Rio's Bio 201

Hard! The mid term and Final were random. All the essay questions and application paragraphs, labs were timed but easy open book. Doable of course. The class consists of the first half of the A&P book muscles, bones, skin, neuro as I can recall. Maybe a few others, cardio? Not sure. Lots of chemistry in the P part of A&P... lol No math!

I did Bio 201 in person, then 202 & 205 online. I would not recommend the online classes unless you absolutely have to. Or, if you don't care you get a C. You do all the learning on your own and there is very little, if any interaction with the instructor. It's all via email. For me, both of these were very difficult, with 205 being the hardest.

You may want to check out Phoenix College's Bio 201 online class. I see there are two classes available for the spring at PC. I took the class from the professor who is teaching the first-dated course beginning 1/14. He seemed to be a fair grader, and pretty responsive by email...but I did not email him on a regular basis. (I believe the other professor uses his same maerials, I just don't know how responsive to emails she is, or is not, or how she grades). The CD for labs was a bit rudimentary and not good for locating smaller muscles and bones, but it serves its overall purpose, and has a good index to help you locate the muscles, bones, organs, provided they are not the small or obscure ones.

I took other science courses from Rio and personally disliked the application paragraphs for all written assignments (got A's but just found very time consuming and not necessarily germane to my studies for that class)..and personally disliked the midterms and finals...although still a difficult course (202 is more difficult because it involves much more physiology when you get into the cardio and such, and just more overall systems) ...PC has a much better format. Labs are VERY doable and not timed, quizes and tests are timed (as I recall) at PC ...but very doable if you have a good understanding of the material and you have your notes organized (everything is online and open book -- no in person exams).

Overall, I really liked 201 as a class...gets you into the body and understanding the interplay between different systems. Just a lot of memorizing (but less so at PC than Rio since it is open book at PC).

Good luck!

ah, yes.........and then there is the personal application paragraph.........LOL!

Take any online science courses at Phoenix college! The format is so much better and more manageable. Rio salado is just I dunno hard! No way else to put it. I took Bio 156 Bio 201 at Phoenix college. I am being forced to take Micro and Patho at Rio ! *ugh* but oh well, at least i got to take the bulk of my science courses at PC *sighs*. Rio salado's format makes no sense, they should be making it so that more students pass and not fail. Aren't they all about money anyway? Actually my Bio 156 prof told me he used to work at Rio and saw where they were heading and left to go to PC. That must tell you something......My advice take at Rio if you absolutely have to and have NO other option.