Operationalizing and Measuring Social Concepts

 

One of the challenges of conducting social research is translating concepts into variables that can be measured and systematically tested. For this week’s discussion, think about a social construct that interests you, such as an attitude, personality trait, or emotion. Using the mental image you have of that construct, write down all of the indicators you can think of that specify exactly what you mean when you describe this phenomenon. Next, assign a value to each indicator and interpret the value.

For example, if you are interested in measuring the concept of thriftiness, one indicator might be the proportion of clothing or household items owned that are second-hand, salvaged or reused (0 = None, 1 = Some, 2 = About Half, 3 = Most, or 4 = All). Based on personal observation, we may infer that a higher value would imply a higher degree of thriftiness as a personality trait.

In your discussion post, describe the social concept you selected and name the behaviors or traits that you associate with it. Then, create a scale for measuring this concept, listing all the indicators you would you use to operationalize it and explaining each indicator’s level of measurement (i.e., Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, Ratio).

Finally, describe the procedures you would use to account for systematic error in the administering of your scale.

Public Health Project

 3-page assignment 

Project Proposal: Youth Vaping

Use scholarly literature that will serve as the focus of your integrative project, YOUTH VAPING. Select the type or form of project you wish to conduct—1)a literature review, 2)program plan, 3)program evaluation, 4)policy analysis, or 5)research proposal—and in a 2- to 3-page paper, address the following:

Length: 2 pages

1. What is your reason for addressing the problem that you have decided to address? What contribution will the analysis of this issue bring to your career when you enter the field of public health? Make sure you use quantitative and qualitative evidence from scholarly sources to support your rationale.

2. What resources are you going to need to complete your project? (Consider, in particular, the time taken to perform background research and to obtain the requisite source documents.)

3. To what degree was the selection of this project subject and type based on evidence from academic literature? Please explain.

Length: 1 page

1. Develop a project timeline * Microsoft has free timeline templates (see https://templates.office.com/en-us/Timelines). This timeline should reflect at least 2 project tasks to be completed for each week (4). **This will eventually be a 12 page paper.

2. Project task: Vaping Cases, generation z, role of dishonest advertisements (flavors & costs), statistics, Pros vs. Cons, Risk assessment, public health policy, public health campaign, 

Total Length: 3 pages, double-spaced, APA format (excluding cover-page and reference list).

Deliverable 2 – Strategic Management Process

 

Competency

Apply strategic management processes to analyze and improve organizational performance.

Instructions

The six organizations you have to choose from (Google, Walt Disney Company, Amazon, P&G, 3M, or Ford Motor Company) at some point in their history changed their industry. For the module 01 assignment, you analyzed your chosen company’s existing strategic management plan and completed a SWOT analysis. Now comes a more in-depth evaluation of the analysis process.

Write a three- to four-page APA formatted paper with at least two outside sources (in addition to the text) that incorporate the following aspects:

  • Importance of analysis:
    • Multiple methods exist to evaluate management analysis. Discuss what some of these methods are and how can they be applied to your chosen organization.
    • Discuss how an organization’s resources impact a management analysis.
    • Discuss how value chain analysis can be used during the planning process for the future of the organization.
  • Improvement methods for auditing organizational performance:
    • Discuss the role an internal analysis can have during a more in-depth examination for improvement.
    • Understanding the capabilities that exist within an organization will aid in making improvements. Using your knowledge of the capabilities assessment profile and applying the necessary steps, discuss the results of the profile and how can they be applied to your chosen organization.

In addition to the aspects above, please share your thoughts on how this analysis assisted in the review of the current strategic plan. Incorporate information from the readings, your research, and personal experience (using APA citations where appropriate).

 

Grading Rubric

FFCBA01234No PassNo PassCompetenceProficiencyMasteryNot SubmittedDoes not identify management analysis methods.Identifies management analysis methods, but does not describe how they can be applied.Identifies management analysis methods, but the description is underdeveloped and does not mention resources.Identifies management analysis methods, with a robust description that includes impact of resources.Not SubmittedNo mention of the impact of the value chain analysis.Brief mention of the impact of the value chain analysis.Adequate discussion of the impact of the value chain analysis, but incomplete description of how it can be used to plan for the future.Thorough discussion of the impact of the value chain analysis, and robust description of how it can be used to plan for the future.Not SubmittedDoes not identify the role of the internal analysis.Partially identifies the role of the internal analysis.Adequately identifies the role of the internal analysis.Thoroughly identifies the role of the internal analysis.Not SubmittedDoes not demonstrate understanding of steps needed for the capabilities assessment profile or the results.Demonstrates understanding of steps needed for the capabilities assessment profile, but does not show results.Demonstrates understanding of steps needed for the capabilities assessment profile and shows results, but not how they can be applied.Demonstrates understanding of steps needed for the capabilities assessment profile, shows results and how they can be applied.Not SubmittedDoes not share thoughts on how the analysis assisted in the review of the current strategic plan.Thoughts on how the analysis assisted in the review of the current strategic plan are unclear.Thoughts on how the analysis assisted in the review of the current strategic plan are clear, but no research is incorporated.Thoughts on how the analysis assisted in the review of the current strategic plan are clear and incorporates thorough resear 

Media Analysis – 500 words

    

For this media analysis, you will analyze how one part affects the whole media production. Note that you should select only a single piece of media; you should not be discussing more than one film, for example. You should choose one1 of the following parts to explore: 

  •   Genre: Explain how the production you chose fits into its genre.
     
  •   Camera: Analyze how the camera’s use (camera angles, for instance) affects the
    overall production.
     
  •   Lighting: Describe how lighting is used to enhance or detract from the production.
     
  •   Actors/Characters: Analyze how the actors OR the characters themselves enhance or
    detract from the production.
     
  •   Symbols: Explain what the symbols are and how their usage affects the overall
    production.
     
  •   Music: Describe how the music enhances or detracts from the media production.
     
  •   Sound Effects: Analyze how the sound effects enhance or detract from the
    production.
     
  •   Special Effects: Explain what special effects are used and how they affect the viewing
    experience.
     
  •   Comparison to a Literary Work: (Note: This option may only be chosen if the film you
    chose is also in print form.) How are the book and film similar? How are they different? Which is better, and why?
    Your purpose in this assignment is to explain how or why something works; therefore, you should not include a full summary of the media production. Instead, you can provide context where needed so the reader understands what is happening. The body of the essay must
    1 Please review the rubric and note that you will not earn full credit if you analyze more than one of these components.
     

  

focus on your analysis. You can use the ideas contained in the Media Analysis lesson presentation and the Writer’s Handbook link to help you. 

As with all college writing, your essay should have a strong thesis statement in addition to an introduction, body, and conclusion. 

Other than your chosen film, television show, and/or book, you are required to cite at least one other credible2 source for this essay. This resource from the course will help you understand more about evaluating sources. Moreover, if you use specific information from the media production and/or print source, such as a quotations, you should include your chosen media source on your Works Cited page, too. Use proper parenthetical citations or signal phrases, and be sure to include MLA documentation and a Works Cited page for this assignment (this resource from the course will help). 

Review the rubric to see how your work will be assessed on this assignment. 

Thesis hints: You might use these guidelines in crafting your thesis: 

If you are analyzing elements in a production: 

In (add your one chosen production), (add character 1), (add character 2), and (add character 3) were used to (add how they enhanced the production or explained the production’s message).
OR
If you are comparing/contrasting a book and film: 

(Add book) contained (add one aspect that made the book better than the film), but (add film) used (add one aspect that made the film better than the book) and (add a second aspect that made the film better than the book) to better capture the reader’s imagination. 

Here are more specific thesis guidelines: 

If you are analyzing elements in a production: 

In the movie The Lorax, the characters Lorax, Once-ler, and Alocius O’Hare were used to show how environmentalists are fighting against profit-driven industries that are harming the environment and depleting natural resources. 

2 Please note: Basic dictionary sources, user-edited websites (e.g., Wikipedia, eHow, etc.), and sites that house databases of quotations are not considered “credible” sources. You will lose points in the Research category of the rubric if your sources aren’t credible. 

  

OR 

If you are comparing/contrasting a book and film: 

Even though the characters were portrayed mostly the same across the book and the movie in Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, the setting in the movie was much more detailed, which made the movie a much better overall experience compared to the book. 

The guidelines for this assignment are as follows: Length: This assignment should be at least 500 words. 

Header: Include a header in the upper left-hand corner of your writing assignment with the following information: 

  •   Your first and last name
     
  •   Course Title (Composition II)
     
  •   Assignment name (Media Analysis)
     
  •   Current Date
    Format:
     
  •   MLA-style source documentation and Works Cited3
     
  •   Your last name and page number in the upper-right corner of each page
     
  •   Double-spacing throughout
     
  •   Standard font (TimesNewRoman, Calibri)
     
  •   Title, centered after heading
     
  •   1” margins on all sides
     
  •   Save the file using one of the following extensions: .docx, .doc, .rtf, or .txt
    Underline your thesis statement in the introductory paragraph.
     

Microsoft Case Study

 

Microsoft Case Study

Case studies are an essential learning strategy in business classes as they provide an opportunity for you to critically analyze events that have taken place in real-life businesses. This develops your critical thinking and research skills as you research the competition and industry in which your business resides in order to formulate a recommendation for the challenges faced by the company.

For this unit, review the “Marketing Excellence: Microsoft” case study on pp. 94–95 of your textbook. This assignment will be comprised of two parts; one part will ask you to respond to questions, and the other will require you to complete a case analysis.

Part 1

Evaluate this case and respond to each of the following questions using both theory and practical managerial thinking.

  • Evaluate Microsoft’s product and marketing evolution over the years. What has the company done well, and where did it falter?
  • Evaluate Microsoft’s recent expansion into areas such as search engines and smartphones. Do you think these are good areas of growth for Microsoft? Why, or why not?
  • Review the potential ethical implications of Microsoft’s situation. How might they revise their strategies to align with good ethical practices?

Your Part 1 response must be at least two pages in length. Follow APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. Note that you will submit Part 1 and Part 2 in one document.

Part 2

Complete a case analysis of Microsoft. This requires that you conduct research on Microsoft beyond the case study material in the textbook. In the case analysis, you will look at the situational analysis, problem, and alternatives, and you will provide a recommendation. Refer to the instructions below as you construct your analysis.

  • Situational Analysis
    • Discuss the external environment through the compilation of a PEST (political, economic, sociocultural, and technology) analysis.
    • Discuss the internal and external environment through the compilation of a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis.
  • Problem
    • Identify at least one organizational problem that Microsoft is currently having or one that you project it will have in the future. Base this on your research and critical thinking.
  • Alternatives
    • Compile three or four potential marketing-related solutions to the problem above. Remember that these are potential alternatives; you will not select all of the alternatives to solve the problem.
  • Recommendation (Marketing Strategy)
    • Select one or two of the alternatives above to solve the problem that you identified in this case analysis.
    • Discuss your rationale for choosing these and not the others. Include supporting research that will increase the depth of your analysis.

In order to successfully complete Part 2 of this case study, you need to review the video and task learning guides (TLGs) below. The following resources will provide you with the skills to research industries/competitors.

Company and Industry Research video (transcript for Company and Industry Research video)
How to Find Company Information in the Business Source Ultimate Database TLG
How to Search for Articles With a Company Focus TLG

Part 2 must be at least four pages in length. Follow APA Style when creating citations and references for this assignment. Support Part 2 with at least three sources outside of the textbook. As aforementioned, keep in mind that Part 1 and Part 2 will be submitted in one document.

Week 4Work 100

 

Due: Week 4

Points: 100

Notes about this assignment: To ensure students are properly placed into the English courses that will best set them up for successful college writing, it is customary for students to have their writing skills assessed. For students without transfer credit for college-level English courses, the writing you provide in the Week 4 Assignment will be assessed to determine whether you should be placed into ENG090 or into ENG116. This review of your writing will not affect your grade on the assignment or the overall course; your instructor will grade the Week 4 Assignment based on the rubric for the course, which is separate from the writing review.

What to submit/deliverables: Word document that contains Parts 1‐3 of the Week 4 Assignment Template.

What is the value of doing this assignment? In this assignment, you will reflect on the qualities, values, strengths, areas of improvement, and accomplishments that capture who you are and how they connect to the 10 Skills and your personal, academic, and professional goals. You‘ll then practice your communication skill by writing about what you‘ve identified in ways appropriate for a CV or résumé. You‘ll use this information in the Week 9 Assignment to create an action plan for developing skills that will help you reach your future goals. After completing this assignment, you will have a document you can bring to the Career Center where counselors can help you further develop your career strategy.

Your goal for this assignment is to: Reflect on and communicate your skills, goals, and accomplishments.

Steps to complete: In Week 4, complete and submit your assignment using the following steps:

STEP 1: Complete the four questions in Part 1: About Me, reflecting on your values, aspirations, key qualities, goals, strengths, and areas of growth.

STEP 2: Complete the three steps in Part 2: Accomplishment Statements by reflecting on your past accomplishments, using the template to identify the challenges, actions, results, and details, and then writing two concise stories using the accomplishments formula provided.

STEP 3: Complete the four-question reflection in Part 3: Reflect on Your Experiences, considering Parts 1 and 2 of this assignment and the connections you have made to the 10 Skills.

Critical Decision-Making and Organizational Performance

 

View the scenario called “Critical Decision Making for Providers” found in the Allied Health Community media.

In a 1,000-1,250-word paper, examine the scenario involving Mike, the lab technician, and discuss the following:

  1. Discuss the consequences of a failure to report.
  2. Explain the impact his decision had on patient safety and organizational performance (risk for litigation, organization’s quality metrics, workload of other hospital departments, etc.).
  3. As Mike’s manager, describe how you would address the issue with him and steps you would take to ensure other staff members do not repeat the same kind of mistake.
  4. Reflect on the scenario and describe what underlying aspects or issues may be contributing to workplace dilemmas such as this.
  5. Consider the manner in which most health care organizations function (structure, people, technology, environment). As a leader, discuss what principles of organizational behavior and development can be applied to effectively contribute to the success of a health care organization. How could these principles be applied to this scenario?

A minimum of three academic references from credible sources are required for this assignment.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required. 

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion. 

SOCW 6311 wk 8 peer responses

  

SOCW 6311 wk 8 peer responses 

Respond to at least two colleagues by doing all of the following: Name first and references after every person

  • Indicate      strengths of their needs assessment plan that will enable the needs      assessments to yield support for the program that they want to      develop.   
  • Offer      suggestions to improve the needs assessment plan in areas such as:
    • Defining       the extent and scope of the need
    • Obtaining       important information about the target population
    • Identifying       issues that might affect the target population’s ability to access the       program or services

Instructor wants lay out like this:

Respond to at least two colleagues ( 2 peers posts are provided) by doing all of the following:

Identify strengths of your colleagues’ analyses and areas in which the analyses could be improved.

Your response

Address his or her evaluation of the efficacy and applicability of the evidence-based practice,

Your response

[Evaluate] his or her identification of factors that could support or hinder the implementation of the evidence-based practice,

Your response

And [evaluate] his or her solution for mitigating those factors.

Your response

Offer additional insight to your colleagues by either identifying additional factors that may support or limit implementation of the evidence-based practice or an alternative solution for mitigating one of the limitations that your colleagues identified.

Your response

References

Your response

Peer 1: McKenna Bull 

RE: Discussion – Week 8

COLLAPSE

Top of Form

Needs assessments are a form of research conducted to gather information about the needs of a population or a group in a community (Tutty & Rothery, 2010, p. 149). One purpose of a needs assessment is to explore in more depth whether a new program within an organization or agency is needed (Dudley, 2014, p. 117). Key questions of this type of needs assessment may revolve around: (1) whether there are enough prospective clients to warrant this type of program, (2) the different activities or programs that the respondents would be interested in using, priorities for some activities over others, (3) importance of the activities, and (4) times in which this program would be desired and used (Dudley, 2014, p. 117). Potential barriers for the implementation of a new program should also be assessed to ensure the best possible outcome. Some barriers to services could include factors such as: location, costs, potential need for fees, and possible psychological issues related to such things. The following is an assessment of an intensive outpatient program for youth, and a potential need that is currently being unmet.

Post a needs assessment plan for a potential program of your choice that meets a currently unmet need. Describe the unmet need and how current information supports your position that a needs assessment is warranted.

The intensive outpatient program (IOP) at Provo Canyon Behavioral Hospital provides specialized care for adolescents who struggle with a wide variety of mental health and behavioral needs. Some of the primary therapeutic modalities include: psychoeducational groups, dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT), EMDR, and experiential therapies such as music, pet and recreational therapies. Though this program provides a wide array of services to attempt to meet the needs of these particular youth, there are still needs being unmet. In particular, the needs of the LGBTQIA+ youth seem to be overlooked and underserved.

LTBTQIA+ youth as a whole are more susceptible than their heterosexual peers to be succumbed to family violence and homelessness, have higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse, may experience higher levels of depressive symptoms, and are more likely to consider and attempt suicide (p. 16).  In Utah, the predominant culture revolves around Mormon ideologies and beliefs. Some of these ideologies and “morals” can leave potentially long-lasting, negative effects on those who do not necessarily fit in with them. Higa et al. (2014) suggests that negative factors such as the ideals of religion can have an overall detrimental impact on the development of an LGBTQIQ+ youths identity, and may negatively impact their overall psyche (p. 663). As a whole, the LGBTQIA+ youth in Utah are highly susceptible to negative outcomes, and may require a great deal of support in order to overcome the challenges faced.

This being said, one may argue that a social support group could be beneficial in improving the overall outcomes of these at risk youth. Wilkerson et al. (2017) suggests that an increase in social support may have the potential to improve the overall health of LBTQIA+ youth (p. 358). This particular study evaluated the effects of a group that involved an hour of each of the following: unstructured social time, consciousness-raising (education), and a youth led peer support group (Wilkerson et al., 2017, p. 358). What was found in this cross-sectional study was that youth who attended this support group for multiple months reported higher social support, and this increased social support was associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms and a decrease in potentially risky behaviors.

This type of group could be beneficial to implement at this particular IOP program. Based on the current and recent populations attending this program, the majority report falling on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, and have reported that a great deal of their stressors revolve around this component of themselves. There is currently no intervention specifically implemented to meet the unique needs of this vulnerable population. The groups facilitated aim to increase resilience and motivation, yet fail to address the root cause of a number of clients issues.

Identify the sources of information that you might use when conducting a needs assessment, including potential informants. Explain who among these potential informants would be valuable resources and why.

Potential informants for this particular needs assessment could include a number of individuals. Firstly, the youth involved in the IOP program. The thoughts and perceptions of these individuals would be highly informational, as they seem to be the population who’s needs have been overlooked and unmet for some time. It would be interesting to gain a better understanding of how they perceive their own individual needs, and how they feel these needs could be met. Perhaps the parents of the children should be involved, and they could provide insight into their children’s behavior(s) outside of the program, help to understand their child’s potential needs, and provide other needed information as well. Stakeholders should also be involved throughout the process, as they may have an overall influential say in whether a program such as this is developed and implemented, or is left to be addressed at a different time or by another agency.

Identify steps for obtaining credible, unbiased information.

For the sake of this particular study, perhaps utilizing a combination of approaches to gather data may be most prudent. Many needs assessments use multiple methods of data collection to capture a more comprehensive picture of the population of interest (Dudley, 2014, p. 134). Some of the particular modalities one may use in this situation may be: administering a questionnaire to the population of interest, conducting informant interviews, and observing discussions between individuals who may fall into the population of interest. Utilizing a combination of approaches could allow researchers to gain an overall better understanding of the needs of the individuals within the population, and provide insight into how to provide aid.

References

Dudley, J. R. (2014). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do. (2nd ed.) Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books.

Friesner, D. E., & Peck, L. R. (2007). Comparison group identification for difficult-to-evaluate populations: lessons from evaluating 1n10 LGBTQ youth support services. Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation, 4(8), 16–39.

Higa, D., Hoppe, M. J., Lindhorst, T., Mincer, S., Beadnell, B., Morrison, D. M., Wells, E. A., Todd, A., & Mountz, S. (2014). Negative and Positive Factors Associated with the Well-Being of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Questioning (LGBTQ) Youth. Youth & Society, 46(5), 663–687.

Tutty, L. M., & Rothery, M. A. (2010). Needs assessments. IN B. Thyer (Ed.), The handbook of social work research methods (2nd ed., pp. 149-162). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Wilkerson, J. M., Schick, V. R., Romijnders, K. A., Bauldry, J., & Butame, S. A. (2017). Social support, depression, self-esteem, and coping among LGBTQ adolescents participating in hatch youth. Health Promotion Practice, 18(3), 358–365.

Bottom of Form

Peer 2: Cedric Brown 

RE: Discussion – Week 8

COLLAPSE

Top of Form

Post a needs assessment plan for a potential program of your choice that meets a currently unmet need. Describe the unmet need and how current information supports your position that a needs assessment is warranted.

    The program that I chose was the Arise Counseling Services where I am currently doing my field education experience. The reason that I proposed a needs assessment is to make sure that the needs of the community are being met as well as to see if there is a need to implement a new program. To ensure that the clients are satisfied with the services and the quality. Also, the needs assessment would be to see if a new program such as an anger management group would be beneficial. Currently, the agency does not provide those services and by doing a needs assessment you would be able to interview and survey the stakeholders to gauge the interest as well as the backing of the program. Needs assessments can gather valuable information to social problems that have a negative impact on their community (Dudley, 2014).

Identify the sources of information that you might use when conducting a needs assessment, including potential informants. Explain who among these potential informants would be valuable resources and why.

    The information that would be gathered for the need’s assessment would be from current board members, clients, employees, community members, and other agencies that work with Arise. All of the individuals involved would be considered informants and their information would drive the assessment. Each stakeholder brings a different perspective to the assessment and they all would be valuable to implementing a new program within the agency.

Identify steps for obtaining credible, unbiased information.

    The steps for obtaining the information would be to utilize a qualitative method using individual interviews. Using interviews gives you an opportunity to build a rapport with the interviewees and have the ability to talk about sensitive issues that you might not have through a survey (Tutty & Rothery, 2010). You also have an open space to possibly find out if the needs are not being met in other areas of the agency. So, I think taking into account all that is involved and then rate what they think the needs of the program and if it would be beneficial.

Cedric

Reference

Dudley, J.R. (2014). Social work evaluation: Enhancing what we do. (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL:

    Lyceum Books.

Tutty, L.M., & Rothery, M.A. (2010). Needs assessments. In B. Thyer (Ed.), The handbook of   

    social work research methods (2nd ed., pp. 149-162). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (PDF)

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY SEMINAR 2

 

Attending live Seminars is important to your academic success, and attendance is highly recommended. The Seminar allows you to review the important concepts presented in each unit, discuss work issues in your lives that pertain to these concepts, ask your instructor questions, and allows you to come together in real time with your fellow classmates. There will be a graded Seminar in Units 1 through 9 in this course. You must either attend the live Seminar or you must complete the Seminar alternative assignment in order to earn points for this part of the class.

The purpose of this Seminar is to discuss the unit’s Reading. Please come to Seminar prepared to discuss the following:

  • What is the Stroop Effect?
  • What areas of the brain are involved in attention tasks?
  • Why is thought suppression important for psychologists?

To earn Seminar credit for this unit, complete one of the following:

Option 1: Participate in a synchronous Seminar discussion. You are strongly encouraged to participate in the live Seminar. Many students find this discussion very helpful because your instructor will clarify the unit material and your classmates may pose questions that you also have.

Option 2: You will benefit most from completing Seminar option 1. However, if you are unable to attend you have the opportunity to make up the points by listening to the Seminar archive and writing a paper summarizing the Seminar. You must make sure you address the questions above in your paper. You should create your paper in MS Word and your work should be formatted in APA style. Your paper should be composed in complete sentences and paragraphs and be at least 500 words in length. You should submit your work to the Unit 3: Seminar Dropbox by the end of the unit.

Class preparation

Learning Objectives

  • Describe typical ratios of in-class to out-of-class work per credit hour and how to effectively schedule your study time

Directions

A general rule is that the ratio of classroom time to study time is 1:2 or 1:3. That means that for every hour you spend in class meetings, you should plan to spend two to three hours out of class working independently on course assignments. For example, if your composition class meets for one hour, three times a week, you’re expected to devote from six to nine hours each week on reading assignments, writing assignments, etc.

  1. Refer to your class schedule, work schedule, and any other documents you have that indicate the day and time of your weekly obligations.
  2. Using a 1:2 or 1:3 in-class–to–out-of-class-study ratio, determine how many hours per week you need to study for each class, given your current course schedule.
  3. Create a weekly schedule in a digital document. You can use Word, Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or any other format you prefer.
  4. Be sure to include at least class sessions, homework and study time, and leisure time in your schedule. You should also include leisure time, other responsibilities, family time, travel time, and sleep.
  5. When you are finished, write a paragraph summarizing how you created your class schedule and why you think it will be effective.