Modules versus courses

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Pelican, May 28, 2011.

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  1. Pelican

    Pelican Member

    How do upper-division or graduate-level modules, as in the systems of the University of London or the University of South Africa On-line courses, generally differ from courses, typically found in US schools? What differences should I expect? E.g. differences in weekly work-load, differences in academic skills, differences in what kind of material appears in examinations, differences in teacher and student responsibilities, etc.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 28, 2011
  2. MISin08

    MISin08 New Member

    I'm glad you asked this question as I have been wondering the same thing but have had difficulty putting it into words that didn't sound foolish. I'm set to attend University of Strathclyde for a postgraduate program this Fall. I have established that 10 credits UK is about 2.5 quarter credits US. Most of the modules have a single assessment, either an exam or a project/paper. Significantly the discussion forum, while "strongly encouraged" is not assessed (for this program anyway, YMMV). Feedback from a recent grad I corresponded with is that for PG the students were high-caliber professionals, so I expect the discussions will not be the chore they can be in undergraduate DL in the US. The school's estimate of study time ("revision") is rather less than I ever put into a college-level course, so I expect to simply do what I always do in that regard.

    I do believe that the modules cover a lot of ground compared to US courses. For example an intro to business statistics in one month -- 50 hours of contact time. I've had two semesters of stats so this will be review for me; many of their students come from math and science so that may be common. A student from a liberal arts background might find the pace overwhelming.

    For my program, the school publishes the math expectations in detail. I am a little concerned about the level of writing, as I was never challenged by the writing in my undergrad and know I have become sloppy writing for business.

    Phillip
     
  3. Pelican

    Pelican Member

    Great to hear a reply.

    Do you ever see these as take-home papers, or they are generally proctored, with a time limit?

    That seems almost the same amount of time I'd spend on a US course per month. Is one module completed in just one month? I see some modules listed as being worth more credits, is one given more time to complete a module with more credits?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 29, 2011
  4. MISin08

    MISin08 New Member

    At Strathclyde it looks like papers and projects are 'take home' (which makes sense) while exams are proctored. The modules are set up in one month chunks, but most subjects take two months. For example, stats as mentioned above is one month, 5 credits, nominally 50 hours, assessed by an exam. There's a second stats module, also a month long, covering more advanced topics, focused on practical analysis, and assessed by a project. I'll note this particular degree is practitioner-oriented, a more purely academic program will be different, I'm sure.

    As to the time allotted, I can only think the more credits the more time, in most cases.

    Here's one that still makes me wonder and I hope someone will speak up. There are obviously differences in how grading works, but how that looks on the ground I don't know. For my degree, a 'pass' on any given module is 50%. Students need to average 55% overall to progress to the final stage. A MSc 'with distinction' requires an average of 70% -- so they must set the bar very differently.

    Phillip
     

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