Passed Saylor CS402: Computer Communications and Networks on second attempt

[camjenks]

There are many posts about the Saylor CS402: Computer Communications and Networks course and the inaccuracies in the direct credit final. The main issues I found were:

1. Questions with demonstrably wrong "correct" answer. 
   
2. Vaguely worded questions with no correct answers.
   
3. Questions that were not covered anywhere in the material.
   

It really seems like it's written by someone who didn't understand the topic that pulled questions from a wikipedia page, and then tried to change the wording a little but ended up changing the meaning without realizing. The course also covered some really obscure protocols and skipped over more widely used ones. Overall, it doesn't do a very good job teaching the networking that IT professionals need to know, and would be confusing if you're learning since they contradict the material with wrong answers, but it's still a cheap option if you already know networking and can manage to pass the final.

After failing the first time, I submitted the errors with screenshots and references, and they said they'd have it verified and update if needed. I took the test again last night and passed (barely). I was kind of expecting to get the exact same test, so I had made flashcards from the previous direct credit final and practiced those, but they were all new questions. There were still some questions that were vaguely worded or didn't have any correct answer.

I'm glad I passed, and I'll take the credit, but I think it would make so much more sense for places like TESU to take legitimate IT certs like network+ instead of this. It's kind of crazy that TESU will only accept certs acquired within the last year or two when those tests are updated constantly and this one has material nearly a decade old. My Network+ from 2015 is miles ahead of this course. Another issue I ran into was a lot of the units were just links to Wikipedia page articles that had been revised so they didn't contain what they were supposed to. They could probably repost the material instead of linking to Wikipedia, and then periodically review and update. There were around 10 questions from the first test that were strangely specific but I could not find anywhere in any of the material after scouring it for hours. I'm filling out the course survey and I hope anyone else that takes these will do the same. I love what Saylor's trying to do, but the execution here left a lot to be desired.


One last note, I'm starting BUS303: Strategic Information Technology now. It has better sources so far, but one common thread I've noticed is that the material is so broad and disjointed. It's pulling from 5 or 6 books on similar topics and you read a chapter here and there. It'd be easier for me to pull these concepts together and learn if they focused the majority of information on one good textbook and added supplementary material occasionally. I'm hoping I can muster up 70% on the final for this one Sunday. Only 18 credits left.