Anybody take courses from BYU?

I'm thinking about taking their Algebra course. I'm curious as to how difficult it would be to complete within a 6-week or less timeframe.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

Yes, sir...

My wife has taken courses from WGU. I couldn't get too much from her except that the courses she took were "easy". She remembers them as being only correspondence-based (no online component). This would have been eight or nine years ago now, so hopefully my material isn't so antiquated as to be useless. She says that the process is simple:
1. BYU sends you the materials.
2. You fill out the worksheets.
3. You send them back in.
4. You get a grade for your work.
5. You take proctored exams to ensure competency in the subject matter.

As far as the timeframe goes...Six weeks or less is a bit tight for any course. Math courses may take more or less time depending on your existing skillset. I can tell you this, I've taught courses in Introductory Networking and Server 2003 in six weeks and have had students that excel with the pressure and others who struggle. I would even hire most of my students at their current level of knowledge and skill.

My wife says the courses she took were completely self-paced.

If that's true today, then you shouldn't have a hard time figuring out whether you can do it or not. Get a copy of the syllabus and the textbook. Run through the syllabus and pull the chapters you need to learn to master the material (or if you're really smart, just those chapters you'll need to master to push you over the threshold). Then go to those chapters and record the number of pages of material you need to learn. Divide your total number of pages by the number of days in six weeks and that'll tell you how many pages you need to learn in a day. Then go back to the syllabus and do the same thing with concepts that you're weaker on. This time don't look at the number of days to learn this material, just estimate how many hours you'd need to thoroughly review those concepts. Then do both at the same time.

You'll find that if the course is self-paced, the above walkthrough is a very good step in the right direction. I'm sure that there are others here on degreeinfo who have other tricks and techniques for succeeding but that's what I have.

Additionally, I know that for me just sitting down and reading each chapter that I need to learn once through is another trick I use. I just read the chapter and then move on to something else for a few hours. I come back to the chapter review any concepts that I'm missing and then for mathematics courses, I practice the concepts for a few hours. Then I take a hefty break (maybe overnight or more depending on my schedule) and come back and test myself with more practice. During the break, I'll often start the next chapter reading so my brain can percolate on what I've already learned while starting to absorb new material. Once I get that pattern established, I just keep that cycle of counterleaved study and practive going until I'm through.

I'm not too bright when it comes to math and accounting and stuff but I once boasted to a Dean at Ashworth College that if he made me take this basic quantitative methods course, I'd finish it in one day just to spite him. He made me take the course, and I stayed up a full 36 hours (luckily I made the promise on a Friday) and finished the entire course. It turned out to be my only B in the entire program full of A's but I did it.

I think that you should be able to do it in six weeks. I know that some of my Macroeconomics students had no previous economics education whatsoever but were able to pass some pretty tough examinations (if I don't say so myself) during six weeks of study. I like to say that there's probably nothing I can do that you can't do better if you just try harder than I did.

Anyway hope this helps.

Jacob

 

Thanks. Your study methods sound quite similar to mine.

The only other question I have now is. . . how tough is the material in terms of grading? I realize BYU is a well-known school and probably has some serious academic rigor, but Algebra is a class I would be happy to walk away with a C in.

 

You might want to look at Clovis Community College or LSU Independent Study as well for the algebra option.

Shawn

 

I wouldn't worry too much...

I wouldn't worry too much about that. If you think you can learn the material in six weeks or less, I wouldn't worry. Yes, they do have an excellent academic reputation. I agree that there are other schools who may have an easier algebra program but for something like this I would just make a decision and then move ahead. You'd want to ensure that the credits are easily transferrable and highly accredited.

Jacob

 

I've looked at LSU, that's not a bad option.

Clovis is intriguing, but are they open-entry/open-exit? If so, it would probably beat both BYU and LSU.