Hours per week for a DL course? (Undergrad)

I'm trying to decide whether I can handle taking 4 courses (full time), or if I have to just take around half as much.

Obviously it depends on prior knowledge, study skills, etc but was just hoping for any input on this.

I saw someone comment on another forum that they were only spending 15 hours a week for a full time (4 course) DL load!

And I've seen DL schools say you should spend 40 hours a week for full time (4 course).

In my situation, I'm thinking of going ahead and diving into full time. I figure that even if I have to spend 40 hours a week, I can manage that (but not more) with my other obligations (one is a challenging class which may need 15 hours a week on its own). Also because I'd likely take one of the classes as Pass/Fail (but I'd want to try hard) and two of the classes would have material I am already familiar with. And I believe that this school's online classes will tend to be somewhat easy compared to what I am used to with classes in the past. The way it works out, I believe I will save a bunch of money by taking FT rather than PT, and that is a big motivator. On the other hand, I am nervous about doing it because I've been out of school for a while and I really want A's in all classes.

 

Hi,

My 2 cents: Start with one class, after the third move to two classes. If you get too busy, move down to one.

THAT IS IT!

Cheers

 

Tomball gives good advice. Unless you are very knowledgable in the subject matter already start slow and see how much you can handle. The last thing you want is to start out overloading yourself because it will leave you highly discouraged. Distance Ed requires motivation beyond B&M classes because a good portion of the courses are you teaching yourself. Yes you have instructors and peers but for the most part you are alone in your studies.

If it's a subject you have knowledge in then I say go for it but if not then just take one course and see how the load is. Right now I have 3 courses which all require papers and no examinations. This will require me to alter my usual study habits and allow myself more time for research and reading.


Hope this helps!

 

A normal full time load based on 15 week semesters is 5 courses (15 units).

I found working a full time plus (60 hours/week) job that studying two courses (6 semerster units) over 15 weeks, including on-campus class attendance, was doable (I drpped to one couese at a time for my masters degrees). My stategy was to try to pair up a "difficult" course (eg International Economics) with an "easy" course (eg Intro to Music).

My recollection is that 3 hours a week are expected for each course unit over the length of the semester.

 

Having looked at lots of distance learning programs I've found that most will state that you can expect to spend between 10 to 15 hours per wekk per course. If you've got that much time available then I suppose you could do 4courses. I don't think that I could do it because I'm not consistently motivated/focused to that degree. Can you actually picture yourself sitting at a desk studying for 40 - 50 hours per week?

 

If you have sufficient knowledge in the field (like a police officer taking CJ courses) you wouldn't spend nearly that much time studying. Also some degree paths are easier than others. For me Advanced Physics would probably kill me even though I love the field of engineering. It would require a major commitment on my part and lots of study time but my current degree path (Homeland Security) is one where I already have loads of knowledge so my study time is minimal. Writing papers is also more time consuming for me and I would personally rather examinations. Your mileage may vary.

 

3 semester hours is predicated on the notion of 45 contact hours plus 90 study hours for a total of 135 hours. The total hours of effort can vary with the student, the instructor, and the topic, but it is a good rule of thumb.

Hence, if you are taking a 3 semester unit class over a 15 week term, then you can anticipate spending at least 9 solid hours per week to earn a good grade.

Moreover, if you are taking a 3 semester unit course over a 5 week term, then should plan for at least 27 hours of effort per week.

 

I think everyone has given pretty solid advice so far. I've taken both graduate and undergraduate DL courses at about a half dozen different schools and they seem to vary greatly in intensity due to course design and subject matter. If the course requires a lot of papers instead of exams it generally takes more of a time commitment also (or at least it does for me). I've also found that some of the courses that I thought would be easy turned out to be very challenging, so I'd be cautious in that regard.

For whatever it may be worth to you as a benchmark, I take one grad school course at a time right now and spend anywhere from 15 up to 30 hours a week to keep a high A grade (depending on the course). Anything more than one at a time and I'd either have to quit my job or suffer a lower grade. My advice would be to start out with just one class to gauge the situation first rather than just jump in blindly with 4 courses at once.