I successfully completed my degree MS for Industrial-Organizational Psychology in December 2006.  We are now residing back in the United States and enjoying many of the luxuries that we associate only with being in the US, but do not realize are missing until you are back:) 

 Completing my online degree with Capella has been both challenging and rewarding.  I have enjoyed my coursework, the people I have met, and the lessons that I brought back to my office to improve myself professionally.  I found the online environment challenging and rewarding.  The benefit of researching answers and seeking information solidifies the lessons in my mind and provides ample opportunity for direct application to individual situations.  I am very excited that I sought out this opportunity and hope that others find the experience as rewarding.

 Some of the key benefits that I found was the ability to pursue a degree that was not offerred in my geographic location.  The ability to complete the degree at my own pace (one or two courses per term) as work permitted.  As well as the ability to complete my education without taking too much time away from my family.  I learned that this environment is not for everyone and that it requires a degree of organization that I tend to lack in my personal life.  Once I learned to bring some of the organizational skills that I use at the office to my home office, my grades improved and I was flying through my coursework.

 I am excited to have my degree and am looking forward to future pursuits with Capella.  I have decided to continue my career in the Army and will hopefully have ample opportunity to apply my degree and lessons learned in my work environment.

 Thank you for reading my blog and I hope that you find the information helpful in your pursuit of educational options.

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Throughout any experience in life I have always considered the ability to listen and follow instructions very valuable and important to one's success. Online learning is definitely no different, if anything, the ability to follow instructions is critical to success.  In this case listening equates to thoroughly reading all courseroom information that is available and understanding every detail of every assignment and course resource.

 Capella offers a very detailed syllabus that is offered as a summary format and broken out by individual requirements.  The courseroom offers links to additional documents that support the current assignment and provide informatin about what the instructor is looking for.  I learned the hard way last quarter not to ingnore those links and additional resources.  The first assignment that I turned in for the quarter came back with a 70% - aack!!  I never do this poorly on assignments.  When I reviewed the instructors comments and went to the document that he referenced, I realized that I had completely missed the boat.  I used the referenced document to send the instructor a second assignment - mostly because I needed to get my course topic approved than anything else.  However, he was a kind instructor and adjusted my grade, leaving me with a 79% to start the quarter - not grate, but I was extremely thankful.

 Now in my final course, the value of thoroughly reading and understanding the available documents is critical.  In our first assignment and weekly discussion we had to discuss the option we wanted for the quarter.  We can choose between Comprehensive Exam, Research Proposal, or a Practical Application project.  The information available for each option is extensive and the instructor encouraged everyone to read everything thoroughly so that we understood the options.  He also attached a grading document to the post for the week that explained the grading philosophy and expectation for each discussion question.

Questions have ranged from:  What topics can we select for the comprehensive project to whether or not we have to post to other learners?  The grading rubric is very clear that we must reply to a minimum of two other learners to receive full participation points, but it also explains that the post must be substantive.  For this instructor he defines substantive as a response that makes the other person think about what they have posted and induces further thought - basic critical thinking approach to learning.  The questions about participation and posting are available in the syllabus and within the same grading document mentioned earlier.

If you find that it is difficult to understand written instructions you may want to stay away from online learning.  The online environment is rich with reading requirements and the ability to understand the written word, without benefit of verbal reinforcement.  I think that in two years of graduate study I have spoken with an instructor once and that was because he had additional questions for me and wanted to encourage me to take an incomplete to finish the course paper and not just let the class go.  By talking he was able to understand my personal situation a little better and allowed me an Incomplete - which I completed within 10 days of the class ending.

 Bottom line: Reading everything, even the little stuff and if you think you missed something, read it all again.

 Thank you,
Nickel

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We all know that the second expense that we encounter in our education, beyond registration fees, is our textbooks.  Capella, and all the online schools, offer online bookstores (most through MBS Direct).  As someone with four children and one income, I tend to like to look for the best deal.  It is important to remeber that the schools have generally tried to create a deal with MBS (or their selected store) prior to you ordering.

In my attempts to find better deals I have ordered many books through Amazon,a nd in most cases come out ahead.  This quarter is a different story.  When looking at the required book for my current class I pulled the ISBN, Title, Author, and price, then started my searching.  In pulling the information though, I missed a critical piece of information.  This textbook from MBS direct was coming with a software package already included in the book order.

Unfortunately, I found my book with Amazon and ordered (for baout $50.00 less).  I felt quite proud, until I opened the classroom and realized my critical error.  Now three days late for starting class, because I had my class date confused with my husband's, I was short a critical course resource.  I quickly used the instructors provided link and placed my order for the software and then was promptly irrate because the site was going to charge me $35 shipping and handling because I lived at an APO address.  Mind you HI, Alaska, Guam, and Puerto Rico were included in this shipping cost hike.  I needed the book and software though so I could participate in my course, so I had to eat the outrageous charge and order.

Now I have the software and extra book.  I am finally caught up in class and have learned $35.00 lesson.  I will most likely only order from MBS Direct for my course books in the future to prevent any more outragous shipping charges and to avoid missing course materials. 

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