I felt compelled to comment about the issue that Eric S raised in his review. Troy has an excellent reputation among public universities, and I say that as an observer who has neither worked nor attended there. Troy's compressed schedule approach to course delivery (8-9 weeks) is very common among non-traditional programs. Properly built, such courses should use a very specific pedagogy developed for accelerated learning. Many, many institutions neglect this essential aspect of accelerated learning, however. They either squeeze a standard semester's worth of content into 8 weeks, or they shave off content, learning activities, and assessment to make it fit.
The reason for using this model may be related to student demand. Adult students may be extrinsically motivated by shortened course formats that suggest earlier degree completion compared to a standard semester schedule. The issues that Eric cited, however, are real and significant. Life does get in the way of education, and it's an aspect of non-traditional degree work that rarely gets attention. My own institution (also a public university) recognized this issue years ago, and devotes substantial resources to retention and advising services which acknowledge and address the balance of work, life and school. To further address that balance, we have always used the standard academic semester (15-16 weeks) for delivery of our non-traditional and online courses. Our objective is to allow adequate time in each course for reflection, authentic assessment, and activities which are higher up the cognitive domain than typical "memorize and recite". My guess is that Troy requires more than that, too, which, given an 8 week course, can lead only to the massive homework load that Eric S reports. It’s a tough call. In many cases, students have to sacrifice excessive time…and/or quality of education…in the name of shrinking that progress-to-degree timeline.
Name: Eric S
Post On: February 9, 2010
Grade: C-
I obtained a BS in Criminal Justice back in 1991, but have returned briefly to college to complete some business courses. I am in my third online / eCampus class at Troy. The class content, textbooks, tuition, etc are fine. The biggest issue I have is the very VAST amount of homework required for the online classes. If you are a working adult with a full-time job, home and family...be forewarned. Even though the online terms are 8 or 9 weeks, be prepared to say goodbye to family time, watching the kids' sports games, working around the home or whatever. Troy eCampus seems to be totally geared towards younger people who do NOT have the above-noted responsibilites. This will probably be my last online class and I'm looking forward to a more traditional classroom setting...even having to drive to and sit in a classroom once a week should be well worth the effort when looking at time expenditure!
