Question about psych class - Human Development

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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So I signed up for this online psych class thinking it was going to be a little less work but our syllabus is not confirming my original idea! We are expected to post two 300 word discussions and one 500 word research paper a week, take four quizzes, a mid term, a final and a ten to twelve page final paper. Is this the norm for an online psych class or should I drop it and try to take it some other time with another teacher?

Specializes in N/A.

Hmmm. Seems a bit stiff. Would depend on what your other class load is. I have online Sociology. We have 6 units, each unit is 2 chapters. We have two weeks to read and do the following: post a 250 word minimum essay followed by a minimum 50 word follow up to a classmates essay, complete the online exam....we have 6 exams total. We also have videos to watch and other papers to read in preparation.

Mine was not like that. Mine involved looking at power points and filling in a workbook as we watched. Some of the questions were a little more involved, but there was a lot of fill in the blank stuff. We also had a quiz on every chapter. I think that was it.

We have about 3 weekly discussion topics we have to post on, a 300 word debate we had to turn in, plus when our debate is posted we have to moderate it. We have three exams plus the final, 4-5 quizes, an article reaction essay, 5 section review essays, and a 10 page research paper. ALOT more than I was expecting for an online class.

I took that class online in the Spring. These were the requirements:

  • In-person midterm
  • In-person final exam (non-cumulative)
  • 5 page case study paper
  • weekly discussion posts - 1 response to a topic and 1 reply to another person
  • 6 reading responses-- these were short answer questions about the reading. If you actually did them carefully, they ended up being a lot of work but, they were good preparation for the tests. Mine were normally each 3-4 pages single-spaced.
  • 10 hours of community service

I think that was it.

It was definitely more work than I thought it would be. I found the in-person exams really challenging because we had no lectures and no interactions with the teacher so, it was hard to predict what she thought was important and what she would emphasize on the exams. As a result, you really had to study EVERYTHING in the book.

The community service requirement kind of annoyed me because they didn't tell you beforehand that it was a service-learning course. I love doing community service and I think that it's good experience for students but, I was working full-time and taking A&P so, if I had known, I probably would have signed-up for an online course that didn't require service. The service itself was great but, it took a lot of time to arrange the service opportunity. I probably spent more than 10 hours just looking for a community service project to work on. In the end, I volunteered for 10 hours for an organization that collects gently used dresses and gives them away to low-income girls so that they can wear them to the prom. They have weekend giveaways in the Spring where girls can come and try-on dresses. It was actually a ton of fun. I worked the dressing room so, my responsibilities mostly involved helping the girls play dress-up and boosting their egos when they were having a hard time finding something that fit. We all know how that goes...!

Sounds excessive to me, but I am just taking online general psych right now - dev psych is next semester for me. I can tell you that in my general psych, we read one chapter a week, have a quiz on that chapter, a mid-term and a final (non-cumulative), and an extra credit research assignment which was super easy. Oh and we have one discussion board post a week (150 words) and 3 replies to classmates. I am finding general psych to be super easy and I'm glad I took it online because from what I heard, the on-campus version is harder. Plus, our weekly quizzes are open book/open note since its online! Can't beat that!

Specializes in Geriatrics.

Oh no! I'm actually taking the class now on line. it's a 9 week course (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE)! No midterm, no finals! We have weekly quizzes, discussions for extra points and 2 exercise programs. We usually have 2 chapters a week with quizzes due to a short semester. But I wouldn't change it for the world!!!!

She even gives us a study list so that we know what's going to be on the quizzes! She is truly a great teacher too. Very prompt in answering any questions. Going to take another class with her next semester.

Sorry about yours! that seems like more than what you would do IN CLASS!!!

45whenimdone,

Can I ask where you are taking your human development course?

Specializes in Geriatrics.

hi, yes via on line through Ventura college in Ventura CA. you live near by? or just taking the course on line?

I live in n. cal. It's surprisingly hard to find a class purely online. I'm taking a full load, so I just need to find an easy online course to fill the prereq.

Specializes in Geriatrics.

Also, I heard Oxnard College (which is affliated with Ventura College) offers Microbiology or Physiology on line with an online lab as well. Can't remember which one. Or maybe it's Biology with an online lab.

Good luck!

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