Category: English

Goal

After taking the TruTalent Skills assessment, you will measure your skillset, match it to careers, then build the skills critical for your success at work.

This assessment looks at the skills that are critical in both the workplace and for learning. They ensure you are prepared and work-ready with a greater understanding of their skillset and ways to develop those skills, as well as access to a searchable career database and Indeed job search.

This assessment will show you your top aptitudes and soft skills, how they can be built over time, and their relationship to career selection.

This assessment provides insight into the complex skills identified as critical for learning and employment success. 15 distinct skill facets comprise five skills within the report: conscientiousness, creativity, critical thinking, leadership and social-emotional. Along with their results, youll find details for each skill, ways to develop independent skills, a list of careers that match top skills, and included job search.

Instructions

Take the TruTalent Skills Assessment. Go through each part of the assessment report. Rate your report, take a look at careers, and developing skills. What are your strongest skills and which skills do you want to work on? Reflect on your report and write about it in this discussion. Save your report in a PDF on your computer (see a PDF/Printer icon at the top right of the report). Upload your PDF report to your Discussion post.

Submission

Respond to this Discussion by writing and reflecting on your top skills and which skills you would like to develop. What career choices match your skills? Are there skills you need to develop for the career choices you are interested in? Upload the PDF of your report to this discussion.

When you observe a piece of art, your response is influenced by who you are as a human being: your life experience, your temperament, your preferences, your worldview, your feelings, values, and beliefs even your mood that particular day. All of these factors can all influence how you respond to an artwork.

Because of this, a work of art can have very different, but equally valid, meanings for different people.

This essay will give you an opportunity to observe, consider, and interpret what an artwork means for you.

You do not need to know anything about art. You are considering it as a thoughtful observer, and sharing your views with your reader.

NOTE: I do not care nor do I want to hear what a chatbot has to say about it. I am not interested in an art history analysis. I want to understand how you, as a human being, interpret it from your own point of view. ETA: Because of this, you absolutely can and will use the first person “I” instead of the more distanced third person typical of some academic writing.

The artwork well use for this essay is the untitled work, often called Your Body Is a Battleground (1989) by American artist Barbara Kruger.

Barbara Kruger – Your Body Is a Battleground

Your audience

Your reader will be someone interested in art that is open to interpretation. (They may or may not be familiar with this particular piece.) They are curious to hear what this artwork means for you and why; i.e. what has led you to your personal understanding of it.

Process: how to prepare:

1. Guided brainstorm:

This brainstorm will exercise your critical thinking by making inferences based on observation.

Consider whether you will approach this brainstorm using deductive reasoning (having a broad first impression then looking at details that support it) OR inductive reasoning (examining the details first to form a more holistic impression.

Look at the above image (on a laptop or other computer, not your phone) and write down the following by hand (handwritten brainstorming is strongly preferred):

What stands out to you? What basic elements comprise the design? What seems significant about them? When you look closer, or for a longer time, what new details do you notice? What connections can you make, either among the elements or with your ideas and inferences? What do these elements remind you of? How do you relate to them personally?

Gather your thoughts in your brainstorm (free write, list, journaling clustering, etc., whatever works for your purpose) and set them aside. Come back later with a fresh mind and review. Collectively, what do your notes point to as a core idea? In other words, what is a central point you want to make about how you interpret and relate to this piece? That idea will lead to your draft thesis.

NOTE: You have several options in terms of the lens through which you interpret this image. Your inferences can be personal (i.e. about your own direct life experience), or your take on this might be political, or social, or psychological, etc. It’s up to you which interpretation you find most compelling, but ultimately focus on one in particular for your essay.

You will post your brainstorm as your Essay 1 Prep 1: Brainstorm assignment.

2. Draft thesis:

Your thesis draft will be a sentence that expresses the main point you want the reader to understand about what this artwork means for you. See the module lesson on thesis statements here: Intro to Thesis Statements

3. Outline:

Based on your thesis, think about the key points you want to make to expand on your main idea. Look again at your initial brainstorm from when you were closely observing the artwork. (You can do a follow-up brainstorm too.)

In your outline, each supporting claim / topic sentence (one per body paragraph) will express a thought you have about the specific visual or word-based elements you noticed and how they led to your interpretation of this piece and how you relate to it.

In one paragraph youll also compare what you believe may have been the artists original intent versus how youre interpreting it. (See next section.)

NOTE: You will post your draft thesis & outline as your Essay 1 Prep 2: Thesis & Outline assignment.

4. Consider the original context:

After youve come to your own conclusions / interpretations of the artwork and drafted your main thesis and outline, read more about the artist and context for this piece here: The Broad Museum: Barbara Kruger: Untitled (Your body is a battleground)

Consider what the artist may have intended by making this artwork. (Its fine if its different from your take!) In one paragraph of your essay, youll compare your interpretation vs. what the artist may have intended.

However, WAIT to look up the original context until after youve formed your own interpretation. You need your own unfiltered impressions first for your essay to be authentically you.

No other research is necessary for this essay.

5. Draft essay:

Using your outline as a map, draft an introduction, body paragraphs, and a brief conclusion. See the lessons in this module for guidelines on these basic essay elements.

As you draft, here are three questions to ask yourself (and clarify):

What does my reader need to know or understand at this point?

What am I trying to say?

Why does it matter? (i.e. what are the implications?)

6. Review, revise & format:

Review your draft and revise as needed to ensure: your intro sets up your topic for your reader; your thesis and supporting claims are clear and consistent; and each body paragraph develops its focused point in a thoughtful way with supporting details and elaboration. (Again, see the module lesson content for tips.)

Format your paper in MLA format, do a final proofread, then submit. Your Works Cited will consist of the artist and artwork information; see our textbook A Writer’s Reference, section MLA 4-b, #51 (which includes an example of how to format and what to include).

Resources

For more guidance on your essay, in our textbook A Writer’s Reference review:

C1: Planning

C2: Drafting (especially the section on argumentation thesis statements)

C3: Writing paragraphs

C4: Reviewing, revising, editing

For full specifications (page length, etc.) and to submit the assignment, click here: Essay 1: Interpretive argument

AI Policy

This essay is based on your own perceptions, experiences, and opinions. Only you can write this. AI cannot do it for you, at least not convincingly, and your grade will reflect any attempt at taking a shortcut. Do your own work independent of AI from the brainstorm through producing and revising the paper. Your essay should be based entirely on your own insights and the voice should be exclusively your own.

Intelligences TruTalent Discussion

Goal

This assessment reveals and strengthens your unique intellect and explores recommended careers with emotional and multiple intelligences for you. Your assessment report will help you recognize your unique multiple intelligences, emotional intelligence, boost confidence levels, strengthen all of your intelligences, and set you on a career path in motion. Founded on Howard Gardners multiple intelligences theory, this assessment provides a more rounded view of your intelligence strengths by looking at the following types of intelligence: bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, naturalist, spatial and existential.

The objectives of this assessment will allow you to apply multiple intelligence results to careers, recognize your whole intellect, and build your self-esteem and self-knowledge.

Instructions

Review your Intelligences report. Download your report and save onto your computer (you will see a summary report in the right upper corner in which you save a PDF on your computer or print out your full report). There are 9 multiple intelligence types. What are your intelligence strengths? Is this accurate? What would you like to build more of? What are famous people who share your intelligence strengths? What are your Emotional Intelligence Trait strengths and challenges? Go to career match and research careers that work with your intelligence strengths.

Submission

What are your intelligences? What are your challenges and strengths? What are your Emotional Intelligence Traits? Is this report accurate? Please describe your strengths and famous people who have your same intelligence strengths. What are your challenges and areas you’d like to work on? What careers match your intelligence strengths? Write a short reflection summary description of your Multiple Intelligences in this Discussion post. Upload the PDF report along with your Discussion post as well.

• Click on “REPLY” to respond to these questions in your post of about 200 words.
• Write two responses to other student posts (respond to two different student posts). Each response post needs to be approximately 150 words. A response post can include similarities you noticed, suggestions that have helped you personally and/or questions you may have.
• See rubric for details.

Learning Styles TruTalent Discussion

Goal

This assessment reveals the ways you learn best and how you can be most productive. Your report includes a chart showing sixteen preferences at a glance. The 16 preferences are grouped into three categories: Sensory, Environmental and Mindset. Each category requires a slightly different approach to improve your learning and productivity. Read the introductions carefully so that you understand these different approaches before you choose and apply the recommendations in the report. This assessment will show you how to improve learning, productivity and study habits.

Instructions

Review your 16 preferences and then download the full report onto your computer and read the recommendations for you. Download the PDF onto your computer (you will see a report summary option in the upper right hand corner of your report in which you can download or print your report). Upload the PDF of this report along with your discussion post.

Submission

What are your top learning preferences and what are the recommendations for how you should study and learn to be the most productive in college? Write a short reflection summary description of your Learning Preferences in this Discussion post. Upload a PDF along with your Discussion post as well.

Learning Styles TruTalent Discussion

Goal

This assessment reveals the ways you learn best and how you can be most productive. Your report includes a chart showing sixteen preferences at a glance. The 16 preferences are grouped into three categories: Sensory, Environmental and Mindset. Each category requires a slightly different approach to improve your learning and productivity. Read the introductions carefully so that you understand these different approaches before you choose and apply the recommendations in the report. This assessment will show you how to improve learning, productivity and study habits.

Instructions

Review your 16 preferences and then download the full report onto your computer and read the recommendations for you. Download the PDF onto your computer (you will see a report summary option in the upper right hand corner of your report in which you can download or print your report). Upload the PDF of this report along with your discussion post.

Submission

What are your top learning preferences and what are the recommendations for how you should study and learn to be the most productive in college? Write a short reflection summary description of your Learning Preferences in this Discussion post. Upload a PDF along with your Discussion post as well.

Goal

One of the best sources for gathering information about what’s happening in an occupation or an industry is to talk to people working in the field. This process is called informational or research interviewing. An informational interview is an interview that you initiate – you ask the questions. The purpose is to obtain information, not to get a job.

Good reasons for conducting an Informational Interview

• to explore careers and clarify your career goal
• to discover employment opportunities that are not advertised
• to expand your professional network
• to build confidence for your job interviews
• to access the most up-to-date career information
• to identify your professional strengths and weaknesses

Instructions

Steps to Conduct and Informational Interview

1. Identify the Occupation or Industry You Wish to Learn About Assess your own interests, abilities, values, and skills, and evaluate labor conditions and trends to identify the best fields to research.
2. Prepare for the Interview Read all you can about the field prior to the interview. Decide what information you would like to obtain about the occupation/industry. Prepare a list of questions that you would like to have answered.
3. Identify People to Interview Start with lists of people you already know – friends, relatives, fellow students, present or former co-workers, supervisors, neighbors, etc… Professional organizations, the yellow pages, organizational directories, and public speakers are also good resources. You may also call an organization and ask for the name of the person by job title.
4. Arrange the Interview Contact the person to set up an interview: o by telephone, o by a letter followed by a telephone call, or o by having someone who knows the person make the appointment for you.
5. Conduct the Interview Dress appropriately, arrive on time, be polite and professional. Refer to your list of prepared questions; stay on track, but allow for spontaneous discussion. Before leaving, ask your contact to suggest names of others who might be helpful to you and ask permission to use your contact’s name when contacting these new contacts.
6. Follow Up Immediately following the interview, record the information gathered. Be sure to send a thank-you note to your contact within one week of the interview.

NOTE: Always analyze the information you’ve gathered. Adjust your job search, resume, and career objective if necessary.

Questions

Prepare a list of your own questions for your informational interview. Here are some good questions to consider and use. You choose the questions you want to ask for the information you want to gather and learn about the career and person in the job.

1. On a typical day in this position, what do you do?
2. What training or education is required for this type of work?
3. What personal qualities or abilities are important to being successful in this job?
4. What part of this job do you find most satisfying? most challenging?
5. How did you get your job?
6. What opportunities for advancement are there in this field?
7. What entry level jobs are best for learning as much as possible?
8. What are the salary ranges for various levels in this field?
9. How do you see jobs in this field changing in the future?
10. Is there a demand for people in this occupation?
11. What special advice would you give a person entering this field?
12. What types of training do companies offer persons entering this field?
13. What are the basic prerequisites for jobs in this field?
14. Which professional journals and organizations would help me learn more about this field?
15. What do you think of the experience I’ve had so far in terms of entering this field?
16. From your perspective, what are the problems you see working in this field?
17. If you could do things all over again, would you choose the same path for yourself? Why? What would you change?
18. With the information you have about my education, skills, and experience, what other fields or jobs would you suggest I research further before I make a final decision?
19. What do you think of my resume? Do you see any problem areas? How would you suggest I change it?
20. Who do you know that I should talk to next? When I call him/her, may I use your name?

You can interview a teacher, relative, friend, friend of a friend, and much more. If you are having trouble finding someone to interview, go to a department on your school campus and interview a professor in the field.

You can conduct your interview remotely via Zoom. It is okay to do more than one interview (this is encouraged). Get creative! You have options to complete this assignment:

Write a one-page reflection or create a video of the person and career field you interviewed:

• Who did you interview? What is their job title?
• What does a day in the life look like? Was it similar to your expectations?
• What steps would you need to take to get there from where you are now?
• What types of work-experience or internships would be valuable as you are working toward your final goal?
• What is the salary range of the job you chose?
• What are some aspects of the job that are most appealing to you? What aspects of the job do you think you would find most challenging or unappealing?
• What surprised you?
• How did you feel going in to the interview? How do you feel about it now?
• Did you find this assignment to be valuable? Why or why not?

Submission

Upload your Informational Interview document to Canvas. (You have the option to upload something different than a paper. For example, you can do a PowerPoint Presentation OR Video OR audio podcast, if you prefer. If you choose to do a video/audio, this must be a video/audio of the interview. Feel free to post a Youtube link in the comment section if you decide to create a video. Get creative in your Informational Interview.

Goal

One of the best sources for gathering information about what’s happening in an occupation or an industry is to talk to people working in the field. This process is called informational or research interviewing. An informational interview is an interview that you initiate – you ask the questions. The purpose is to obtain information, not to get a job.

Good reasons for conducting an Informational Interview

• to explore careers and clarify your career goal
• to discover employment opportunities that are not advertised
• to expand your professional network
• to build confidence for your job interviews
• to access the most up-to-date career information
• to identify your professional strengths and weaknesses

Instructions

Steps to Conduct and Informational Interview

1. Identify the Occupation or Industry You Wish to Learn About Assess your own interests, abilities, values, and skills, and evaluate labor conditions and trends to identify the best fields to research.
2. Prepare for the Interview Read all you can about the field prior to the interview. Decide what information you would like to obtain about the occupation/industry. Prepare a list of questions that you would like to have answered.
3. Identify People to Interview Start with lists of people you already know – friends, relatives, fellow students, present or former co-workers, supervisors, neighbors, etc… Professional organizations, the yellow pages, organizational directories, and public speakers are also good resources. You may also call an organization and ask for the name of the person by job title.
4. Arrange the Interview Contact the person to set up an interview: o by telephone, o by a letter followed by a telephone call, or o by having someone who knows the person make the appointment for you.
5. Conduct the Interview Dress appropriately, arrive on time, be polite and professional. Refer to your list of prepared questions; stay on track, but allow for spontaneous discussion. Before leaving, ask your contact to suggest names of others who might be helpful to you and ask permission to use your contact’s name when contacting these new contacts.
6. Follow Up Immediately following the interview, record the information gathered. Be sure to send a thank-you note to your contact within one week of the interview.

NOTE: Always analyze the information you’ve gathered. Adjust your job search, resume, and career objective if necessary.

Questions

Prepare a list of your own questions for your informational interview. Here are some good questions to consider and use. You choose the questions you want to ask for the information you want to gather and learn about the career and person in the job.

1. On a typical day in this position, what do you do?
2. What training or education is required for this type of work?
3. What personal qualities or abilities are important to being successful in this job?
4. What part of this job do you find most satisfying? most challenging?
5. How did you get your job?
6. What opportunities for advancement are there in this field?
7. What entry level jobs are best for learning as much as possible?
8. What are the salary ranges for various levels in this field?
9. How do you see jobs in this field changing in the future?
10. Is there a demand for people in this occupation?
11. What special advice would you give a person entering this field?
12. What types of training do companies offer persons entering this field?
13. What are the basic prerequisites for jobs in this field?
14. Which professional journals and organizations would help me learn more about this field?
15. What do you think of the experience I’ve had so far in terms of entering this field?
16. From your perspective, what are the problems you see working in this field?
17. If you could do things all over again, would you choose the same path for yourself? Why? What would you change?
18. With the information you have about my education, skills, and experience, what other fields or jobs would you suggest I research further before I make a final decision?
19. What do you think of my resume? Do you see any problem areas? How would you suggest I change it?
20. Who do you know that I should talk to next? When I call him/her, may I use your name?

You can interview a teacher, relative, friend, friend of a friend, and much more. If you are having trouble finding someone to interview, go to a department on your school campus and interview a professor in the field.

You can conduct your interview remotely via Zoom. It is okay to do more than one interview (this is encouraged). Get creative! You have options to complete this assignment:

Write a one-page reflection or create a video of the person and career field you interviewed:

• Who did you interview? What is their job title?
• What does a day in the life look like? Was it similar to your expectations?
• What steps would you need to take to get there from where you are now?
• What types of work-experience or internships would be valuable as you are working toward your final goal?
• What is the salary range of the job you chose?
• What are some aspects of the job that are most appealing to you? What aspects of the job do you think you would find most challenging or unappealing?
• What surprised you?
• How did you feel going in to the interview? How do you feel about it now?
• Did you find this assignment to be valuable? Why or why not?

Submission

Upload your Informational Interview document to Canvas. (You have the option to upload something different than a paper. For example, you can do a PowerPoint Presentation OR Video OR audio podcast, if you prefer. If you choose to do a video/audio, this must be a video/audio of the interview. Feel free to post a Youtube link in the comment section if you decide to create a video. Get creative in your Informational Interview.

Goal

One of the best sources for gathering information about what’s happening in an occupation or an industry is to talk to people working in the field. This process is called informational or research interviewing. An informational interview is an interview that you initiate – you ask the questions. The purpose is to obtain information, not to get a job.

Good reasons for conducting an Informational Interview

• to explore careers and clarify your career goal
• to discover employment opportunities that are not advertised
• to expand your professional network
• to build confidence for your job interviews
• to access the most up-to-date career information
• to identify your professional strengths and weaknesses

Instructions

Steps to Conduct and Informational Interview

1. Identify the Occupation or Industry You Wish to Learn About Assess your own interests, abilities, values, and skills, and evaluate labor conditions and trends to identify the best fields to research.
2. Prepare for the Interview Read all you can about the field prior to the interview. Decide what information you would like to obtain about the occupation/industry. Prepare a list of questions that you would like to have answered.
3. Identify People to Interview Start with lists of people you already know – friends, relatives, fellow students, present or former co-workers, supervisors, neighbors, etc… Professional organizations, the yellow pages, organizational directories, and public speakers are also good resources. You may also call an organization and ask for the name of the person by job title.
4. Arrange the Interview Contact the person to set up an interview: o by telephone, o by a letter followed by a telephone call, or o by having someone who knows the person make the appointment for you.
5. Conduct the Interview Dress appropriately, arrive on time, be polite and professional. Refer to your list of prepared questions; stay on track, but allow for spontaneous discussion. Before leaving, ask your contact to suggest names of others who might be helpful to you and ask permission to use your contact’s name when contacting these new contacts.
6. Follow Up Immediately following the interview, record the information gathered. Be sure to send a thank-you note to your contact within one week of the interview.

NOTE: Always analyze the information you’ve gathered. Adjust your job search, resume, and career objective if necessary.

Questions

Prepare a list of your own questions for your informational interview. Here are some good questions to consider and use. You choose the questions you want to ask for the information you want to gather and learn about the career and person in the job.

1. On a typical day in this position, what do you do?
2. What training or education is required for this type of work?
3. What personal qualities or abilities are important to being successful in this job?
4. What part of this job do you find most satisfying? most challenging?
5. How did you get your job?
6. What opportunities for advancement are there in this field?
7. What entry level jobs are best for learning as much as possible?
8. What are the salary ranges for various levels in this field?
9. How do you see jobs in this field changing in the future?
10. Is there a demand for people in this occupation?
11. What special advice would you give a person entering this field?
12. What types of training do companies offer persons entering this field?
13. What are the basic prerequisites for jobs in this field?
14. Which professional journals and organizations would help me learn more about this field?
15. What do you think of the experience I’ve had so far in terms of entering this field?
16. From your perspective, what are the problems you see working in this field?
17. If you could do things all over again, would you choose the same path for yourself? Why? What would you change?
18. With the information you have about my education, skills, and experience, what other fields or jobs would you suggest I research further before I make a final decision?
19. What do you think of my resume? Do you see any problem areas? How would you suggest I change it?
20. Who do you know that I should talk to next? When I call him/her, may I use your name?

You can interview a teacher, relative, friend, friend of a friend, and much more. If you are having trouble finding someone to interview, go to a department on your school campus and interview a professor in the field.

You can conduct your interview remotely via Zoom. It is okay to do more than one interview (this is encouraged). Get creative! You have options to complete this assignment:

Write a one-page reflection or create a video of the person and career field you interviewed:

• Who did you interview? What is their job title?
• What does a day in the life look like? Was it similar to your expectations?
• What steps would you need to take to get there from where you are now?
• What types of work-experience or internships would be valuable as you are working toward your final goal?
• What is the salary range of the job you chose?
• What are some aspects of the job that are most appealing to you? What aspects of the job do you think you would find most challenging or unappealing?
• What surprised you?
• How did you feel going in to the interview? How do you feel about it now?
• Did you find this assignment to be valuable? Why or why not?

Submission

Upload your Informational Interview document to Canvas. (You have the option to upload something different than a paper. For example, you can do a PowerPoint Presentation OR Video OR audio podcast, if you prefer. If you choose to do a video/audio, this must be a video/audio of the interview. Feel free to post a Youtube link in the comment section if you decide to create a video. Get creative in your Informational Interview.

Review Chapters 10, 11 and 12 in College Success. In your own words, write a one-page double-spaced journal reflection summary of these chapters. You should have one paragraph for each chapter that highlights the things that are important to you. Please answer these questions in your one page summary reflection.

1. What did you learn and how will you apply this to yourself and your college success?

This link will open in a new window. If you want to work in the window within Canvas, click on the next item in this module titled “College Success Textbook.” Once you are in the Book, make sure to click on the “Contents” icon in the left menu bar so that you can see the table of contents of your book.

Answer this assignment for two students

Review Chapters 10, 11 and 12 in College Success. In your own words, write a one-page double-spaced journal reflection summary of these chapters. You should have one paragraph for each chapter that highlights the things that are important to you. Please answer these questions in your one page summary reflection.

1. What did you learn and how will you apply this to yourself and your college success?

This link will open in a new window. If you want to work in the window within Canvas, click on the next item in this module titled “College Success Textbook.” Once you are in the Book, make sure to click on the “Contents” icon in the left menu bar so that you can see the table of contents of your book.