CLEP American History & Info Literacy Questions

[collegechick]

Which do you find easier:

CLEP's American History or Saylor's Intro to Politics? (I'm enrolled into Saylor's BUS 210 and think it's challenging.)

I need advice for which study materials to purchase.

1.) Should I purchase the CLEP Official Study Guide 2017 even if I plan to take the exam in the coming weeks?
2.) Will the manual/test completely have changed in the 2016 Official Study guide version?
3.) What is the time frame from the time I sign up for a test and I have to take it? How long does it take to prepare for a CLEP test?
4.) Should I additionally purchase an American History and Analyzing and Interpretation Lit study guide to compliment the Official Study Guide?

Thank you for your help and info!

[OakLakeNC]

I don't think Saylor has any college approved courses that are cohesive. They jump from the textbook, to journals, to lectures, to blogs, etc... The price is great, but that is about it. I don't understand why they can't pull from 2 or 3 sources. Have the textbook as the main source. Then lectures from one professor. Then one site with practice problems. Instead you listen and read notes from a bunch of different people. And they have practice math problems spread out all over the place. Seems like every unit has you having to create an account somewhere new.

[davewill]

I don't think Saylor has any college approved courses that are cohesive. They jump from the textbook, to journals, to lectures, to blogs, etc... The price is great, but that is about it. I don't understand why they can't pull from 2 or 3 sources. Have the textbook as the main source. Then lectures from one professor. Then one site with practice problems. Instead you listen and read notes from a bunch of different people. And they have practice math problems spread out all over the place. Seems like every unit has you having to create an account somewhere new.

I've never had to create an account to access one of their sources, but I can see how that could be. Because they don't pay the sources of the information, they have to limit themselves to material that is Creative Commons or public domain licensed. That limitation is likely the reason for the disjointedness. I wish they would just collect the information onto servers that they control so that the links don't break. However that takes money as well, both for the servers and for editors to keep it up to date.

What they COULD do would be to recommend textbooks that the student could choose to purchase as an alternative study platform. Then the problem would be that their lesson plans would have to be reworked to be compatible with the textbooks.

[OakLakeNC]

The Biology 101 class sends you to Khan Academy a lot. And they have a textbook from OpenStax. The textbook is good. Really good- up to date, well written and comprehensive. It is just as good as any expensive textbook at a college bookstore. Between Khan Academy and the book you should be able to get introductory cell biology.

Instead they also have you signing up for a free trail at Open Learning Initiative and also watching lectures/ reading articles by different professors. And going to different museum websites to read/watch. Those parts are unnecessary IMO.