Just finished NCU Business Ethics graduate MBA course in 3 weeks

I signed up for NCU's business ethics course which is a core course in their MBA program three weeks ago Monday. I just finished my last paper this morning and will have a final grade in a couple of days. Right now I stand at a 98% for all previous work.

The course is self-paced and consists of 11 APA formatted papers covering case studies in the textbook.
This was my first graduate course, first NCU course and first APA styled essay and I still completed the course in 23 days while working full time and taking no days off to study.

The secret is in focusing and sitting down early Saturday and Sunday mornings with a cup of coffee and just writing your papers until they are done. There is no substitute for hard work and determination. I kept my eye on the ball the entire time.

I am now enrolled in SKS5000 which is a survey of the core of an undergrad business degree. I will have to do some APA formatted notes on powerpoint slides and take some multiple choice exams online. I have no idea if I can complete this course quickly or not. I will update the board with my progress.

 

I wonder if this has anything to do with why people view distance-learning degrees as inferior? Good for you that you were able to complete a course in 3 weeks, but learning a concept is more than just completing some readings and writing some papers as quickly as possible.

 

Not knowing NCU, I can't comment on the level of effort required to complete a course in 23 days, but obviously this class is totally self-paced with no discussion postings, etc. required. Technically if one were so inclined you could get it done in 4-5 days by doing the work non-stop - not unlike some people cramming for an exam.

If each APA paper was 400-500 words then I would say that it couldn't be extremely challenging, but that's just my opinion. I have a 10,000 word APA paper due for one of my classes shortly so I'm otherwise busy

 

Agreed. I'm not going to question the quality of NCU because I've never taken courses there, but the ability to finish a graduate level course in 3 weeks certainly could give hiring managers, especially those with MBAs, reason to have reservations about a program.

 

So the same number of hours spread over 4-5 months is fine though? Sitting in class for an hour once a week for an entire semester allows you to learn more? It isn't about how it is presented but instead about how that person grasps the information. There is no way of knowing how much they learned, instead of memorized, until they are tasked with doing the job down the road. Experience and a track record of performance is where it is at, the degree just shows the potential (for potential).

 

In my undergrad at a rather larger state school, I took several courses by correspondence sometime around 1999, before distance learning had blown up big. I sent the lessons in by mail. I remember doing one course in three weeks and another in about four.

 

I agree that experience counts for something although I disagree that a degree only shows potential. You are supposed to have MASTERED a skill/concept in graduate studies. Degrees aren't just credentials you rack up to add to your resume (or they shouldn't be); they show potential employers/society that you have taken the time to become thoroughly versed in a subject and are ready to apply that knowledge. Anyone can go to Barnes & Noble and buy 20 Business Administration books - that doesn't give them an MBA. You are supposed to gain from the knowledge and experience of your professors and classmates in a graduate program.

 

I don't know where you did your MBA, but I spent on average 4 hours of outside time for every hour I was in class for quantitative courses. the ratio was probably 2.5/1 for qualitative courses. Figure (three hours of class time per week + 7.5 hours of outside class work) x 15 weeks per semester = 157.5 hours per term per qualitative course. Now the OP did the course in three week working exclusively on weekends, assume he worked 14 hours a day, so 28 hours each weekend, that totals 84 hours invested to complete the course. So it's not the same number of hours spent over 4-5 months.
As I said, I've never taken courses at NCU and I don't know the OP, he may be a genius, but being able to complete a course with that grade in that amount of time makes me question the rigor of that particular course, if not the entire program as a whole.

 

Your statement compares the educational merit among online schools, which essentially demonstrates that they are not the equivilant of their traditional B&M counterparts. So is your stance that online schools are inferior, just different or were you misspeaking (typing)?

 

I agree with AUTiger00 above. I am finishing my MBA right now (19 more days!) and I know that I've spent a LOT of time outside of the actual classes on assignments, group work, research, papers, etc. Not to mention creating presentations, projects, proposals, etc. And if SurfDoctor is pointing out the fact that 8 10-page papers that are strictly graded is a sign of rigor, I just don't see the comparison.

 

That's a fine accomplishment and you should be proud. There is nothing wrong with how quickly you moved. Most online classes are predominantly reading and writing and the pace at which you do the required work is up to you and should not diminish the quality of the education.

I attended 3 classes at NCU and I can attest that they are not easy. One of the classes was similar to this one. The class required 8 papers of no less than 10 pages with at least 10 peer-reviewed references. The papers were graded very strictly. It was an odd experience, but I learned a great deal. I don't care for the way NCU is run, but anyone who has attended would probably agree that the education is as good as any other online school.

 

All of that is present at NCU. Not in this class, but in others. You can't compare one class at NCU to an entire program at your school. Didn't they teach you better than that in your MBA? :smile:

 

I love snark. However, I can compare ALL of my classes to the one that you and OP describe. Comparing my experiences in a program to that of the experience described by you and OP in this one course, I've made an observation that the requirements are quite different between our programs.

 

Just jabbing you a little. okey: But you still can't compare an entire program to one class. No single class offers all the features an entire program offers, even at your school

With that said, I'll tell you that I actually don't like NCU at all; I went somewhere else after 3 classes. The only point I'm making is that they have the same requirements and rigor as most other online only schools. Your program sounds like it was at least partially in-person, which, if true, is not a fair comparison to NCU. It's usually only one or two classes that are papers only and the other classes cover most of the bases you mention as well as possible within the limitations of an online only school. However, I, like you, feel that the interpersonal learning is missing in a program such as this. A 50% blended program, such as the program I'm attending, offers a much better learning experience.

 

Actually, it was all online - Georgia WebMBA...so I think it's a fair comparison, except that mine is based at a B&M school.

 

That sounds like a great program. If it's totally online, you are right, that aspect would compare and I stand corrected. However, you still can't compare an entire program to only one class at NCU. No single class, even at your school, offers everything that you would find in an entire program. NCU also requires presentations, research and group work in other classes. If you compared the entire program at NCU to your entire program, that is when it would be a fair comparison.

 

I guess my point was that if even ONE course in the NCU program was able to be completed in 3 weeks, that diminishes the whole program because NONE of mine were that format. This is of course assuming that you agree with my stance that such a shortened read/write format is inferior to different course formats.

 

Not necessarily inferior; the OP did the amount of work that would have been accomplished in an entire semester, except that he did it in 3 weeks. That does not make it inferior. I know, I completed a similar class at NCU, as I described previously, and it was as difficult as completing an entire semester somewhere else. I agree that all classes could not be conducted in this way in a quality program, but one strange class does not make it a bad program. That's faulty reasoning on your part. In fact, that class improved my writing skills just from the amount of practice and feedback it provided. I would suggest that every program should have one class like that. I remember that the description of the class in the catalog indicated that it was a dual purpose class. One purpose involved the subject matter, the other purpose was to hone the student's skills in graduate-level writing.

Moreover, you can't judge an entire program on one class. I attended NCU, you did not. I also completed the MBA program at Cal State many years ago and I can tell you, from my experience, that NCU is not inferior academically. In fact, my experience at NCU was superior to the academic experience at Cal State.

NCU sucks in many aspects, but the academic quality is not one of them. It's as good of an education as Capella and Walden, both of which I attended for a short time.

 

I took SKS7000, which is the doctoral level equivalent of SKS5000, I'm pretty sure. It was one of the toughest courses I have ever taken. In 8 weeks we went completely through 4 textbooks and took substantial tests on each text. We also had to write 2 research papers and complete minor written assignments for each section of each book. I was told by my academic adviser at NCU that the school uses the SKS classes as a "shakedown" to make up for the fact that there are no entrance exam requirements. She told me that they feel that any student who can survive the class will be able to complete the program. Whether this is true or not, I don't know; I dropped out after a few classes in favor of a B&M program that is partially online.