Online Science Courses

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Hi all,

I thought that maybe it would be good to have a sticky for online science courses.

I am currently looking for an online/distance learning-- 4-- credit microbiology course. Of course it has to have a lab.

I know that both ccconline and Rio Salado offer these courses. Anyone have experience with either one of these in regards to microbiology, i.e. testing, level of difficulty, user friendly technology. I know from experience with Rio that the exams are proctored but how does ccconline deliver their exams?

If you have a link or resources to other colleges offering sciences--please post them here.

Chemistry

http://www.coastline.edu/

http://it.spcollege.edu/ecampus/listsearch.cfm

http://wsuonline.weber.edu/

Microbiology/A&P/Chem

http://www.rio.maricopa.edu/ci/schedule/

http://www.ccconline.org/

mona

Thanks sooo much for the info, i'll look into Clovis. I need something cheap. I looked into SUNY but it doesnt offer organic chem online.

You're welcome hon..but I just looked and I don't think Clovis has what you are looking for..so maybe the Iowa online will work better for you!:)

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Another school to check into is Central New Mexico University in Albuquerque, NM. They offer several science classes online at $44 a credit hour to out-of-state residents that take under 6 credit hours. Welcome to Central New Mexico Community College. They are regionally accredited.

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Hey, check this out Can anyone recommend a good online chemistry course? - Nursing for Nurses

It looks like the online chemistry courses at OCC come highly recommended.

I just wanted to share my experience with my online chemistry course at OCC. I took A&P I, II and Microbiology online at OCC and found those courses to be very good, but I would NOT recommend the online general chemistry courses at OCC unless you are very good at algebra and/or have taken an intro to chemistry course recently. I just finished the online general chemistry I (which is for chemistry majors) and had a very difficult time with it. The professor does not participate in the online discussion, so if you have a question, you post it and hope that one of your classmates who understands it will explain it. Unfortunately, many of my questions went unanswered, and I ended up paying a lot of money for a tutor in order to pass the class. Also, it can be difficult to understand some of the explanations, since it's difficult to see someone's math in a textbox format.

I earned A's in my other online courses at OCC, but they were much more straightforward, ie, read the book, study it, remember it. Chemistry is much more complicated as it involves understanding both chemistry AND algebra, and sometimes the examples in the textbook are not always clear. I did an online stats class and essentially taught myself stats, but this chem class was infinitely more difficult. Again, unless you are already good at chemistry and algebra, I would not recommend this course.

OCC regards its online courses very differently than classroom courses: in online courses, your professor is a "facilitator," meaning they're essentially absent, though some participate once in a blue moon in the online discussions, others don't at all. They grade your lab reports, email you once in awhile, and that's about it. Like I said, it was fine for my other sciences, but it was not conducive to learning chemistry.

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Hello All,

I have taken more than ten online classes through Rio Salado, including A&P I and II and Microbiology. I love my online classes....HOWEVER...nothing I had done prior prepared me for the horror that was microbiology online.

If you have any experience or background in micro, the online course will probably be easy for you. I would never recommend this class online to anyone who did not already have basic micro knowledge.

The "lab" for micro is simply submitting papers, you do not have the oportunity to grow specimens or even see examples in person.

@qaqueen: i would really love to know more about your experience. i'm debating between rio salado and edukan for my online microbiology course.

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I would also recommend Eastern Oregon University for online micro. It's bio 244 I think. You have a lab component (buy a kit and grow cultures). Not as cool an inperson micro lab but if you really need it online I would highly recommend the course. They do not charge out of state tuition. Book and all I think it was under $600.

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Do online science courses transfer to other schools? I know that here in Cali, the California State Universities do NOT accept online science classes and will not allow for them to transfer.....can they transfer anywhere else?

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Online science classes, at least here in NY, greatly depend on the institution. So if it's online ONLY then it might be tougher than if it were an actual property-based traditional school with an online course. Because in that case its still simply a course offerred in the school. Find out from advisement, they should have an (honest) answer for you.

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All of mine did. A few were "hybrid" and several were completely online. I'm in AZ. I think it depends a lot on if the institution you're going to offers online classes. They are much more likely to accept online if they too have online curriculum.

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Actually if there is an actual brick and mortar school, there is no way for someone to know if it was online or not.. there's no difference in what it says on your transcript whether you took it online or not.

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