Except for Phillip’s (MISin08) excellent feedback posts, there aren’t many posts that actually talk about classes taken through EC. I’ve finished 3 courses and in the midst of taking an additional four of EC’s offerings in the pursuit of my BS in Psychology. I’ve taken both 8 & 15 week courses in Online and CD-ROM formats, and thought I’d give a little bit of insight for those wondering what they might expect.
First up is the difference between the 8 & 15 week class formats. The layout is the same for both formats. The 15 week format is simply an 8 week class format with the first 7 modules extended to two weeks. The only real difference I’ve found between the two (besides that the 8 week course goes much faster
) is that with the longer format, you have more discussion questions that you’ll have to put up with, but otherwise, pretty much the same amount of work.
For example, in my 8 week Criminology class, we had papers due basically at the end of every week. These papers were usually around 2-3 pages APA format (500- 750ish words) in requirement – 4 annotations of articles and 4 ‘lab’ exercises due on alternate weeks. Lab #4 was more of what one might call the final project paper for the class, requiring a lot of data, with a length requirement of 8 pages. While there wasn’t a midterm test, the final was approximately 13 questions with various expectations of length (1-3 pages APA style per question, depending on the question.) And of course, there were the weekly discussion questions, usually 2-3 of them. The course had 10 question multiple choice quizzes done online, but the teacher did not use those in the grading process, they were more a personal assessment type situation. One nice thing is that the results for the multiple choice quizzes are available immediately. (I do have 1 class that uses the online quizzes as part of the graded material, but I’m not sure how common it is.)
My 16 week Social Psychology class (which the midterms start today) has been pretty steady, with 2 discussion questions per week. There are two project papers, Project 1 had two parts – the first required a compare/contrast of two articles (an academic article and a news article) on the same subject and the second requiring an analysis of the trends in a year’s worth of journal articles. Project 2, due at the end of the 7th module, is what seems to be a standard project paper for EC classes – Select a topic, gather a minimum of 7 academic resources, and write an 8+ page paper on it. The Midterm consists of two Essay (2+ pages) and 8 ‘short essay’ questions. In addition to those, this class has 2 ‘quizzes’, the first consisted of approximately 12 short answer questions and I assume the second one (due in the 6th module or 12th week) will be similar. I anticipate the final exam to follow the same format as the midterm.
The main difference between CD-ROM format and Online format is the lack of those pesky discussion questions. CD-ROM format courses are 15 weeks by default (though the way they’re set up, you can pretty much work it out to get all the required work done and turned in sooner than that, and depending on your professor, you may be able to talk them into giving you the final early, thus ending the class early. The one problem I have with CD-ROM courses so far is the lack of feedback. When graded in the Online format, there’s a grade sheet that shows all of the graded assignments and places for the professors to give a few lines of feedback on whatever you got graded on. If you’re lucky, your professor may give you some feedback in email response. So far, I’ve just gotten my grades. Then again you can always ask. I did have a bad experience with my first CD-ROM course. Because you turn in your assignments via email, if you run into email problems, guess what happens? You do have the ability to snailmail or fax in your assignments, but if you’re just going along emailing them and the email isn’t getting to the professor’s account, well then. I only found out that there had still been a problem when an F showed up for my course listings (even though I was told it was fixed by EC’s tech support) my professor didn’t get a number of my assignments. But that was rectified pretty easily; I mailed copies of the assignments to my professor, who was more than happy to fix my grade. The SLA group at EC were very helpful in getting everything figured out and resolved for me on this.
So far my courses have been pretty good and the professors pretty decent and responsive when I’ve had questions. I have noticed a number of errors plaguing the course modules though. The courses are all canned, and from what I’ve seen used between both 8 & 15 week formats. But when you log in, as I did, to find the midterm tab with the instructions that the midterm is due the first Sunday of module 4 (the end of week 7) while you’re sitting in week 8, it can kinda freak you out. Another problem I’ve faced is that even though the courses are canned (or maybe because they are) the teachers may not pay attention to actually what is written on the syllabus about a project. I got told by one of my professors that I had selected someone who wasn’t on the list of famous people to do my project about, when they indeed were. And in another instance, the syllabus indicated that a topic proposal was worth 5% of the grade (hey, it all adds up,) but the professor said he was only giving me a grade because the gradebook required it, and had no effect on my actual grade.
I must say though, out of everything, the thing I really dislike about the courses through EC are the discussion questions. You’re expected to post a main post, and then respond to as many of your classmates’ posts for each discussion. But depending on the subject or your classmates, you may not be able to actually ‘discuss’ anything and it turns into a churning morass of ‘I like what you said, I agree’ posts. And that drives me fricken bonkers, personally. And for every class I’ve had that has required discussions (IE all the Online format ones), the discussions are worth 20% of your grade. Yes, 1/5 of your total final grade for the class. Bleh
This is but a small (and biased) glimpse into the EC courses, but I hope it can answer a few questions on the course content and what’s expected of the students taking courses at Excelsior.
First up is the difference between the 8 & 15 week class formats. The layout is the same for both formats. The 15 week format is simply an 8 week class format with the first 7 modules extended to two weeks. The only real difference I’ve found between the two (besides that the 8 week course goes much faster
) is that with the longer format, you have more discussion questions that you’ll have to put up with, but otherwise, pretty much the same amount of work.For example, in my 8 week Criminology class, we had papers due basically at the end of every week. These papers were usually around 2-3 pages APA format (500- 750ish words) in requirement – 4 annotations of articles and 4 ‘lab’ exercises due on alternate weeks. Lab #4 was more of what one might call the final project paper for the class, requiring a lot of data, with a length requirement of 8 pages. While there wasn’t a midterm test, the final was approximately 13 questions with various expectations of length (1-3 pages APA style per question, depending on the question.) And of course, there were the weekly discussion questions, usually 2-3 of them. The course had 10 question multiple choice quizzes done online, but the teacher did not use those in the grading process, they were more a personal assessment type situation. One nice thing is that the results for the multiple choice quizzes are available immediately. (I do have 1 class that uses the online quizzes as part of the graded material, but I’m not sure how common it is.)
My 16 week Social Psychology class (which the midterms start today) has been pretty steady, with 2 discussion questions per week. There are two project papers, Project 1 had two parts – the first required a compare/contrast of two articles (an academic article and a news article) on the same subject and the second requiring an analysis of the trends in a year’s worth of journal articles. Project 2, due at the end of the 7th module, is what seems to be a standard project paper for EC classes – Select a topic, gather a minimum of 7 academic resources, and write an 8+ page paper on it. The Midterm consists of two Essay (2+ pages) and 8 ‘short essay’ questions. In addition to those, this class has 2 ‘quizzes’, the first consisted of approximately 12 short answer questions and I assume the second one (due in the 6th module or 12th week) will be similar. I anticipate the final exam to follow the same format as the midterm.
The main difference between CD-ROM format and Online format is the lack of those pesky discussion questions. CD-ROM format courses are 15 weeks by default (though the way they’re set up, you can pretty much work it out to get all the required work done and turned in sooner than that, and depending on your professor, you may be able to talk them into giving you the final early, thus ending the class early. The one problem I have with CD-ROM courses so far is the lack of feedback. When graded in the Online format, there’s a grade sheet that shows all of the graded assignments and places for the professors to give a few lines of feedback on whatever you got graded on. If you’re lucky, your professor may give you some feedback in email response. So far, I’ve just gotten my grades. Then again you can always ask. I did have a bad experience with my first CD-ROM course. Because you turn in your assignments via email, if you run into email problems, guess what happens?
You do have the ability to snailmail or fax in your assignments, but if you’re just going along emailing them and the email isn’t getting to the professor’s account, well then. I only found out that there had still been a problem when an F showed up for my course listings (even though I was told it was fixed by EC’s tech support) my professor didn’t get a number of my assignments. But that was rectified pretty easily; I mailed copies of the assignments to my professor, who was more than happy to fix my grade. The SLA group at EC were very helpful in getting everything figured out and resolved for me on this.So far my courses have been pretty good and the professors pretty decent and responsive when I’ve had questions. I have noticed a number of errors plaguing the course modules though. The courses are all canned, and from what I’ve seen used between both 8 & 15 week formats. But when you log in, as I did, to find the midterm tab with the instructions that the midterm is due the first Sunday of module 4 (the end of week 7) while you’re sitting in week 8, it can kinda freak you out. Another problem I’ve faced is that even though the courses are canned (or maybe because they are) the teachers may not pay attention to actually what is written on the syllabus about a project. I got told by one of my professors that I had selected someone who wasn’t on the list of famous people to do my project about, when they indeed were. And in another instance, the syllabus indicated that a topic proposal was worth 5% of the grade (hey, it all adds up,) but the professor said he was only giving me a grade because the gradebook required it, and had no effect on my actual grade.
I must say though, out of everything, the thing I really dislike about the courses through EC are the discussion questions. You’re expected to post a main post, and then respond to as many of your classmates’ posts for each discussion. But depending on the subject or your classmates, you may not be able to actually ‘discuss’ anything and it turns into a churning morass of ‘I like what you said, I agree’ posts. And that drives me fricken bonkers, personally. And for every class I’ve had that has required discussions (IE all the Online format ones), the discussions are worth 20% of your grade. Yes, 1/5 of your total final grade for the class. Bleh
This is but a small (and biased) glimpse into the EC courses, but I hope it can answer a few questions on the course content and what’s expected of the students taking courses at Excelsior.
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Wile E. Coyote, genius. I am not selling anything nor am I working my way through college, so let's get down to basics: you are a rabbit and I am going to eat you for supper. Now don't try to get away, I am more muscular, more cunning, faster and larger than you are, and I am a genius, while you could hardly pass the entrance examinations to kindergarten, so I'll give you the customary two minutes to say your prayers.
Bachelor of Science in PsychoRabbitology degree
Master of Education with a specialty in Rabbit-specific destructive munitions (or eLearning & Technology, I forget which)
Doctor of Philosophy in Wile E. Leadership with an area of specialty in Acme Mind Expansion - 2017 Hopefully
Bachelor of Science in PsychoRabbitology degree
Master of Education with a specialty in Rabbit-specific destructive munitions (or eLearning & Technology, I forget which)
Doctor of Philosophy in Wile E. Leadership with an area of specialty in Acme Mind Expansion - 2017 Hopefully
![[-]](https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/images/collapse.png)
I did take Social Psych as a class at university and it was one of my favorites. It was years ago but we used the Social Psych- Eliot Aronson text which really made it interesting.