After being told I could schedule my Global Economics for Managers objective assessment, I felt some annoyance with the time constraints coming from work. I knew that today, Saturday, was the day to take the exam. But with only two days to review the material I scored lowest on during the pre-assessment I knew it would take some personal fortitude to study late at night. Sure enough I worked late on both Thursday and Friday with large work output and intense mental concentration. I studied 80 minutes on Thursday, 1.5 hours on Friday, and 35 minutes this morning. I woke up excited and eager to just take the test. My wife made it clear I was expected to watch my oldest daughter’s first soccer game. While I wanted to watch her game and was glad I went, I was anxious all day for 2 p.m. to arrive. Finally I logged on to the WGU website ten minutes prior to the scheduled exam and opened the Assessment Center. I found a clock counting down to the start of the exam. I prepped my office previously and decided the eight minute countdown might as well provide more study. One of the concepts I noted I should study after the pre-test was the nominal interest rate relationship with exchange rates. I flipped open my textbook and read about the concept under a section titled ‘How Monetary Policy Influences Aggregate Demand.’ Coincidentally, this brief reference helped me with a question on the test.
Once I initiated the exam launcher I had to wait an uncomfortably long time for a proctor to respond to my attempt to connect. Once the proctor arrived it became clear that he could not hear me. I really thought the webcam had a microphone. I’ll have to specifically inquire about this. I fortunately have a Blue usb microphone and jumped up and plugged it in. Several moments of troubleshooting later and I had both video and sound. I did have to unplug and replug my WGU webcam before the video would activate. Hopefully this is a one-time event and the issues don’t occur in my next exam. This cost me some time but the Examity proctor (likely from India) was helpful and professional. We ran through the formalities of showing my ID, 360 degree view of my office, answering of a security question, and confirmation of my name and the exam I was taking.
I started the 50 question exam and quickly made my way through it. I bookmarked 8 questions for review. After reviewing the bookmarked questions, I finished the exam in 35 minutes. That’s much faster than the two hour time limit and 21 minutes faster than I completed the pre-test. With much excitement I quickly answered the survey Examity asked me to complete after finishing the test and logged into my WGU account. My answer was clear on the home screen when I saw the Global Economics for Managers course had turned blue and moved into the completed courses list. All the same I went into the course and pulled up my Coaching Report. I passed the test with an 80% and noted that I was rewarded in those sections where I put extra study time with a score of 100%. The exam had more questions on Globalization and Foreign Trade than the pretest and that is where I missed the most questions.
Considering that one test determines whether I pass or don’t pass the course, I’m thrilled that I just finished the course in 8 days. I just earned 3 Master’s level credits in 8 days! My mom has been considering a Master’s in Nursing and is deciding between University of Phoenix and WGU. I know which method I prefer. Completing two courses 12 days into my first term is huge motivation and makes me wonder whether sitting through all those undergrad courses for four years was a dumb approach. I know I’m now benefitting in the MBA program from all my prior education and experience, but I never learned well listening to someone lecture.
The two textbooks for C211 were good and I’m glad I ordered physical copies. A couple of questions on tests made me wonder whether the newest editions emphasized different points from the older editions I was reading. However, the proof is in the results. I read all the suggested chapters once and completed review questions for those chapters suggested for review after the pre-test. Combined with my prior knowledge this was enough to easily pass the exams quickly. I found the reading interesting and frequently tried to apply the concepts to my work and current company. I don’t consider myself an economist and did not love my undergraduate Economics courses. I do listen to Freakonomics and Planet Money podcasts each week, but those don’t necessarily approach the topics with an academic framework like this course requires. My results are accelerated and improved by my background in Accounting and Finance, but the tests were evenly matched to the materials presented in the course. I only saw one or two questions in the objective assessment that I wondered where they pulled it from. I’m satisfied with the course. Learning a few things and refreshing a number of topics were positives for me. For being academic textbooks, each text held interesting examples that were enjoyable to read. Passing the course quickly and being engaged by the material make me very happy at the end.