Trecia

Full-time vs. Part-time

At times I wonder if I am missing out on the graduate student experience by being a part-time, online student.  I am on the graduate student distribution list, so every now and then there are events that are specifically for grad students, and some of these events I would really enjoy.  I think I miss out on the grad student social networking.  However, even if I was on campus, I don't think I would be living the full grad student life, unless I went full-time.  I think full time grad studies are like undergrad, but with better hours.

I don't know the statistics, but it would seem that most people are part time graduate students because they need to have a job in order to pay for it and the previous student loans that so many people seem to have.  Also, some programs encourage their applicants to have some work experience before they attend graduate school.  I am sure that there are benefits of going straight from undergrad to grad school without a break.  One definite plus is that your rhythm is not broken, meaning you are still used to going to school and doing homework and projects.  Many people after they start working full time, find it too hard to get back into school mode.  When this happens they keep putting it off and delaying it further and then "life happens" and they never go back.

There are a lot people like that at the company that I work for, many people just never found the chance to go back, or are 3 classes or so from finishing up a degree, but never get around to it.  Either way you choose to go to grad school, full time, part time, online or on campus, finding the right fit for your circumstances will ultimately determine whether or not you complete your degree.

 

When I Grow Up...

When I was younger, I think like most children I what I wanted to be when I grew up changed every other year.  At one point in time I wanted to be a veterinarian, then a doctor and after that a lawyer.  As I got older I found that I loved to do math and thought that I would become a teacher.  Instead I went to college and studied Math and Engineering and took teaching classes as my free electives. 

Today I work as an engineer, but I find myself thinking, is my current job, what I want to do for the next ten years, or even the next three.  I think most of the young people at work are just like myself and my friends, they still aren't sure they have found the right spot for them.  Many people that have been in the workforce less than 5 years have already changed jobs at least once, meaning they switched departments or left the company entirely to pursue something else. 

As I was talking to my co-workers, I asked them why they are going to grad school, their answers were:

• They wanted to learn new marketable skills in order to advance in the company or to leave the company for a better job in the future
• They weren't sure what they wanted to do, so going to grad school and being exposed to more courses and people from different companies and jobs gave them a way to network and see what else is out there that they didn't consider before.

As you grow up and gain work experience in your field, you might find that it isn't the job for you, there is nothing wrong with that.  Graduate school gives you options, to learn about something else that you find interesting and hopefully put to good use later on in your career, to carve out your own niche.  I'm still not sure exactly where I see myself in ten years, but I know that I would have at least explored my options and expanded my skill set so that I can branch out if I want to, and many other people are doing this as well, you aren't the only one who still hasn't figured out what you want to be when you grow up.

Time Goes By...Not So Slowly...

 

Online Exams

Taking online classes is just like any other class because there will be exams.  Now the exams can come in a variety of flavors such as:

 

1. Chapter Quizzes

2. Multiple Choice

3. Fill in the blank

4. Essay questions

5. Balance Sheets (for management and economic courses)

6. Take home (problems must be worked out and scanned and emails or faxed back to the professor)

 

The subject material is not your only battle but the time factor as well; all of the above mentioned types of exams are timed on Elearn, except for the take home test.  As soon as you open the exam, a timer will start counting down.  One of my friends when she first started taking online classes wasn't aware of the timed test or the fact that there would be essay questions on the exam.  Her typing skills are horrible, needless to say, there were plenty of misspelled words, poor sentence structure and to top it all off, she didn't get to finish all of it.  Don't let this happen to you, just because the test is open book, doesn't mean that there will be enough time for you to actually search for the answer.  Also, if you are a bad typist, you should brush up a little or make sure you are extra prepared and know what you want to say. 

 

I'm not saying that it is impossible to do well, on a timed, essay type test but being prepared is well worth it, the test where there are long questions usually have a decent time limit, around 3 hours, but as you know, time slips away from you quickly when you get involved in what you are doing.  Also another tip is to save your answers as you go, unless you really aren't sure, if you picked an answer but haven't "saved" it as your final answer, if your time runs out, that answer will not be counted at all.

 

Another tip, is if you need to do balance sheet work make sure you have Excel or some other spreadsheet software open, because I still haven't figured out how to work the ELearn spreadsheets that are supposed to be available. 

 

Anyway, that is just my bit of advice...I hope it helps.

A Place for Everything…

… and everything in its place.  If most people followed this, myself included, life would be a lot more organized.  I think one of the most important aspects of time management is organization, especially when it comes to scheduling when tasks are due.  One of the first things I do every semester is print out the syllabus for each class and highlight the major projects and when homework is due.  Most online classes will have a set number of postings and a schedule of when the postings should be done, for example two at the beginning of the week and two later on.

 

I think having everything organized upfront makes it easier to manage your time, because you know your schedule of when you have to post and when assignments are due.  Also I find keeping things in different folders, unique folders for each class are important as well, it makes it easier to go back and find items in notes if they are in order by class and week number.  Also, some classes have weekly quizzes, midterms and finals and when you have 13 weeks of material to go through, being organized comes in handy especially since these tests are usually timed, finding things quickly is essential.

 

Also, when you have group work, it is good to make a schedule before hand of who will be responsible for compiling the assignment and turning it in.  A group schedule of when your specific tasks are due is good to have, that way there is no confusion or a last minute effort to get 5 people coordinated the day before the assignment is due.  Another thing to consider is to make the schedule realistic, a next day turn around is usually not do-able for people working full time and the only time they have to work on the assignment is a few hours a night.  Having assignments due in the middle of the week is also an issue, because of the time constraints.

 

I remember I had a class where homework assignments were due on Wednesday night, it was a struggle to get them in, and most assignments since they are emailed in are due at midnight, Thursday would be a hard day for me at work, because I would be tired from staying up the night before completing the assignment. 

 

The best advice is to create a schedule of when assignments and discussion postings are due and stick to it.  Also, organizing class notes for easy reference will save lots of time later especially during timed exams.

Procrastination

Procrastination is the major reason time management efforts fall apart.  For example I have been thinking about writing this blog entry since last Tuesday, however, it is now Sunday and I am just writing it.  I don’t know what it was about this week, maybe it was because my classes didn’t have a weekly team assignment due, so with that free time, I did what I wanted to do. 

What did I do instead?  I took a bootcamp class, which was intense; it’s supposed to work your upper and lower body with a series of exercises done in 4 minute intervals.  I took the class on Thursday its Sunday night, and I’m still feeling the after effects.  I also spent time reading my library books instead of writing my blog entry. 

 

I knew that I had to write about time management eventually, but, then I got into doing other things.  Things to take my mind off the task at hand and I realized that many people do this, especially when it comes to assignments.  I had two individual assignments due this week, which I could have done at any time; remember that free time I told you about earlier, well now I am paying for it, I am cramming in the work that I could have spaced out leisurely over the week into one day.  I thought I had gotten better with my time management skills, but sometimes I fall back into my old habits.  Now, I know what some of you are thinking, does it matter when I start the assignments as long as they are done well and are on time?  Some people thrive under pressure and are last minute people by nature.  I think I fall into the category of being able to work under pressure, but why constantly work under pressure if you don’t have to?  Why add the extra stress if you could get it done before hand?  It’s okay to take a break every now and then and relax, just know that the assignments still have to be turned in at some point, there is no escaping it.

 

So now that I talked about what makes time management fall apart…the next thing I will take about is organization and scheduling two key factors in managing your time.

Snow Day?

   

 

 

I know I said that I was going to talk about time management, but this snow day made me realize that online students don’t get free days off.  While Stevens is closed today and classes are cancelled, online classes never close.  There is never a snow day, holiday, winter or spring break.  There will be assignments due on any given day (yes even holidays) last year I had an assignment due the day after Thanksgiving.  Of course no one wants to turn in an assignment on black Friday (this might be where the time management comes in to play, I should have had my assignment completed and turned in before the holiday).  However, I guess not having days off is the price you pay for the convenience of not having to commute to campus and being able to be apart of the class discussions at any time during the day.   

 

I for one would rather not have to travel to campus than get the scheduled breaks off, or the random snow day especially if you are working full time as well.  More likely than not, if you are working, you aren’t getting winter or spring break off anyway, holidays are debatable depending on what company you work for, but you are going to be doing work anyway, not lounging around the house, so a little homework won’t really add to much more to your workload.

 

So even though there are no snow days for us online students and you are getting jealous of the people who actually commute to campus and get snow days and spring break off, think of all the cold, gloomy, rainy days when all you had to do was go home and do your work from your couch.  Or better yet, think of all those nice spring and summer days, when you didn’t have to be stuck in a classroom, when you look at it this way, online classes are the better deal.