Student Support Courses

Students can search and register for a course not listed on their registration screen by taking the following steps:

1. Enter myWalden portal and select the Student Services tab.
2. Click on Review Schedule or Drop Classes.
3. Select Term, and click on Look Up Courses.
4. Click Term again.
5. Select Social Behavioral Science Foundations, and click Search.
6. Select box for appropriate course, and click Register.

Students who do not register themselves via their myWalden portal will need to send their request to their academic advising team.   
 
Students who are not yet in a program or have just been validated and want a course can send an e-mail with your request to nondegree@waldenu.edu, and Walden staff will get you a request form.

 You've heard scholarly writing involves using other author's ideas to support your own claims—but isn't that stealing?  How do you make sure you're using someone else's research the right way?  And what about plagiarism detection tools like Turnitin?  Answering all these questions and more, "Skills for Academic Integrity" will ease your anxieties about academic integrity.  This course covers definitions of plagiarism, an overview of Walden's academic integrity policy, and specific strategies for avoiding plagiarism.  You'll finish feeling more comfortable using sources in any Walden assignment, from discussion posts to dissertations.

(1 semester credit/1.5 quarter credit)

Sample Assignment

 "A Practical Course in APA Style" will leave you an APA expert, able to answer questions about citations, tables and figures, and serial commas for all your classmates.  This course, conducted with an APA workbook, reviews the nuts and bolts of APA through practical application assignments.  You'll learn about the basics of in-text and reference list citations, review formatting guidelines, and investigate the nuances of APA style.  If you ever wanted to stop double-checking the APA manual every few sentences as you write, this course is for you!

(1 semester credits/1.5 quarter credits)

Academic reading assignments can often feel overwhelming, even for the most experienced general readers.  "Advanced Reading Strategies" can help you navigate the dense and complex nature of scholarly reading, with strategies to help increase reading speed, build information retention, and even decrease testing anxiety.  This course is appropriate for students of any level looking for ways to read academic texts more efficiently and effectively. 

(2 semester credits/3 quarter credits)

Ever asked yourself, "What's the difference between analysis and opinion?"  Or, "How do I even get started on this discussion post?"  If so, "Evaluative Composition Skills" can help!  This course emphasizes the building blocks of academic writing: paraphrase, summary, and evaluation.  You'll practice prewriting, drafting, and revising, and you'll familiarize yourself with many common Walden assignments.  If you're new to scholarly writing or looking for a course to boost your confidence and skills, "Evaluative Composition Skills" is a good fit.

(1 semester credit)

Walden's writing-intensive courses require skills in interpretation, synthesis, and analysis—but what if you're not sure how to incorporate any of those processes in your papers?  "Persuasive Composition Skills," usually taken after "Evaluative Composition Skills," will help you advance your scholarly writing skills even further.  You'll learn skills for constructing strong arguments, cover tips for comparing and synthesizing your research, and generally become prepared to convince any reader of your position as a scholar! 

(1 semester credit)

If you're looking for a practical and useful course with direct application to your own studies, "Graduate Writing: Evaluative and Persuasive Composition Skills" may be the class for you.  Beginning with the building blocks of academic writing—paraphrase, summary, and evaluation—and progressing through organization, synthesis, and critical analysis, this course will take you through the entire process of graduate-level writing.  The course's major assignment is a practice literature review, which you'll write using texts you've researched and selected on a topic of your choice.  This course is a great way to prepare for a dissertation or capstone project, or simply to develop your persuasive academic voice.

(3 quarter credits)

"Critical Thinking and Logic" covers the foundation of building a persuasive argument using strong rhetorical strategies.  You'll learn to recognize logical fallacies in the work of other scholars (and to avoid them in your own) and become an expert on writing as an objective social scientist.  This course is reading and writing intensive and challenges students to question their own assumptions, but the end result is worthwhile—the ability to write sophisticated and sound analysis.  "Critical Thinking and Logic" covers sentence-level strategies for students early in their programs, as well as global-level techniques for students preparing for the dissertation.

(2 semester credits/3 quarter credits)

Walden coursework can often entail working in a virtual environment with students and instructors whose background differs from your own.  This course will help you learn effective and practical strategies for communicating across these barriers, as well as skills for prioritizing workflow and being an effective online communicator.  As communities and workplaces continue to diversify and globalize, respecting differences, understanding how others think, and understanding how to communicate and work effectively with people who are different from yourself are essential skills for success.

(2 semester credits/3 quarter credits)

This course covers the entire process of graduate-level writing with an emphasis on strategies for multilingual students.  In "Graduate Writing for Non-Native English Speakers," you'll learn everything from tips for reading assignments and understanding instructor expectations to strategies for writing a literature review.  You'll review the basics of English grammar and of academic voice, and you'll emerge feeling comfortable with social science research and the conventions of scholarly writing.  This course is a great way to prepare for a dissertation or capstone project, or simply to develop your persuasive academic voice.

(2 semester credits/3 quarter credits)

The literature review—it's one of the most important parts of a capstone project, but how do you write it?  What's the best way to keep track of all your notes?  How do you get your own ideas into it?  How do you keep it from being just a book report?  In "Writing the Literature Review," you'll get the answers to all these questions as you take twenty articles of your own choosing and draft your own literature review (with guidance!).  You'll learn synthesis and summary techniques, and you'll come out the other side with a literature review matrix and the foundational knowledge for creating literature reviews appropriate for capstone projects. 

(3 semester credits/4.5 quarter credits)

Nervous about an upcoming licensure exam and not sure what to expect?  Wondering how best to overcome anxiety toward academic exams like the GRE?  "Succeeding on Academic and Professional Exams" can help you feel prepared and confident during a paper- or computer-based exam.  You'll review test-taking strategies (including time management techniques) and create an individual plan of study over the course of this class.  Banish testing anxiety and give your best performance by getting prepared!

(2 semester credits/3 quarter credits)

Sample Assignment

This course is designed for students seeking to improve their skills in daily writing tasks. Losing points on small assignments can contribute to failing grades. Mastering the skills to successfully complete weekly writing assignments is crucial to success in online courses. Students focus on strategies essential for the effective comprehension and completion of assignments, such as discussion posts, discussion follow-up responses, and short analytic papers. Students also focus on library skills, grammar refreshers, and the academic voice necessary to write at an appropriate level for the university. Increased success in daily course writing helps students equip themselves with the skills needed for writing high-quality larger papers common in many courses.

(2 semester credits/3 quarter credits)