Worst DL Experiences

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Gabe F., Mar 27, 2017.

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  1. Gabe F.

    Gabe F. Active Member

    Specials thanks to Phdtobe for this one. In a thread I started earlier today,"Worst DL School Websites", Phdtobe suggested that a thread on worst DL experiences would be a good idea and I concur!

    Having applied to and/or attended many DL schools, I certainly have plenty of stories so I've plucked one of them to get things going.

    A few years ago I took some general education courses at Southern Nazarene University. The admissions process was smooth - everyone was polite, prompt, just everything you'd expect/want. The first session I took two classes. One was a communications course and the other largely covered the Gospel of Matthew. The communications course was well-paced, but the other course was absolutely stuffed full of busywork. I completed over 30 assignments in this course alone. It was exhausting and I learned absolutely nothing.

    In the second session, I signed up for a world history course and some other religious course I can't remember the name of. I stopped before I ever got started because between these two courses there were 86, eighty six, individual assignments between the two courses. I spoke to an advisor and asked, in so many words, how anyone thought something like this made any sense. She explained that the online programs were still in their infancy and that many of them mirrored on-campus classes. I explained that that's how it should be, but even then I said there was no way that two on-campus courses would have 86 assignments and she didn't argue with me (it was fruitless for the both of us at that point).

    I should say that the folks there were nice and seemed well-intentioned enough so it may seem unfair to label this one of my "worst" experiences; however, from a student, or more specifically a learner, perspective, it was absolutely one of the worst. Just a bunch of mindless busywork under the guise of... well... I don't really know.

    Oh, and if you're curious how that number was so high it's because the classes ran for seven weeks and there was no less than 5 individual assignments - one page papers, DB posts, etc. - per class, per week.
     
  2. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    The worst distance learning school I have ever experience as prospect student is Columbia University. I requested information about Doctor of Engineering Science program so many times, and I received no response. Once I follow the instruction online to secure a sponsored professional prior applying for the program. I reached out to several professors in the Department of Computer Science and the Depart of Electrical Engineering. I receive no response, and once the Columbia Video Network (CVN) started their marketing campaign. They constantly spammed my mailboxes, I unsubscribed many times and still received those junk emails.
     
  3. TomE

    TomE New Member

    I don't know. According to Arizona State University's online component, two online classes should equate to roughly 36 hours of work per week:

    https://www.usnews.com/education/online-learning-lessons/2015/10/02/discover-the-weekly-number-of-hours-online-students-study?src=usn_tw

    I agree with you, though. MUCH more work than traditional, on-campus/in-class work load.
     
  4. Gabe F.

    Gabe F. Active Member

    I've always kinda treated these time estimates with some skepticism. I should first state that I am both the best kind of student and the worst kind of student at the same time. The best because I never turn anything late... EVER. And I always try to produce top quality stuff. On the other hand, though, I'm a prolific procrastinator and rarely complete all of the required reading.

    Case in point I'm totally ratting myself out here). At Corban, I completed a course in IT management during my MBA. The professor indicated in the syllabus that we should expect to spend something like a minimum of 20 hours per week just to achieve a basic level learning (there was also some kind of reference to Bloom's Taxonomy). Except for the last week where I had to complete a huge annotated bibliography, I probably spent about 10 hours a week on the course and I still earned a solid A. I wasn't necessarily trying to shortchange my learning. I got out of it what I wanted and I can still recall quite a bit.
     
  5. TomE

    TomE New Member

    I'm with you and I think that while some classes may take a good amount of time each week (although 36 hours per week seems A BIT much), these types of universal standards are a bit silly. I'd probably spend about 3 times the number of hours on O-Chem as I would on Jazz Appreciation (sorry Miles, Duke, and Louie!)

    I agree, though. If you can get a lot out of a course without spending superfluous extra time on/with it...well...why not?
     
  6. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  7. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

  8. perrymk

    perrymk Member

    My post in the Washout thread: http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distance-learning-discussions/30170-washout-thread-3.html#post300233

    "I completed all coursework for an MPA at Florida Gulf Coast University (SACS accredited state school) with a 3.8 GPA. Halfway through my Capstone semester my Advisor decided all my work was garbage and that he was just a Reader. The person who was actually my Reader had earlier made it a point to tell me the difference between Advisor and Reader. Ironically the Reader was listed on the FGCU web page as an expert in ethics but said nothing regarding the actions of the Advisor; I guess ethics is taught, not practiced. I later published my Capstone project in a peer reviewed, FBI sponsored journal. "

    I checked a couple of months ago. The work I did for my Capstone project that I later published in the FBI sponsored journal (Forensic Science Communications) is still online in the FBI Archives.
     
  9. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    You are welcome to post whatever you like (within reason). I am simply trying to point out that if your are interested in learning about people's (bad) experiences you can look to that thread for more stories.
     
  10. TomE

    TomE New Member

    What was the end result here? Was your degree eventually conferred?

    On an unrelated note, those Eagles have a pretty decent basketball team!
     
  11. perrymk

    perrymk Member

    I never got the degree. I filed a complaint with the ombudsman who determined I quit the program halfway through what should have been my final semester despite me providing an email from my advisor in which he clearly tells me to find a new 'first reader' (he downplayed his role from advisor). I tried finding a new advisor. The dean said I had to go back to my original advisor. Neither my original advisor nor reader would respond to any emails after quitting mid-semester. I opted not to telephone as I was so angry at that point I'm sure it would not have gone well. I even had a habit of typing my emails and waiting until the next day to send them so I could proofread them and avoid writing something regrettable.

    I realize most people reading this will think I'm leaving out some terrible deed I did. I am not, but believe what you want. I'm pretty sure I still have a hardcopy of all the emails. I have some theories on why this happened but I suppose it doesn't matter now. Besides, they're just theories. All theories aside, why this happened didn't make sense even as it was happening to me.

    As an aside, during the same timeframe the university president was forced to resign when his affair with a married professor came to light. This was reported in the newspapers. So it appears unethical behavior was not uncommon at that time.
     
  12. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    Misunderstanding! My attempt at humor was directed towards me (self-deprecating or whatever it is call); because I was repeating ideas that were already discussed. I was playing off Charles H. Duell who was the Commissioner of US patent office in 1899, his infamous quote "everything that can be invented has been invented." He was wrong of course.
     
  13. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    DL history buffs may recall a notorious case centered around a "worst DL experience" that is generally known as the "capellasucks case." It went on for years and ultimately wound up in court. The plaintiff in the case lost in some big splashy manner and was forced to take down a whole system of nasty websites that he has built for the purpose of complaining about and defaming Capella.

    http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distance-learning-discussions/20647-lawsuit-charges-online-university-does-not-accommodate-learning-disabled-students.html

    http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distance-learning-discussions/15996-capellas-provost-dean-under-investigation.html

    http://www.degreeinfo.com/general-distance-learning-discussions/27511-case-against-capella-dismissed.html
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 29, 2017
  14. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    The federal definition of credit hour is based on the Carnegie Unit: “one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out of class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit, or ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hour of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time; or at least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other academic activities as established by the institution including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.”

    Of course, "in-class" and "out-of-class" are not really relevant for online courses, so, for a 3 unit semester course, one should expect an average of approximately 9 hours of student work per week (inclusive of reading, research, writing, testing and other activities). For an accelerated course (e.g. 8 weeks), on should expect a total of approximately 18 hours of activity per week.
     
  15. Anthony Pina

    Anthony Pina Active Member

    In my 20 years of developing, teaching and administering online education, I would classify my "worst experiences" as occurring in the following categories:

    -- poorly designed online courses
    -- poorly taught online courses
    -- poor student services for online learners
    -- poor institutional leadership
     
  16. TomE

    TomE New Member

    I believe the story (too many examples of these types of fallouts in HE) and it's too bad that this is the outcome for now. Have you considered exploring any type of appeals process or contacting an authority at university who may not be familiar with the situation who can look at it in a more objective manner? It also could be worth going to the program's accrediting body (in the case of MPAs, I think it would be NASPAA?) and presenting your case. The last think the program and university would want is skepticism from these bodies in regards to how they are treating/handling students in their programs.
     

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