, but the inflexible APA style was never intended for business use. No school does its business students any favors by not preparing them for the real writing requirements of the business world. The facilitator has met my satirical forum post on this topic with indifference, unfortunately.
Worse, the facilitator for COM 530 stringently requires the use of the APA format even for online forum posts! His marketing background is, no doubt, largely responsible for his love of style over substance. This does little for advancing the learning agenda. I suggested that more appropriate substantiation could be used in our forum posts, such as the inclusion of hyperlinks, or mentioning the source of a comment in the prose itself.
My facilitator prefers verbal yoga, sadly enough. So I will be stretching to improve my form over my substance in the following six weeks as I slog through Communications for Accountants, or COM 530.
I reserve the right to continue doubting that accountants ever communicate using the APA format in the meantime.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Give Us Some Credit
Nowhere is it as evident as in the United States government that a popularity contest is a poor way to evaluate the competence of a candidate for an important position in governance. Despite all the evidence, and quite contrary to common sense, the Bush administration has insisted that our economic woes stem from a lack of credit, and the White House has issued an imperative to the lending industry: our consumers desperately need to be in more debt!
This in the face of predictions that the huge credit card debt load carried by the average consumer will further weaken our economy.
So far, there has been no enthusiasm for my plan for economic recovery.
I'm inclined to agree with my duly elected representatives on their view, however. I talked things over with She Who Must Be Obeyed, and we came to the conclusion that our collective debt could conceivably be paid off within our lifetimes. Obviously, the White House is onto something. Our personal financial situation is clearly hamstrung by the simple fact that we aren't in as much debt as we could be!
All along I was thinking that the nation's economic woes were caused by irresponsible creditors. But the problem was me all this time! I ignored the seductive offers of 0% down and 0% APR on the purchase of a new car. I turned a deaf ear to entreaties to buy a small mansion with no down payment with an open-ARM home loan. I threw away mail-in offers to drown me in credit cards that would ensure I had all the latest and greatest, that would make me the envy of all my neighbors with all my shiny, brand-new things.
And now, see what has happened? The big three automakers have to be bailed out - er, pardon, rescued, with a $25 billion loan from me, Mr. Taxpayer. Banks likewise, to the tune of at least $700 billion (the actual TARP bill that passed to finance this program was actually $810 billion - that's right, it had to be rolled in $110 billion of pure pork to be palatable to our elected representatives. So much for fiscal restraint saving our bacon - they're just throwing more piggie on the griddle.)
We would all have been better off had I not clung to my hand-me-down furniture; had I bought a new SUV instead of a used minivan (only partially funded by credit - I am ashamed to admit that I was brash enough to pay for a significant portion of it up front); and perhaps most importantly, had I not stubbornly stuck to renting when I could have bought a heavily inflated home - I could be making interest-only payments on a shiny new McMansion, had I been really smart.
So, my apologies to my fellow taxpayers for being so irresponsible. It won't happen again.
Now, where's my new stuff? You can bill me later.
This in the face of predictions that the huge credit card debt load carried by the average consumer will further weaken our economy.
So far, there has been no enthusiasm for my plan for economic recovery.
I'm inclined to agree with my duly elected representatives on their view, however. I talked things over with She Who Must Be Obeyed, and we came to the conclusion that our collective debt could conceivably be paid off within our lifetimes. Obviously, the White House is onto something. Our personal financial situation is clearly hamstrung by the simple fact that we aren't in as much debt as we could be!
All along I was thinking that the nation's economic woes were caused by irresponsible creditors. But the problem was me all this time! I ignored the seductive offers of 0% down and 0% APR on the purchase of a new car. I turned a deaf ear to entreaties to buy a small mansion with no down payment with an open-ARM home loan. I threw away mail-in offers to drown me in credit cards that would ensure I had all the latest and greatest, that would make me the envy of all my neighbors with all my shiny, brand-new things.
And now, see what has happened? The big three automakers have to be bailed out - er, pardon, rescued, with a $25 billion loan from me, Mr. Taxpayer. Banks likewise, to the tune of at least $700 billion (the actual TARP bill that passed to finance this program was actually $810 billion - that's right, it had to be rolled in $110 billion of pure pork to be palatable to our elected representatives. So much for fiscal restraint saving our bacon - they're just throwing more piggie on the griddle.)
We would all have been better off had I not clung to my hand-me-down furniture; had I bought a new SUV instead of a used minivan (only partially funded by credit - I am ashamed to admit that I was brash enough to pay for a significant portion of it up front); and perhaps most importantly, had I not stubbornly stuck to renting when I could have bought a heavily inflated home - I could be making interest-only payments on a shiny new McMansion, had I been really smart.
So, my apologies to my fellow taxpayers for being so irresponsible. It won't happen again.
Now, where's my new stuff? You can bill me later.
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