NationsU

[rlw74]

There is another thread on here about NationsU and some students who are interested in their program. It was getting a little long so I figured I would start my own thread sharing my progress and observations about the program.


I officially started on November 10. My goal is to finish the MTS in one year. I’m not sure how realistic that deadline is. It is too early to tell. My initial observation is that there is a LOT of reading and writing in these courses. Most likely the courses will vary in length and difficulty, but to finish in one year you need to average one course a month plus the three comprehensive exams (which may require additional weeks to study for).

The courses are laid out in a very straightforward manner through the use of an online syllabus. Within the syllabus are links to outside sources (videos, articles, etc). You are prompted when to take exams, complete written assignments, post in student forums or consult outside textbooks. The instructions are detailed enough to complete these successfully. The exams are directly over material they instruct you to read/study – no surprises or tricky questions. I’ve found all the ones I’ve taken to be pretty fair.
 
For the first course, MRS622, there are three exams, three written assignments (a paragraph or two each), about a dozen student forum posts and a final “essay” which needs to be a minimum of 2,000 words, APA format, with eight scholarly sources (think mini-capstone paper if you happened to take LIB495 at TESU – my paper was about 15 pages long when I finished it). I completed the course in about a week and scored high 90’s on everything. (Side note: I had finished all the suggested reading before the course started.) However, that first course really is just an introduction and not indicative of what the other courses are like.

The course I’m in currently is M1, Survey of the Old Testament. It covers the entire OT and asks you to read it through several times, plus work your way through a pretty long syllabus. Now, here is where that whole competency-based education comes into play. Technically, with enough background knowledge you can go straight to the exams and written assignments without all the extra reading/study. However, after the survey courses (M1 and M2) you have to take a comprehensive proctored exam. What I’ve heard from other students is that they breezed through the survey courses by doing just that – going directly to the exams & written assignments - but then had to backtrack to study for the comprehensive exam. This caused them to lose weeks, even months in preparation. I’m choosing to go more slowly and approach the courses as study for the comprehensive exam so I don’t have to backtrack. I think this will be a lot faster overall, even though it means it may take longer to get through a course.

Another reason to go through these courses more slowly (IMO) is because grade-point matters. You have to have a 3.0 on these foundation courses to be accepted into the program. To maintain this, I want every single point I can get from those module exams. The written assignments count for 40% of the course grade. Not knowing how strictly they will grade those, I would prefer to get as many points on the exams as I can so I don’t lose (as much) sleep over the written assignments. You only need 70% to pass an exam but why give up 30% if you don’t need to?

I guess it’s up to the individual student how they want to approach these foundation courses. I know I could probably do fairly well on the exams taking them cold if my intent was just to pass. Maybe after I get a few courses in I'll feel a little more relaxed. But, until I can get used to a new format / being graded over written assignments etc I'll do what I usually do - over-study and over-prepare.

So far, I’m really enjoying it and I hope to update as I progress through the courses and gain new, fresher perspectives.

[rlw74]

I finished my 2nd course early this morning (M1). All of my exam scores were in the 90s so I feel good about that portion. The written assignments count for 40% of the grade though. I'm a little curious how they get graded. I made a LOT of notes in this course which I'll be reviewing before I take the comprehensive exam. I think my notes filled up around 60 pages, typed, 8 point font, narrow margins. It is a lot of reading!!! Best way to prepare if you plan to take this course in the future is to read the entire bible several times through, making notes as you go along. You might think you have lots of background info but do you know which kings ruled at which time period? Which prophets spoke to which kings? What the message of each of the books was - especially all those little books at the end of the O.T.?
I'm anticipating the N.T. course to be a little easier just because its less material to cover and probably more familiar material. I'll be starting on it later today.

[jb111]

Fantastic work!  Thanks for the update

[Ideas]

I saw in your signature that you're already 25% done. Congrats!

Please keep us updated about your latest course or two

[rlw74]

Thanks! I finished M2 at about 3 a.m. this morning. December was a rough month. I had the respiratory flu twice and spent a week traveling over Christmas so it felt like I was constantly stopping and starting. I'm not even sure how much I retained. I need to get a proctor lined up for the comprehensive exam. I'll probably spend the next couple of weeks splitting my time between working on M3 and reviewing for the exam. For some reason I'm really nervous about that exam. Aside from Remote Proctor, I haven't taken a proctored exam in years!

[rlw74]

Just figured I would give an accountability update. I'm almost finished with my fourth course. I'm writing the final research paper now. This, by far, was the hardest (as in, most comprehensive) course. The textbook was over 1100 pages. I read the WHOLE thing. It was a lot! I also need to include ten sources for the research paper so I've been reading quite a few other books too. I think I'll probably refer back to many of the same sources for future papers so it will help to have read them now.

I had hoped to finish in 4 weeks but I think it will take me more like 6-7 weeks total. Still not too bad. I am ahead of schedule. My goal was 1 course a month but if I finish by February 9th I'll have finished 4 in 3 months.

LIB495 really prepared me for APA style writing but I have a lot to review for formatting a research paper. I doubt they want "chapters"/ modules so I'll be referring to some of the textbooks used in the LIB 495 course to figure out formatting. I guess those were a good investment. I still use Purdue Owl a lot. I constantly refer back to how I formatted things in my capstone paper. I guess it's my new template now.

While I'll be excited to be 1/3 of the way through the courses after this point, I don't think the courses are going to get any easier. I've read the Bible cover-to-cover many, many times so the first couple of courses were "easy". Now I'm into the grit of things. I'm still loving it though. So much of my undergrad was plugging away at courses I really didn't care for much. They were just to "check the box"and get finished fast. It's nice to do this as a hobby degree and it has given me more confidence overall.

[Ideas]

You're making great progress, and I appreciate the updates

Is this one harder mostly because you had to read more, and because the paper is longer with 10 sources? Do you think there other reasons that the 9 will be harder?

[rlw74]

Harder may not be the best word - just a lot more material. Some of the other papers in earlier courses required ten sources as well. Since it's the theology course - kind of the basis for the entire degree - I wanted to put the time into quality sources. So I read some of the harder stuff - entire books, not just journals or articles.

I'm just guessing on the rigor of future courses. All of these courses have a lot of overlap and I'm expecting the professors to have higher expectations as one goes along. I'm not sure they will be "harder", as in difficult to pass, just a lot of work.

One recommendation I have is looking at the writing assignments at the end of the syllabus. It's easier to take notes in preparation of those assignments while going through the material instead of hunting down resources at the end. It's been a huge time-saver. Oh, and they are pretty strict on APA format. Take lots of extra time to make sure your formatting is right.

[Ideas]

Thank you!

[rlw74]

I just figured I would give an accountability update now that I am a few days away from the six month mark. It has been a lot of hard work. I'm halfway through the program and have taken 20+ exams (some of them comprehensive proctored exams), and written 18 papers. Just for curiosity sake, I counted and that equaled out to 118 pages and 40k+ words! There have been 100s of internet links and probably somewhere around 30 hours of video lectures. I can't put an exact number on that part because a few courses have had 8-10 hours of video lectures and the rest have had multiple links embedded within the syllabus. I have read sooooo much - I've lost count of the number of textbooks. On average there are about 3 required textbooks per course and at least one was 1000+ pages. Because some papers have required 10 or more scholarly sources that has meant reading, at least in part, another dozen or so books.

I hit a bit of mental burnout over the last month. I guess its normal, considering I'm trying to study at night after the kids are in bed, and that makes for late nights. Aside from a 4 month break between TESU and Nations, I've been at this since January of last year. I'm also trying to decide how I should proceed. Since the tuition is charged annually and its an unlimited number of classes per year, I would love to finish within this first year. However, I have six more courses plus another comprehensive exam, plus a capstone essay. Some of these courses, just because of the amount of reading, are taking more than 4 weeks to finish. I think I might be able to finish if I buckle down, but I'm not sure. If its inevitable that I cannot make it happen by November 9th, I don't need to kill myself now. I could just take my time. BUT, it would just be really nice to finish and be able to graduate in December, instead of waiting until next year.

I have to say, the faculty and staff have been amazing. I really wasn't sure what to expect since many are volunteers and have a lot of responsibilities being professors at other schools. Some of them have pretty impressive credentials, and they have provided invaluable feedback. My advisor is awesome. She will even respond to emails or calls in the evenings or on weekends. I'm enjoying my studies (I've found I love to write papers more than anything else). Overall, its been such a positive experience. It is hard to believe I spent 20+ years trying to finish a Bachelor's degree and here I am halfway through a Master's degree in six months. I know I couldn't have done it without this forum. You all are amazing!