The make college count initiative is interesting to me. I think all the course include the skills it highlights already such as ‘effective oral communication’ or ‘Analyze, interpret, evaluate information’. But stating that i feel gives students a concrete way of looking at the class and the assignments given. When they end the course they can say that a certain activity helped them focus on solving problems when before they may have just gone along with the assignment later forgetting it. At least for me personally that is what the highlighted skills due. All of the skills translate from good college student to successful employee really well because they focus on making people more attentive of their situations. Most of the concepts are common sense things honestly. To have a successful job of course you need to build and sustain good relationships but i feel a lot of common sense things often get over looked. It’s important sometimes to highlight them, i think the program in my experience is helpful.

I think that the course load and level of effort required is just fine for an online class. I think it would just as easily be taught face-to-face. I’ve taken online courses since high school , so comparing to previous experience i didn’t find too many challenges. The fact that we used another website was the biggest challenge just in terms of getting used to it. I think thats why i missed a lot of assignment in the beginning is because i had to log into wordpress and find the schedule there when im used to just having the syllabus on blackboard. The course has required a moderate level of reading which has also been a something to remember at times but even if it was taught in person we would still have that reading to do online . I think as long as students pay attention to the website, e-mails from the instructor ect. There is not reason to have a very difficult time in the course. 

I want to reflect and talk about two things; Devil in the White City and Blooms Taxonomy because I feel the strongest about these aspects of our course.

The Devil in the White City has been a breath of fresh air for me personally this semester. I expected to be reviewing some kind of text book that emphasized on engineering. When I saw our required reading for this course I was a little surprised. Not only was it a well written book, but it had loads of historical information and facts about the World Fair. At first I wasn’t sure how this would tie into our course work and how it would be incorporated into the curriculum. I have had to analyze the content in a different way (other than just memorizing and being tested on it) and try and dissect the characters underlying beliefs and values. It was a new and interesting way to learn about a historical event, especially about the specific individuals involved. I really enjoyed it!

Blooms Taxonomy is a new concept for me. I may have experienced it before without knowing it, but I am not familiar with this model of learning/teaching. In most of my pre-requisite courses I was expected to read the material, take notes, ask questions and then memorize for tests. Except for English style courses; find a topic, write a paper, revise the paper, and then hand it in. Very simple and streamline. This course was difficult for me, especially at first, because I had to change the way I was thinking and interpreting materials. I was forced to go beyond facts and instead answered questions such as; what did it represent? why was this done? what habits, beliefs, and values were represented by certain individuals? I don’t particularly like change, so it was a little difficult for me to get on board at the beginning to rethink the historical structures and events that we covered. However, after going through the course, I think it is an important way to learn and to apply critical thinking to history.

I think for my style of learning, this course would have been better taught in person. It wasn’t impossible and I was able to contact Professor Madsen-Brooks easily if I had questions. However, I think assignments such as; the concept map and final group project would have been easier to understand and complete in a face-to-face class. I think having an open conversation in person about each assignment would have been beneficial. I also think working in a group face-to-face is much better than trying to do it online. I feel this way because I am a visual learner, I like to see examples and I like to work out problems and ideas on paper. I am also not great with technology so online work can be daunting for me sometimes.

 

Looking back not just on this History 100 course but my whole college career thus far I have mixed emotions. I feel as if there are some courses that I have taken where I could honestly say I’m ready for the real world and have a better understanding of that subject. On the other hand I have experienced some classes where I do not feel the same. Nonetheless my work habits have greatly improved. I also feel my time management is better off where I could handle being out in the real world. I think overall my college experience has been good; professors all have been great at empowering us as students. I feel confident moving forward in my life right now even though I still have one more year to go. BSU has taught me a lot and has helped me grow as a student and as an individual.

 

As far as this course being online I think it is doable. Elective courses or 100 level classes I like being able to have the choice to take it online. Personally it fits my schedule better if I can get a couple classes online. With that being said the context of this course is a bit hard to teach online. Some of the assignments were difficult, and I’m sure hard to present to us through videos online. This course in particular I do think it is better off taught face to face. I think it would make it easier for the students to get a better grasp of some of the topics we have learned. You made yourself available as a professor enough for all to succeed, I just think that with some of the content of this class it would have been easier to understand if I were sitting in class for an hour. All in all I had a good experience and think this class is better off face to face, but at the same time think it is doable if you had to take it online.