I need to take Business Strategy and Production/Operations Management as part of my Business degree at Excelsior College and wanted to know if anyone has in the past or is currently taking these courses through Excelsior or has found another source, besides TECEP, for completing these degree requirements? I am specifically interested in the course requirements such as number of assignments, proctored or unproctored examinations, etc. Renee
I asked Excelsior a couple questions regarding the webct courses. Here is their reply: How many exams would I have per course? One final, a final and a midterm etc. ? The format of the courses are very similiar; however, the ultimate lay out of a course is left up to the instructor. Nevertheless, most courses which include examinations as the form of assestment, will have a mid term and a final. Are they online? paper-based? The examinations are not on-line, they paper based and do require you to coordinate for a proctor. Will I need a proctor? Yes If so, who can serve as a proctor? Libriary staff, in some cases your employer, other colleges and schools, to name a few. There is considerable flexiblity and is something that can be agreed upon as soon as you know you will need a proctor. How many classes can a student realistically take while working full-time? That is something you would discuss with an academic advisor once enrolled; however, the utlimate decision is up to the student, you will know your situation better than anyone. How many hours does an average student invest in each course per week? Very similiar to a traditional course, anywhere from 10 to 15 hours per week, per course. Realize that this also depends on the time you have. Do the courses have fixed meeting times? Some courses will, others will not, it will depend on the instructor. Are the courses self-paced or are there weekly assignments? The courses are delivered in a traditional 15 week semester calendar and they usually include weekly assignments. Is group work required? There may be group work, again, it will depend on the instructor and how he/she has set up the course.
I am really surprised Excelsior said the courses would be proctored. I have taken 5 courses so far through Excelsior and none of them have been proctored. As far as average assignments go, that really varies with the instructor. The one constant with each of the classes is that they all seem to have a weekly quiz along with a midterm and a final. Some have one written project that is due. Others have small written assignments with one larger assignment due around the end of the course. Hope this helps. Nadine
Nadine, What courses did you take from Excelsior? I am enrolled in the College Mathematics course. It looks very easy Rhonda
For more info about WebCT courses at Excelsior NOT requiring a proctor, see the thread Proctor required for Excelsior CIS WebCT courses?
Rhonda, Have you started the College Math at Excelsior yet? Up until now, my experience with the classes at Excelsior has been pretty good, but this semester along with two other classes I am taking College Algebra and it has turned into an awful experience. There are fundamental issues with this class that I believe are going to give me my first F ever along with wasting $760 in tuition. This is the only class in my college record that I will have gotten anythgin less than a B on and I honestly feel the way the class is structured, there was no way around it. Excelsior only gives the first two weeks to drop a class which frankly, I don't feel is enough time. Because of this experience, I am hesitant to take any more classes through them. Nadine
Nadine, I'm sorry to hear about your experience. A lot of schools have the same withdrawal policy though, unfortunately. What are you having the most difficulty with in your class? There are lots of great math resources online...Try to google 'algebra help'. Also, I use Schaums' Outlines, they are helpful. I hope you can stick with it and come out with a passing grade....Just keep trying Rhonda
Nadine, my advice is to continue with the College Algebra course but make a few changes in the approach you take to learning the material. Unlike most other subjects math requires active participation in the learning process; it is not sufficient to just read the material - you have to work as many of the examples and exercises as time allows.
It is not an issue with the subject matter, which actually, I am very good at and have never had issues with in the past. There are fundamental issues with the way the class is structured which have made the course much more difficult than it has to be. Let me run the issues I have by you guys because maybe it is just me and you can let me know if I am being ridiculous: Issue 1: The textbook is the worst math textbook I have ever used. This in itself is not enough for me to complain since I went out and got a different college algebra textbook which filled in the holes with the first one. Issue 2: The quizzes. There are 10 chapter quizzes that comprise 50% of the total grade. Each quiz has 10 questions. The quizzes are untimed. Here is the problem: Once you answer the question, it instantly flips to the next question and you cannot go back and look at or change any of your previous answers. On more than one occasion, I have clicked the answer just to think "Oh wait a minute", but it is too late, it's on to the next question. What is the point of this? I have never had tests set up this way in any of the other Excelsior classes, timed or untimed, or at any university I have ever attended. It's asinine. Issue 3: The midterm. The midterm and final each comprise 25% of the grade. The midterm of course had the same feature as the quizzes where once you answered, you could not go back, however that was not the main issue. The main issue was this: it consisted of 52 algebra problems with 100 minutes to take the test. Around question 30, I ran out of time and had to guess on the remaining questions, and failed the test as a result. After the test was done, I was able to look at it and saw that I had gotten pretty much every question correct until time ran out and I had to start guessing. So the issue is this: I have never had less than two hours on a *math* midterm, and have usually had three hours, especially when there were as many questions as this one had. However, here, an hour and 40 minutes was given which is less than two minutes per problem. Those are my issues with the class. Nadine
