Study.com Course Format

[kruxalk20]

Hi everyone,

I recently completed my 27th course with Straighterline (took me about 2.5 months) and now getting into Study.com courses. My question is, how are you guys getting through these courses so quickly? I am currently taking Principles of Marketing and this course have 94 lessons and 83 quizzes  . i spent the last 3 hours watching videos, reading transcripts, and scanning the lessons and I was only able to complete 9 quizzes, given I am scoring 100 on them. Maybe I am having withdrawals from Straighterline courses and their course format. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. Is there another course site equivalent or similar to Straighterline's course format?

Thanks in advance,
K

[darthweezy]

Hi everyone,

I recently completed my 27th course with Straighterline (took me about 2.5 months) and now getting into Study.com courses. My question is, how are you guys getting through these courses so quickly? I am currently taking Principles of Marketing and this course have 94 lessons and 83 quizzes  . i spent the last 3 hours watching videos, reading transcripts, and scanning the lessons and I was only able to complete 9 quizzes, given I am scoring 100 on them. Maybe I am having withdrawals from Straighterline courses and their course format. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. Is there another course site equivalent or similar to Straighterline's course format?

Thanks in advance,
K

I think a lot of people skip the quizzes and go straight to the exams.  I personally was able to do that with a few classes, however, not with all.  Since most everything is open book it makes it much quicker if you're just looking for quick credits and not really looking to learn the material per se.

[Merlin]

Hi everyone,

I recently completed my 27th course with Straighterline (took me about 2.5 months) and now getting into Study.com courses. My question is, how are you guys getting through these courses so quickly? I am currently taking Principles of Marketing and this course have 94 lessons and 83 quizzes  . i spent the last 3 hours watching videos, reading transcripts, and scanning the lessons and I was only able to complete 9 quizzes, given I am scoring 100 on them. Maybe I am having withdrawals from Straighterline courses and their course format. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. Is there another course site equivalent or similar to Straighterline's course format?

Thanks in advance,
K

If you're able to get through the Straighterline courses that quickly, you should have no trouble with Study.com. I found I was taking about 2 weeks per SL course where it only took about a week per course on average via SDC since the reading is so much more focused (and there is generally less of it). Yeah, you have more quizzes, but they go really quickly.

As someone who completed about 20 courses with SDC, here is my perspective:

• The best way to accelerate through the SDC courses is to have prior experience or knowledge in the subject.
  
• It is also recommended that you take the pre-test (if available) which will help to complete large sections of the quizzes in advance. It's best not to guess here though, otherwise, you may end up having issues on the final. For some of the courses, taking the chapter or practice final exams in advance will also mark sections of the quizzes complete, so that is another option if there is no pre-test available.
  
• Another best practice is to order your courses so you end up overlapping on course materials so you come into a new course with some of the quizzes already marked complete.
  
• When it comes down to studying new material, if you're a fast reader you should ignore the videos and just read the text summaries. Once you've finished the text summary the quizzes are usually pretty easy.
  
• Once you're done with all the quizzes it's generally a good idea to take the practice final exam to identify any gaps in your knowledge, but not required of course.
  
• After that you should be set to take the final exam.
  

If a course requires projects or papers, you can defer those until after the final exam is done for efficiency. Though if you score high enough between the quizzes and final exam, you may not have to do much work on the papers to pass, and if a course has multiple papers you may not have to turn them all in once you hit the 70% mark to earn credit.

For easier subjects or those you're more familiar with, you should be able to blaze through a course in a few days, for harder ones, it might be a week or two, but there aren't many of those. In my last couple of months with SDC, I was completing 5-6 courses per month with scores in the mid-90's.

[kruxalk20]

Hi everyone,

I recently completed my 27th course with Straighterline (took me about 2.5 months) and now getting into Study.com courses. My question is, how are you guys getting through these courses so quickly? I am currently taking Principles of Marketing and this course have 94 lessons and 83 quizzes  . i spent the last 3 hours watching videos, reading transcripts, and scanning the lessons and I was only able to complete 9 quizzes, given I am scoring 100 on them. Maybe I am having withdrawals from Straighterline courses and their course format. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. Is there another course site equivalent or similar to Straighterline's course format?

Thanks in advance,
K

If you're able to get through the Straighterline courses that quickly, you should have no trouble with Study.com. I found I was taking about 2 weeks per SL course where it only took about a week per course on average via SDC since the reading is so much more focused (and there is generally less of it). Yeah, you have more quizzes, but they go really quickly.

As someone who completed about 20 courses with SDC, here is my perspective:

• The best way to accelerate through the SDC courses is to have prior experience or knowledge in the subject.
  
• It is also recommended that you take the pre-test (if available) which will help to complete large sections of the quizzes in advance. It's best not to guess here though, otherwise, you may end up having issues on the final. For some of the courses, taking the chapter or practice final exams in advance will also mark sections of the quizzes complete, so that is another option if there is no pre-test available.
  
• Another best practice is to order your courses so you end up overlapping on course materials so you come into a new course with some of the quizzes already marked complete.
  
• When it comes down to studying new material, if you're a fast reader you should ignore the videos and just read the text summaries. Once you've finished the text summary the quizzes are usually pretty easy.
  
• Once you're done with all the quizzes it's generally a good idea to take the practice final exam to identify any gaps in your knowledge, but not required of course.
  
• After that you should be set to take the final exam.
  

If a course requires projects or papers, you can defer those until after the final exam is done for efficiency. Though if you score high enough between the quizzes and final exam, you may not have to do much work on the papers to pass, and if a course has multiple papers you may not have to turn them all in once you hit the 70% mark to earn credit.

For easier subjects or those you're more familiar with, you should be able to blaze through a course in a few days, for harder ones, it might be a week or two, but there aren't many of those. In my last couple of months with SDC, I was completing 5-6 courses per month with scores in the mid-90's.

Thank you for taking the time in providing me with your insight on SDC. At the rate I am going, I will probably get done in a week. I  have principles of marketing, principles of finance, and business in society/international business left to take.

Again, thank you for your help.
K

[dfrecore]

I did not watched the videos AND read the transcripts - just one or the other (I chose reading). I also had another window open during the quizzes, so I could go back through and read anything I didn't know well enough to just KNOW the answer the first time through.

I also agree with Merlin; for things I already knew, it went a LOT faster. And, I took a bunch of placement tests in related courses as well. So, if I was going to take MAT 105: Precalculus Algebra, which doesn't have a placement test, I'd instead go do the placement tests for MAT 102: College Mathematics and MAT 101: College Algebra to give me a head start. I'd probably do those courses as well, if I had space on my degree plan for them.

Along those same lines, I would do similar things together. If I was going to take several Psych courses, I'd do the placement tests and then take all of the Psych courses I needed together, even the UL ones. Same with history. Or computers. I find that I get in a zone, and can go faster that way.

[kruxalk20]

I did not watched the videos AND read the transcripts - just one or the other (I chose reading).  I also had another window open during the quizzes, so I could go back through and read anything I didn't know well enough to just KNOW the answer the first time through.

I also agree with Merlin; for things I already knew, it went a LOT faster.  And, I took a bunch of placement tests in related courses as well.  So, if I was going to take MAT 105: Precalculus Algebra, which doesn't have a placement test, I'd instead go do the placement tests for MAT 102: College Mathematics and MAT 101: College Algebra to give me a head start.  I'd probably do those courses as well, if I had space on my degree plan for them.

Along those same lines, I would do similar things together. If I was going to take several Psych courses, I'd do the placement tests and then take all of the Psych courses I needed together, even the UL ones.  Same with history.  Or computers.  I find that I get in a zone, and can go faster that way.

Hi Guys,

Just reporting back on my experience so far with Study.com. I was able to complete the Principles of Marketing class this past Friday after reading some of the suggestions here. I completed International Business yesterday evening, and just completed Principles of Finance 20 minutes ago. You definitely can complete these courses pretty quickly. Now I have to wait for my final course grade on these three courses. Thank you again guys for all your help.

K

[suzycupcake]

I did not watched the videos AND read the transcripts - just one or the other (I chose reading).  I also had another window open during the quizzes, so I could go back through and read anything I didn't know well enough to just KNOW the answer the first time through.

I also agree with Merlin; for things I already knew, it went a LOT faster.  And, I took a bunch of placement tests in related courses as well.  So, if I was going to take MAT 105: Precalculus Algebra, which doesn't have a placement test, I'd instead go do the placement tests for MAT 102: College Mathematics and MAT 101: College Algebra to give me a head start.  I'd probably do those courses as well, if I had space on my degree plan for them.

Along those same lines, I would do similar things together. If I was going to take several Psych courses, I'd do the placement tests and then take all of the Psych courses I needed together, even the UL ones.  Same with history.  Or computers.  I find that I get in a zone, and can go faster that way.

@dfrecore I'm so sorry for my ignorance but what does this mean about the placement tests?

[kevro64]

Hi everyone,

I recently completed my 27th course with Straighterline (took me about 2.5 months) and now getting into Study.com courses. My question is, how are you guys getting through these courses so quickly? I am currently taking Principles of Marketing and this course have 94 lessons and 83 quizzes  . i spent the last 3 hours watching videos, reading transcripts, and scanning the lessons and I was only able to complete 9 quizzes, given I am scoring 100 on them. Maybe I am having withdrawals from Straighterline courses and their course format. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. Is there another course site equivalent or similar to Straighterline's course format?

Thanks in advance,
K

I found I preferred study.com (and will finish most my upper level AOS credits with them) over Straighterline's format. I have taken advantage of the freshman year for free (which pretty much has meant taking as many lower division CLEP tests that I want) I have/will take 18 credits for free thru CLEP, a $700 value!

[Merlin]

I did not watched the videos AND read the transcripts - just one or the other (I chose reading).  I also had another window open during the quizzes, so I could go back through and read anything I didn't know well enough to just KNOW the answer the first time through.

I also agree with Merlin; for things I already knew, it went a LOT faster.  And, I took a bunch of placement tests in related courses as well.  So, if I was going to take MAT 105: Precalculus Algebra, which doesn't have a placement test, I'd instead go do the placement tests for MAT 102: College Mathematics and MAT 101: College Algebra to give me a head start.  I'd probably do those courses as well, if I had space on my degree plan for them.

Along those same lines, I would do similar things together. If I was going to take several Psych courses, I'd do the placement tests and then take all of the Psych courses I needed together, even the UL ones.  Same with history.  Or computers.  I find that I get in a zone, and can go faster that way.

@dfrecore I'm so sorry for my ignorance but what does this mean about the placement tests?

Some courses have placement tests that test your existing knowledge prior to taking the course. If a course has a placement test, it will be listed at the top of your course page. Not all courses offer a placement test; I don't know the exact number, but maybe 5 of the 20 courses I completed with SDC had a placement test option.

The placement test is a 30-ish question pre-test that you have the option of taking before starting the course. The questions are taken from the course test bank. Each question you answer correctly will mark one or more quiz sections complete so you don't take to take them during the course. Once you complete the first set of questions you are usually offered a second set of 30-ish questions to potentially fill in more gaps in the quizzes.

Using placement tests, you can complete a large number of the quiz sections before you even begin the course, which will allow you to get through the material faster. This option is really best suited to students who are already familiar with some aspects of the course material; guessing will only skip information that you're going to need to know for the final exam later. So if you take a placement test, I advise against guessing.

[suzycupcake]

@dfrecore I'm so sorry for my ignorance but what does this mean about the placement tests?

Some courses have placement tests that test your existing knowledge prior to taking the course. If a course has a placement test, it will be listed at the top of your course page. Not all courses offer a placement test; I don't know the exact number, but maybe 5 of the 20 courses I completed with SDC had a placement test option.

The placement test is a 30-ish question pre-test that you have the option of taking before starting the course. The questions are taken from the course test bank. Each question you answer correctly will mark one or more quiz sections complete so you don't take to take them during the course. Once you complete the first set of questions you are usually offered a second set of 30-ish questions to potentially fill in more gaps in the quizzes.

Using placement tests, you can complete a large number of the quiz sections before you even begin the course, which will allow you to get through the material faster. This option is really best suited to students who are already familiar with some aspects of the course material; guessing will only skip information that you're going to need to know for the final exam later. So if you take a placement test, I advise against guessing.

 Thank you so much @Merlin!!