Program Participation Requirements

Program Participation
Most degree programs include attendance and participation components for the learner to demonstrate acceptable academic progress. Attendance shows that the learner is involved and may or may not be a graded activity. Participation, on the other hand, is normally graded.

The author has pursued degrees from three different online universities and each of those universities requirements are reflected here.
The University of Phoenix weights participation from 25 to 50 percent of the final grade depending on the facilitator. Learners must participate in course-room activities by answering discussion questions and responding to the answers of other learners. The participation requirements may vary by institution and by degree level.

Bachelors’ Degree
The Bachelor’s programs at the University of Phoenix require learners to answer from three to five discussion questions per week. The word count may vary by facilitator but typical answers must contain from 300 to 500 words. Learners must respond to the answers of four other learners and the responses must normally contain a minimum of 300 words.

Facilitators also vary the requirement to use references and citations. Some facilitators require using references and citations, and some do not. When in-text citations are required, the learner must typically provide three to five of each.

Master’s Degree
On line institutions somewhat lower the participation requirements at the graduate level. Capella University requires learners to answer one to two discussion questions per week and respond to the answers of two other learners. There were few word-count requirements for answers or responses and the response requirements varied from class to class.

PhD
The PhD program at Northcentral University does not include discussion questions as a participation requirement. Typical classes at the PhD level include one learner. The learner is assigned a mentor for each class and the mentor guides the learner through the course learning objectives. The PhD program is highly project driven.

Reply to Vanessa

Vanessa,

I would be happy to include a segment on coping with stress. If you wish to write the segment, I will be happy to post it.

Expect some Stress

Today is Sunday October 24, 2010 and I have a paper due on Tuesday. I have not yet received a grade for my first paper in this course, which I submitted over two weeks ago. My schedule as an IT instructor places me in a classrioom 11 hours a day four days a week and another 4 hours on Friday.

I accomplish most of my writing on the weekends because I have virtually no time during the week. As any online student will tell you, time management is a very necessary skill to develop if you pursue an education online. However, circumstances at times make applying self management skill more difficult than necessary. I do not know yet how my mentor grades, which makes writing this next paper more difficult than normal. I also have to juggle time between work and family responsibilities.'

Jus what I need: more stres.

PhD - A Higher Level

I have taken my education to a higher level. I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Business Administration with a concentration in Information Security. This particular program concentrates more on the administration side of InfoSec. I have obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees in Information Technology. Both programs concentrated on the technical or nuts and bolts aspects of IT. I am now attempting to learn more about the mnagement and administrative areas.

The Ph.D. program is an intense program with numerous courses in Business Administration and Information Security. The course that I am presently pursuing delves into the areas of the ethical and legal considerations of Information Technology. Each week concentrates on a diferent area. I am now finishing up the third week and am writing a paper that discussess the organizational considerations of computer addiction and cybercrime on information asssets.