Personal Perspective Paper

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE PAPER

Personal Perspective Paper

Semo Veavea Jr.

University of Phoenix

Personal Perspective Paper

To be successful with the University of Phoenix or any other college or university, one must strive to be the best. As a graduate student of University of Phoenix I need to explore the strategies for academic success, rather than just textbooks and lectures from the Professors.

The Value of rEsource

There are endless strategies for academic success, but I will touch on three of these strategies. Hence, in this paper I will explain the values of rEsource, the Learning Team, and Problem-Base Learning.

rEsource is the University of Phoenix's initiative to deliver all course materials electronically. It uses the teaching learning model based on the knowledge that the adult learner want to see a direct connection between the concept that they are trying to learn and the material used to support those concepts.

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The University of Phoenix's library offers subscription databases with over 27,703 periodicals, dissertation, conference proceedings, financial reports, and reference books. The library has excellent services to help students in researching. One of these services, is "Ask a Library Service," where a student can obtain professional guidance and recommendation regarding a search.

The Value of Learning Teams

Unlike school teams that are organized for other purposes, learning team focus on cooperative learning, which is the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximize their own and each other's learning (Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1992). Within cooperative activities individual students seek outcomes that are beneficial to themselves and beneficial to all other team members. Within learning teams students are given two responsibilities: To learn the assigned material and make sure that all other members of their group do likewise. In learning team situations, students perceive that they can reach their learning goals only if the other students in the learning team also do so (Kreitner & Kiniski 2004). The values inherent in learning teams are:

1. Commitment to the common good. In learning team situations, individual

work contributes not only to their well-being, but also to the well being of all other collaborators. There is a built-in concern for the common good and the success of others, as the efforts of others also contribute to one's own well-being (Handbook).

2. Success depends on the joint efforts of everyone to achieve mutual goals. What

valued is teamwork and civic responsibility. Succeeding depends on everyone doing his or her part.

3. People who are different from oneself are to be valued. Other people are perceived to

be potential resources for and contributors to one's success. If they are different that means more diverse resources are available for the joint effort and, therefore, the difference is valued. The diverse contributions of members results in the realization that, in the long run, everyone is of equal value and equally deserving, regardless of their gender, ethnic membership, culture, social class, or ability.

The Value of Problem-Based Learning

Problem-based learning is a tool that simultaneously develops both problem strategies and disciplinary knowledge bases and skills by placing students in the active role of problem solvers confronted with a scenario that mirrors real-world problems (white paper). Problem-bases