GEN/201 v12

As a student and in the workplace, you will need to be able to solve problems. Think about what you have
learned this week, and complete Parts 1–4 of this worksheet to apply your problem-solving skills
to help you overcome challenges, set goals, manage your time, and communicate with others.

Part 1: Overcoming Challenges

In Week 1, you completed the Success Prep Inventory (located in Ch. 2, Section 2.1.2 of your myBook,
Powered by zyBooks) in which you were asked, “As you begin at the University of Phoenix, what
do you think is your biggest challenge?” Rerflect on this challenge and what you have learned
over the past 5 weeks.
Write a 50- to 75-word response to each of the following questions. Enter your response on a new line
below the questions.
 How has this course helped you with challenges?
This course has taught me new ways and skills to better understand how to efficiently manage
my academic and professional life. By learning how to better manage my time and stress I can
think clearer and be more prepared so that I can figure out what next steps need to be taken next
whenever something unexpected happens and interferes with my schedule. By being better
prepared I can create my schedule with “possibilities” in mind or give myself enough time and
room to take care of anything that would normally throw off my whole day.

 What actions have you taken during the past 5 weeks to work toward overcoming challenges?
I used to label any unexpected change or surprise as negative just because I was not completely
prepared for it. By doing so I automatically get stressed out and irritated at any minor
inconvenience that may or may not throw off my schedule. Over the past 5 weeks I have been
looking for any positive no matter how small in every inconvenience or surprise that came up in
day-to-day activities and it has already helped me more than I ever would have imagined. Now I
stay calm and don’t let any inconvenience bother me as it doesn’t feel like a big deal like it used
to.
 What are your plans moving forward?
To keep working on my time management and what I have learned about myself in this class and
work to change how I think or view things that I may have falsely created a negative stigma
around and reworking my thought process to better understand and control my emotions. This
class has helped me learn a lot about myself and how I automatically label every inconvenience
as negative and moving forward I will be working on changing that along with how I plan and
handle any unexpected issues that may arise.

 What resources (UOPX resources or otherwise) have you used to help overcome challenges?
Right before class started this term my laptop completely went out and I didn’t have the money to
just go out and purchase a new one. I got online to search for local resources that could assist
me till I could get a new computer, and my local library has laptop’s to rent but I opted to
scheduling out a couple of days a week to come by the library and complete my work there.

Copyright 2023 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.

 Problem Solving Action Plan
GEN/201 v12
Page 2 of 4

When I was able to finally purchase a new laptop last week I looked on the school’s portal and
was able to save some money on a new laptop by using my school email.

Part 2: Goal Setting

Write a 50- to 75-word response to each of the following questions. Enter your response on a new line
below the questions.
 What specific short-term goals do you need to meet to achieve your long-term goal of
graduating?
I am going to be setting out one or two smaller short-term goals each term to help me keep
myself interested and focused on my main goal of graduating. By creating smaller goals like
joining an online study group or finding a study buddy in my new class I am helping to ensure that
my coursework is submitted on time and giving myself opportunities to learn more and get the
highest grade possible.

 How setting goals leads to success?

Setting smaller goals while working toward a larger goal can help keep you on track and focused
on keeping your word and completing what you set out to do. Setting goals for yourself helps
keep you motivated I feel like when we set just one major goal it leads us to give up before we
reach it, but if we set smaller goals that will help us reach the end goal it keeps you motivated and
focused on what you set out to complete and focused on working toward success and improving
yourself. When you set goals for your career it willeel help keep from becoming stagnant in one
position. Setting a goal shows you want better or more for yourself and will work toward reaching
whatever you put your mind to.
 What are the benefits of both short- and long-term goals?
Setting short-term goals to help you along your path to reaching a long-term goal helps keep you
focused and motivated and working toward your goal. When we set big goals for ourselves a lot
of the time we will give up because it seems out of reach or we just lose interest over time, but
setting smaller goals along the way helps keep us motivated and interested and helps us feel like
we are really progressing toward the main goal. Setting long-term goals helps us seek out and
work toward something we desire and can help better yourself or your life. By setting long-term
goals you are working toward something and moving forward toward reaching your dreams
instead of just accepting the bare minimum.

Part 3: Time Management

Write a 50- to 75-word response to each of the following questions. Enter your response on a new line
below the questions.
 When you started this course, what was your initial estimate, in general, for the time required
each week to spend on schoolwork Was this estimate accurate? Why or why not?
Initially I was scheduling 2-3 hours on 2 days out of the week, and this was enough time to
complete all my course work, but on week 3 when the first big assessment was required I found
that scheduling 1-2 hours 3 days a week was better especially when a bigger assignment or
project was due.
 Discuss the schedule you developed for this course, GEN/201. What worked well with your
schedule?
After I saw it was better for me to use the 2 hours 3 days a week, I continued using it for the rest
of the term and plan to use it in my upcoming term unless I find that another schedule needs to
be implemented for me to allow myself enough time to succeed without having to rush. I

Copyright 2023 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.

 Problem Solving Action Plan
GEN/201 v12
Page 3 of 4

cultivated the 2 hours 3 days a week schedule out of trial and error over the first couple of weeks
and found that 2 hours is plenty of time to complete my discussion and complete any reading and
worksheets for that is required for that week. Then 2 hours is plenty of time to create a rough draft
of the assessments and give my 2 responses to my classmates discussion entries.
 Using the content taught in class, what time management skills can you implement to ensure
I can use prioritization to help focus on and identify what task are more important and align with
my goals helping me to comb through any unnecessary tasks. I can use organization to help me
keep my schedule and calendar up to date and all of my course work labeled with easy to identify
file names that are in order and digital sticky notes of my upcoming assignments on the
homepage of my laptop and phone screen.
 Are there areas where you struggled with time management? How do you plan to overcome
these challenges? What resources are available to support you?
I don’t feel like there are any areas where I am struggling with my time management. I think the
start of a new term every 5 weeks will bring a new set of challenges of finding the best schedule
and amount of time to set aside for each new course as every class is different and will possibly
require different amounts of time to complete. I plan to go over the syllabus and look through the
courses assignments during the first week and just to see what bigger projects I may need to
schedule out more time for and then just taking it week by week and making sure to give myself a
few hours of extra time just incase any issues come up.

Part 4: Communication
Write a 50- to 75-word response to each of the following prompts. Enter your response on a new line
below the prompts.
 How has this course helped you develop more effective communication skills that you can use in
future courses and in the workplace? Identify 2 specific communication methods (e.g., oral,
written) and provide examples of how you might apply them in an academic or career setting.
Visual communication is a great method of communication and a great way to present a new
proposal or help get your team of coworkers motivated toward a common goal. Using visual
communication in a power point or a short video to help show your ideas to a boss or convey
upcoming information to your employees is a great and fun way to get your message across.
Written communication is one I feel like we will all use on an every day basis in our carer while
writing emails or letters.
 Which of the 5 steps in the writing process (prewriting, organization, drafting, revising, editing) do
you anticipate will be the most challenging for you? What is your action plan for overcoming this
challenge?
Prewriting is always the hardest to me. This is where I can sometimes get writers block and my
brain like to just freeze up on me and make everything I am writing out sound unappealing so I
will sometimes get stuck on one sentence. When this happens I am going to try to step away from
the prewriting process and go either read more into what I am writing about to help spark new
ideas or take a 5 to 10 minute break and let my brain reset and then come back and try again.
 Share a resource from the Center for Writing Excellence that will support you in the writing
process.
The citation generator will definitely be a resource that I put into use. I am not the best and
understanding how to correctly cite my work and definitely not the most confident so it will be nice
to have a little more reassurance that I am correctly citing my work.
 How do you plan to network both academically and professionally during your degree program?
Refer back to Ch. 6 of your myBook to review this topic for help if needed.

Copyright 2023 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.

 Problem Solving Action Plan
GEN/201 v12
Page 4 of 4

When I get a little further into my studies I plan to network with other professionals by attending
networking events like conferences and conventions that are related to my field and by possibly
finding a mentor or a someone who has been involved and has a career established already and
can show me the ropes. I think it is always beneficial to speak with someone who has first hand
experience when you want to gain more of an honest insight.

Copyright 2023 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.