Oral Communication – Our Career Futures In Module 5, we examined Excelsior’s General Education Career Competencies and learned how these skills will be beneficial in the future of work. One of the most important competencies is “oral communication.” In fact, according to an Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) 2018 survey of business executives […]

“This is Water”: The Purpose of an Education “The real value of a real education… has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves […]

From a Post-Truth World to a Pro-Truth World Today, the prevalence of social media, the rise of algorithms, filter bubbles, “bots”, and international hacking efforts have brought the issue of “fake news” to the forefront of our national and international consciousness.  As you read in the webtext this week, the spread of misinformation is not […]

Point/Counterpoint If you’ve been on any social media platform, you’ve undoubtedly seen it happen: an argument breaks out between friends or family members on different sides of an issue. Differing opinions become rigid dividing lines; participants split into opposing camps. Facts and evidence are used subjectively; logical fallacies abound. Some participants resort to emotion or […]

Self-Regulated Learning The baby is crying. Your older daughter is complaining that her stomach hurts. Dirty dishes from breakfast are piled up in the sink. Your phone rings and it’s your spouse who has to work late unexpectedly. And amidst the chaos, you remember that you have a paper due tomorrow.   Take a deep […]

The Power of Telling Your Own Story The combined experience of all of us in this classroom is staggering. Between us, we have decades (maybe centuries!) of experience in various career fields, higher education, community and civic engagement, raising families, military service, and much more. Successes, failures, and everything in between—these experiences make us who […]

Starting Your Research Over the next 7 weeks, you will be working toward completing a final paper. Right now the idea of writing an independent research paper might sound daunting, but don’t worry! This course breaks down the steps toward that paper into manageable bite-sized pieces (called “milestones”) each week. Along the way, you will […]

Starting Your Research Over the next 7 weeks, you will be working toward completing a final paper. Right now the idea of writing an independent research paper might sound daunting, but don’t worry! This course breaks down the steps toward that paper into manageable bite-sized pieces (called “milestones”) each week. Along the way, you will […]

Final Project Over the last six modules, you built toward this culminating moment: the submission of your final project. This week you will be drafting a research paper of 3-5 pages (approximately 750-1250 words) that builds on your previous Milestone work. Use the Final Project Template  for an example of how to create and format […]

Introduction and Outline (for Peer Reviewer) In the last four modules, you have completed important steps toward building your final research paper and received feedback from your instructor to help you make changes and improve. Feedback is essential to the writing process; the more eyes on your work, the better it can become. So this […]