SST1 Task 1 passed without revision! Task 2 submitted.

Just got back from a vacation in Iowa, and after unpacking decided to check Taskstream. I was delighted to see that my task 1 had been graded and passed without a revision! In life it is the simple things that bring us the most pleasure. One of them is seeing your Taskstream evaluation released and passed on the first attempt.

The next day I started on task 2 of SST1. Pretty much the gist of it is to apply the scientific method to a question that the student raises regarding social science and humans. My question was whether a loss of a limb is harder for a child or an adult to handle. I searched for several hours to find a topic that was somewhat interesting. (Unfortunately I could not use wolves). The paper was not really that hard to write as compared to the first one about states, nations and nation-states.

All in all the course was not as hard as purported in the student forums. The course mentors are very knowledgeable, and if you follow their suggestions you will be fine.

Of course hindsight is 20-20, and although I failed the test part (SSC1) the first time, I took the mentors suggestions and studied my weak areas and the second time around went much smoother.

The one key element that is required is THINKING! The mentor’s goal was to get the student to think about the topics presented, not just blindly accept what is written. After I realized that, the rest of the course went a lot smoother. The material was much more engrossing than I was led to believe from the student forums. I noticed the students that posted negative comments were the same ones that had failed the exam part twice before, and just could not grasp the concept of Social Science.

I am proud to say that I now look at people and social settings a lot differently as a result from this course. Thank you Western Governors and the course mentors!

Keeping my fingers crossed that Task 2 that I submitted a little while ago comes back passed without revisions. Talk to you soon.

SST1 Task 1 submitted.

SST1 task 1 submitted Saturday morning, waiting with baited breath for the Taks Stream gods to smile on me. Ended up submitting 9 pages, it was hard to keep it short with the all the information that was required; especially the history and major incidents that helped define and create the European Union. Not to mention finding examples of state, nation state, and nation-state. Keeping my fingers crossed that this one is passed, so I can move onto task 2 which looks to be just as intense. Will report back shortly, wish me luck!

SSC1 Done, onto SST1

I am sorry to say that I failed the initial SSC1 by 3 questions. It was a bonus  class from my future term, so it did not hurt my current term progress. I had already made my goal for this current term, so as  my student mentor said "no harm, no foul", we'll get it next time. The next time rolled around last Wednesday and I passed it with flying colors. Fortunately one of the course mentors sent me several Power Point presentations that were targeted to my weak areas. Nature versus Nurture, state vs nation-state, biomes and scientific methods. I actually read a couple of the chapters that he suggested which helped to cement the ideas they were trying to get across. It worked, I felt more comfortable taking it this time. I did underestimate it because it was only 1 credit. The course mentor chided me for that comment stating it is actually a 3 credit class with 3 parts. The SSC1 is the final exam and the SST1 is the 2 part essay.
I think I have my choices narrowed down now for my SST1 essay regarding nation, state, and nation-state. So, I will close for now and start typing away so I can upload my paper to the Task Stream gods!
All the best everyone.