REL101 Review

Blurb About Course

In this course you will survey religions around the world.  This includes major ones such as Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism, as well as ones that aren’t as “major” (such as Jainism).

Opinion of Course

This was one of my favorite SL courses.  It gives you a good overview of each religion and helps you understand the viewpoint of its adherents.  It deals with each religion respectfully.  I personally think having a basic understanding of the different religions in today’s world is valuable, just in your interactions with other people and when reading the news.  Being interested in a class definitely helps you pass it and this course is very interesting.

This course was a great investment because it not only benefited my immediate education but the knowledge is something I will use for the rest of my life.  It was also a very easy course.

How To Get The Most Out Of The Course

Here’s what I recommend to both get an A in the course and learn the material:

I think you all know my mantra by now: read the textbook!  It has end-of-chapter questions that will help you mentally organize what you just learned.  I believe it also had homework tests which are very helpful.  If I remember correctly the textbook had a decent index.

For midterm and final:

Which is great because that makes it easy to get a good score on the midterm and final (which are both open book).  I think I wrote each chapter’s name on a sticky note and stuck it at the beginning to make it easier to flip to when I had a question about Native American religion followed by a question on Buddhism.

Course Tips and Tricks

The end of book questions are helpful but McGraw-Hill also has online supplements for the textbook.  I would take these before tests to get my mind ready.  Here’s the link: 5th Edition.  If I’m remembering correctly,  I think a few of the questions on SL’s tests were actually duplicates for the practice tests on that site.  Whatdaya know 🙂

My Ratings/Suggestions for Course Improvement

Rating: 5/5 – This is a valuable, easy course.  If you’re looking to start SL but are nervous, may I suggest you start with this course?  It’s straightforward, interesting, and not that hard.  In addition, you’ll gain knowledge you’ll use for the rest of your life.  What’s not to love?

The changes I’d recommend for the course are as follows:

The last chapter was weird because it was discussing religion in the modern world and honestly it covered more evolution in this one chapter than I ever got in biology.  I’m not saying that’s bad (read it, get the grade, you know) but it just seemed out of place, in my opinion.

How Course Transfers

With TESC’s new updated GE I’m not sure how it transfers.  I can tell you though that it transfers to COSC as REL-110 and meets the “Global Understanding” requirement.

Special note on this course: I know that there are some homeschool students who are attempting to earn their degrees nontraditionally and that, while not all homeschoolers are religious, many are.  The chapter on Christianity is not a bash, it’s well-done, however the author is approaching it as someone who is not of that faith and that comes through.

Got any questions about Straighterline in general or this course specifically?  Leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer. 🙂

Update & New Courses!

Hello everyone!  Originally my intention with this website was to provide honest student reviews of the courses I had taken.  Sadly I got busy and was unable to finish writing my reviews.  The courses I still need to review are: Introduction to Religion (started on this one), American Government, Cultural Anthropology, Introduction to Nutrition, Introduction to Communications, US History 1, and as of this semester US History 2.

I go back and forth because I took most of these courses about two years ago and I know Straighterline has changed some.  For example, my review of Intro to Biology is probably not as relevant as it used to be because I’ve heard they changed some things.  Yet if you’re looking to plunge into SL courses but aren’t sure what to expect, even slightly old reviews can be valuable!

So there’s that.  Also some good news, SL is adding more courses!  They are a world history survey and an IT introduction.  I’m really excited about the former (mostly because it actually covers world history, lol) and am toying with taking it just for fun.  Also, SL has raised the prices on its business courses BUT they are including the ebook with the course now.  If you didn’t know, the ebooks were pretty expensive so this actually works out to be an awesome deal (especially if you use one of their coupons).

Disputing a Graded Question

The good folks at Straighterline have worked hard to make us all nice, cheap, wonderful college courses (yes I’m a big fan, hehe).  And for the most part the courses are well put together and fun to go through.

That being said, every once and awhile a student comes across an exam question that slipped by the SL people and that is marked………wrong (*gasp*).  If you encounter one of those what do you do?

First, flag and save the question and then find the topic in your textbook.  Double-check to make sure you didn’t misunderstand it.

Second, if after checking your textbook you’re convinced it’s been marked wrong, open a ticket and select “Exam-Related” for the ticket topic.

Third, tell SL’s support staff the question number and what it was quizzing you on (this is why you save the question).  List all the options for an answer and the one you selected.  Quote directly from your textbook (include a page number too) as support for your choice.  Submit.

SL Support will forward it onto someone who’s responsible for checking up on things like this.  They will review the passage in the textbook (this is why you include the page number, to make it easy so you get an answer back quicker) and the question.  If it was wrongly marked they will go in manually and mark the question correct.  It generally takes them up to three business days to do this for you so be patient.

I’ve had about four or so questions that I’ve disputed with SL.  Three of them were graded wrong and they corrected them.  The fourth was technically correct and wasn’t regraded, however the textbook passage was so confusing SL had to reexplain it to me (and then I understood ding!).

Hope this helps any fellow students who come across a wrongly marked question!

BUS106 Review

Aaaaah…..philosophy.

Blurb About Course

This course introduces the ethics branch of philosophy to the world of business.  You will cover theories, great names in philosophy, discover with is really “ethical”, and examine various business issues in light of those discoveries.

Opinion of Course

After all those scandals at the turn of the century someone got the brilliant idea to make business majors take an ethics course and this is the result.  I have mixed feelings about this course, it did some things really well but the textbook was…..boring.  Really boring.  I dreaded opening it because all it did was numb my brain.  So just keep that in mind, this textbook is boring and you will hate it.

Now that being said, what did I like?  Well each chapter had some assigned readings that applied what you had just studied to real life situations.  I’m in a favor of short reading supplements to SL courses so I was pleased with this.  They were thought-provoking and well-done.  I also like the fact that such a cheap course is available to meet the Ethics requirement at TESC and COSC!  I was thrilled when I saw this course was available.

Each chapter also had questions.  Because the chapters were so mind-numbing I went through these in order to force myself to reexamine the material and make sure I got it (otherwise I’d just skim it to get it over with).

How To Get The Most Out Of The Course

Here’s what I recommend to both get an A in the course and learn the material:

Do the end-of-chapter readings and answer the end-of-chapter questions.  This will develop your thought process in this area.  Also get the textbook, although I would actually recommend the eBook.  The book has a poor index and the eBook is searchable (I’m told) and that will come in handy in the tests.

SL provides online homework to go through and I found that helpful as well.

For midterm and final:

Like I said, before: the eBook.  Get the eBook!  The final and midterm are open book so you can search and find the answers quicker (the index is just…..not well-done.  Yeah.).

A lot of the questions don’t make sense because they come straight out of the textbook so you WILL fail if you don’t get the book.  So….get the book.  Get the book.  Get the book!  Even though it’s boring, get the book.

Course Tips and Tricks

The eBook is searchable so why get the regular book when you can get the awesome, “this will really help when I take the final” one?  I believe it’s available from SL and possibly Chegg.

There are also additional practice questions online from McGraw-Hill, they’re for the 3rd edition of the book so some will be different (just fyi).  Link: 3rd Edition

My Ratings/Suggestions for Course Improvement

Rating: 4/5 – I am not counting the textbook and that is why the rating is so high.  They provide homework quizzes, it’s pretty easy to get through because there’s only six tests, I like including additional reading on the topics, and it’s nice to have a cheap course for college reqs.

The changes I’d recommend for the course are as follows:

Please change the textbook.  Just….please.

How Course Transfers

Transfers to COSC as “PHL485” and meets the “Ethical Decision Making” requirement for GE (I need to confirm with my Academic Counselor that it counts as UL credit).  Meets the TESC ‘Responsible Ethical Leadership” requirement for GE.

Update (June 2015): While COSC will list its transfer equivalent as PHL485, the course is not counted as UL credit.  My advisor told me I could appeal if I thought it should be but honestly?  I don’t.  But that option’s on the table if anyone feels otherwise.

Service After Your Subscription Expires

There are some things I really love about Straighterline (like cheap college courses, hehe) and there are some things I really hate and this is one of the latter.

Generally speaking, Straighterline has been great about getting back to me within a reasonable time frame (unless I’m asking them to relook at a disputed question, lol).  June 25th was when my subscription expired however.  I had a question about transferring some of my courses to one of their partner colleges and emailed after this date.

Whoa, suddenly no one is available!  My ticket was just closed with no reply listed and I got a vague email from a Student Advisor saying he was available to help me get started with Straighterline (Yo, I just finished).  I emailed him back asking the same question and…….wow, no response.

Take note, people.  Get all your questions in BEFORE your subscription expires cuz it seems Straighterline doesn’t feel like answering questions after you’re not subscribed anymore.  This is disappointing to be sure.

I’ll probably be taking a couple more courses with them though in a year or so, guess I’ll be saving up my questions ’til then.

MAT101 Review

Disclaimer: I wasn’t able to complete this course, I ended up going with ALEKS to first supplement the course and finally just switched completely over to them.

Blurb About Course

This is a college-level Algebra course, perfect for meeting college math requirements.  You will cover everything from basic Geometry to linear and quadratic equations to graphing.

Opinion of Course

Ugh, where do I even begin?  I really don’t think this course was a good fit for me.  I’m one of those people who needs detailed breakdowns and then a million problems to practice on until I know it by heart.

This course does not do that.  I tried both the presentations and the textbook (which is horrible and expensive), I went slow, I had a friend who’s a math major tutor me, I used SL’s tutoring, and I didn’t make it very far.

Bottom line is: I don’t think this course is geared towards people who learn math like me.

How to Get the Most Out of the Course

Since I didn’t finish it I can’t really help you much here except to say you will be slightly less lost with the textbook.  I looked through one of the tests right before my subscription expired and it seems to be a good reflection of the topics covered in the textbook, so if you can manage it learn the principles taught there and you should be okay (the tests are multi-choice, btw).

SL also has a MAT101 with an actual teacher (maybe I wasn’t the only one who struggled, hehe).  If my review’s making you freak out but you still like the idea of SL then check out that option.

Course Tips and Tricks

Can’t really comment on this.  Learn the principles covered in the textbook for the tests, I guess.

My Rating/Suggestions for Course Improvement

Rating: 1/5 – I was so so disappointed.

If you’re a high school student who did okay in high school math and have just finished up Algebra 2 then you can take a crack at this and probably do well.  If you’re someone who has had to keep their skills in algebraic math brushed up you will probably do well too.  I basically think this course is for those people who are already good at math or confident in themselves.

If you’re out of practice then you have several options.  You can choose the professor-led Algebra course.  You could also supplement with a better written textbook or ALEKS.  Or go with something entirely different, it’s up to you.

The changes I’d recommend for the course are as follows:

Change the textbook.  Seriously, even with SL’s ebook option it is waaaaay too expensive for a poorly written piece of trash.

Also maybe incorporating a homework generator, where problem types that will be on the quizzes can be practiced until you’ve mastered the concept.  That would make this course an option for people like me.

How Course Transfers

I have not personally experienced it but am told it meets the GE math requirement for Thomas Edison State College’s “Intellectual Skills”.  For Charter Oak State College it would most likely meet the GE “Mathematics” requirement.

FIN101 Book Review

cover from Amazon.com

Overall, I liked this book.  I felt it had good organization and each chapter has forms to allow you to put into practice what you’ve just studied.  By the time I was done I had a good cursory knowledge of various financial matters.

The index is adequate but during my final there were a couple things I couldn’t find anywhere in my book (I still have no idea where they were o.O).  So it’s not the best but it’s still pretty thorough.

Even if you never take a personal finance class, I would recommend this textbook.  Reading through it by itself will be beneficial.  My only caution is that I don’t believe the healthcare portion is accurate anymore, so keep that in mind.

I got it for….under 10 bucks I believe on Amazon: 3rd edition

Rating: 4/5 stars – good coverage, good index (but not stellar).

FIN101 Review

If you’re looking for an easy 3-credit elective class with real world applications then this course is for you!  It doesn’t satisfy GE at either Thomas Edison State or Charter Oak State but I feel like a personal finance class SHOULD be a GE requirement, especially with all the student loan hoopla recently.

Blurb About Course

This is an introduction to the big, bad world of money!  You’ll cover everything from budgeting to credit cards to buying a home to retirement planning.  Each topic in this course gives you frank advice to help you make wise financial decisions.

Opinion of Course

Well, I loved it.  It was an eye-opener and educational.  I haven’t gotten to the point where I need to buy a car or a home yet but I feel when I do I’ll be much more confident than I would be without this course.

The course has a quiz for every topic which I liked because it spreads the grade points out a bit and lets me focus on one topic at a time.

How to Get the Most Out of the Course

You know the drill: buy the book and read it!  This course has homework quizzes which are somewhat helpful, although they don’t grade right so that’s annoying.

You don’t have to do it but SL also “assigns” you the after chapter worksheets, which basically help you with making a budget and stuff like that.  Perfect for immediate real-life application.

Course Tips and Tricks

This course’s final had several questions from previous tests on it so save those.  I took sticky notes and wrote the chapter titles on them so I could find them easily during the final.  The book’s pretty well organized but there’s a lot to cover.

The final also asked me one or two obscure questions that I couldn’t remember from the book.  Huh?

My Ratings/Suggestions for Course Improvement

Rating: 4/5 – excellent coverage of the topic, okay tools for final and midterm preparation available, applies the stuff to your life

The changes I’d recommend for the course are as follows:

First off, fix the homework quizzes so they give accurate feedback.  In the first couple I believe most of the rightly answered questions were marked “incorrect” and most of the incorrect ones were mark “correct.”  In the later ones everything was just marked “correct”.  That was annoying.

The health care topic needs to be updated now.  This’ll probably necessitate upgrading to a new, updated textbook.

How Course Transfers

This course transfers to Thomas Edison State College as BUE-101: Personal Finance.  It will not fulfill any of the GE requirements (so you can’t use it for an Associate’s in General Studies).

It transfers to Charter Oak State College as FIN110: Personal Finance.  It can be used as a free elective for any of the degrees.

Back in Da House

Hello everyone!!!!

I finished up my last Straighterline course about two weeks ago and everything else needed for my AA is pretty much done as well.  So basically, I’m back!  I’m working on reviews of the courses I’ve taken as well as a couple of opinion and advice posts and those should be releasing in the next couple weeks.

In the mean time, if you have questions just comment on my posts and I’ll be happy to tell you what I know when I get a sec. 🙂

Short Hiatus

I’m sorry for the lack of posting this month, I’d fully intended to have several more reviews up by now.  I’ll have to relegate on that for a bit longer, my Government final and Nutrition midterm are coming up and I need to focus on that.  Hopefully I can breathe easier soon!  

Good news is, with finals comes more courses to review. 😉  Until then.