Experiences Taking A&P Online?

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It looks like I'll probably be taking A&P II online this summer...

I wanted to take it at the local CC, but the class is closed. I looked at the CC that's up by my school, but the class was at night, and it's now closed. Taking it at my school would cost an arm and a leg, and I want to avoid that...so that leaves few options. There's a CC that's an hour away and offering it...but I really don't want to spend 2 hours driving 4 days a week for 5 weeks...so online is looking like my best option right now.

What have your experiences been with taking A&P online? Good? Bad? How did everything work? I'm a bit worried about an online class such as A&P (if it were something like English, I wouldn't worry at all)...

Thanks for the input!

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Do you do the lab from home as well? I took both anatomy and physiology as hybrids - you attend lab for 4 hours once a week, but the lecture is online.

It can really depend on the professor. My anatomy professor for lecture didn't really have any materials online, just gave us chapters to read and then provided a 75 question study guide for us to find the answers to prior to each exam. However, for my physiology class, the lector professor had his lectures online in ipod format. It was fabulous. I downloaded the lectures and watched/listened to them every chance I got. He also had powerpoints and lecture notes online.

So, it really depends on the professor. It is definitely more difficult than being in class and having the interaction and being able to ask questions as your professor lectures. However, it is doable.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Clinical Documentation Specialist.

I took AP 1 & 2 online through ccconline and I loved it. You purchase a lab kit and do everything at home, including a pig dissection. They were definitely challenging classes and the lab reports easily ran me 20 hours with 19 or so pages.

You should know yourself enough to determine if this is the right learning atmosphere for you. I spent hours upon hours with just me and the textbook plodding along, doing lab reports, case studies, discussions, lab tests and exams. Then doing it all over again for the next unit.

If you are determined, have good study habits and can work alone, then it's certainly doable. I think there are other posts about online A&P and ccconline around her somewhere.

Good luck!! :)

~SD

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Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.

I took A&P 2 online. Lecture was online and lab was in person. I have no experience taking a lab online. I did very well, but it does take discipline to stay on top of readings and quizzes with deadlines.

You mentioned you're taking A&P 2 ... I assume then you took A&P 1 ... keep in mind that most nursing programs will not accept grades for A&P 1 and 2 if each class was taken at different schools. You should be taking the whole A&P sequence at one school. I have seen others have problems with this. Just a heads up.

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Lab is online as well.

I am not planning on taking it through ccconline or whatever. I am planning on taking it through Broome Community College.

I am currently taking A&P I , and where I take A&P II doesn't matter as long as it is equivalent to the A&P at my school. This online one through BCC is the same as the one that I would take at my local CC which is the same as the one at my school.

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I emailed the following questions to the professor:

1) What is the format of the class -- are there lectures, or just reading?

2) Is there class discussion, or is it more individual?

3) Because this is an online course, how is lab done?

She answered:

1) My online A&P II course is taught using the Angel course management system. There will be assigned readings in the text book (The Unity of Form and Function, 5th ed., Kenneth Saladin), written online "lectures" and animations that will cover key course concepts. All of the lecture tests will be multiple/choice. true/false and short answer. The lab and lecture tests are considered to be "open book" but will be timed. You will have about a minute per question.

2) There will be no required discussions in the summer version of the course. You can think of it as being more individual but of course I will be available to answer questions via email and chat.

3) The labs will all be done using the online cadaver dissection tool, Anatomy and Physiology Revealed (http://www.mhhe.com/biosci2/anatomyrevealed/). For each lab you will have an objective sheet listing the structures that you need to identify. You will use the APR site to view and learn to recognize the structures. The lab exams will consist of APR images with the structures that you must identify highlighted. These tests will also be timed.

I hope this answers your questions. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

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I took A&P I and II online. It was difficult but doable. Im sure its a difficult class in person as well.

Thats amazing you get open book lab! Our lab tests and lecture tests were at a testing center. The lecture tests were multiple choice and the Lab were fill in the blank. No open book.

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I took it at Darton College in Albany, GA. The professor is awesome! She has virtual office hours and great notes that are so much better than any book. She will make sure you understand the information. I got an A in both A&PI and A&PII. Most labs are online. THey send you a heart and kidney to dissect and you must submit photos to prove you did it yourself. There are 4 exams that must be proctored and online quizzes that you can take as many times as you would like. I highly recommend her class!

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Okay. So it seems like online is a fine option.

As I said, I'm doing it because the class at the local CC is closed, I don't really have the money to take it at my college, and I don't want to spend 2 hours a day driving.

And yeah...it's good that everything is open book. Not that I won't need to work at it and study...but it's so much more convenient that way because I can do everything from the comfort of my own home if I wish! I'll actually probably end up going to the library a lot of the time because my house is quite loud. But even that is only about 10 minutes away.

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Sounds like a good option for your schedule. I would make sure that your college will accept a virtual lab. I would also be careful not to take advantage of the open book nature of the course. Most of your nursing school classmates will have taken A&P in a more traditional setting and they will have had to have learned the material well enough to take tests without their books. You don't want the format of your class to put you at a disadvantage in the nursing classroom/clinical.

But, as long as you keep that in mind and your school will accept that form of lab, it sounds like a good option.

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My advisor is checking with the CON to make sure it's okay. If it's not, I'll see if I can do lecture online and do the lab in person...that would be half the time in the car than if I did it all in person.

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I'm actually doing A&P1 online now and 2 in the fall. We meet 2 times a semester for the dissection part of labs, the rest we do through aprevealed.com. That's an incredible program. I think its probably harder online than in person,but its easier for me since I choose when I study around my family's schedule. You def. have to be disciplined, but I like it. (Plus we can speed up our prof's lecture!)

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