Organizational Behavior (BUS 4402) at UoPeople

Organizational Behavior (BUS 4402) at the UoPeople is one of the three courses I took last term. It’s a moderate course in terms of course load in my opinion. Organizational Behavior felt like Principles of Business Management (BUS 1101) on steroids to me. You learn about topics like diversity, culture, perception, attitudes, motivation, stress, communication, teams, conflict, negotiation, decision-making, ethics, leadership, power, politics, organizational structure, and change.

My class had about 27 students, but not many dropped out. It was probably the first time I came across 7 students with whom I had taken classes before at the UoPeople. I believe it's a common occurrence when you progress toward the end of your degree. Plagiarism by one to two students was prevalent in the course, though. My instructor had several Bachelor's and Master's degrees. She was from the Caribbean and had been teaching at the UoPeople since 2021. She was very active in all aspects of the course and regularly commented on the posts of students in the Discussion Forum. She was an awesome motivator and encouraged students through various means.

There is a prescribed book for this class. It has the same authors as BUS 1101 (Bauer & Erdogan). The Discussion Assignments, Written Assignments, and Learning Journals are worth 30% in total or 10% each in the class. You have to write 8 Discussion Forum posts, 5 Written Assignments, and 8 Learning Journals in the course. You read two chapters each week to do your Discussion and Written Assignments. Sometimes you have to read links as well to do your assignments. All the assignments are straightforward.

The Learning Journals are the same as Business and Society (BUS 3306) where you have to answer the same questions again and again for 8 weeks straight. They sound like therapy session questions rather than academic setting questions in my opinion. Some of the questions were like the following: How are you feeling this week? What surprised you? What are you realizing as a learner? How was your attitude this week? However, since the subject is not as dry as BUS 3306 and my instructor was quite awesome in terms of motivating students, so, I was very satisfied with the question in this class. The Learning Journals were like free points for me in the course.

The Graded Quizzes and Final Exam are worth 70% (20%+20%+30%) in the class. You have to answer 30 questions in each Graded Quiz in 45 mins. The Final Exam had 50 questions, and you’ve to do it within 60 mins. Some of the questions on the Final Exam and Graded Quizzes directly came from the non-Graded Quizzes and Final Review Quiz. Most of the questions were composed of definitions, models, and theories you learn in class. It's very easy to make notes in this class as the book highlights the key terms and definitions in the corners and at the end of each chapter. I was very surprised to see how uncomplicated the Final Exam was. Most of the questions were one-liners like: "Mediation is."

I ended up getting an A+, and I couldn’t be happier with the effort I put into the course. All in all, it’s a very manageable course from my standpoint. You learn about key aspects of Organizational Behavior in the class. To me, the course felt like Principles of Business Management (BUS 1101) on steroids. Make good notes, do all your readings, and do all the non-Graded Quizzes and the Final Review Quiz. You can ace the course.