Need help for degree plan in CS at TESC - newbie - how to earn credit for Coursera?

[quickCS]

Hi all,

first, I'm so glad I found this forum! You guys are a wealth of info!
I have a few questions that I hope you might help me answer:

I actually have a PhD in Mathematics from a good US college, but I want to look for a job in Computer Science. (I am stay-at-home-mom at the moment and my littlest is going to preschool.) I have taken some 20 Coursera courses since Feb 2014 and then started thinking that it would be good to actually get a degree in CS if say, I wanted to teach CS in a high school. My undergrad diploma is from Italy, so few of the courses would transfer, if any (we had 16 year-long courses to take in Math exclusively).

Here is what I have in mind to earn credits:

- I taught 7 different math college-level courses in the past 3 years, from the easiest course to Differential Equations (alas, not Linear Algebra, which I could do with eyes closed, but is a CS requirement and I don't know how to test out of it - which test do I take?). Total of 21 credits?

- I would do 5 Saylor courses: Business Law and Ethics, Principles of Management, Principles of Marketing, Business Statistics and Intro to CS (total of 15 credits, proctored in the library, $0, yeey!)

- I would take CLEP exams: Spanish, German (maybe French), Natural Sciences, History and Social Sciences; I can probably take other CLEP exams too if needed. (I chose these because of how many credits I could get by taking only one exam)

- I would do TEEX course on security for IT professionals (2 credits)

- TECEP for Saylor course on Computer Networking (3 credits)

For the rest:
I'm doing Coursera Specialization "Foundations of Teaching for Learning" - 8 6-week courses building up teaching portfolio, includes a capstone project (verified identity) - how would that translate to credits?

I'm doing Coursera Specialization "Mobile Cloud Computing with Android" - 3 10-week courses, includes a capstone project (verified identity)

(So, 8 subject electives would be 1. Mobile apps 2. Networking 3. Security)
I did also
4. Coursera Machine Learning course
5. Ruby on Rails, that is taught by Univ. of New Mexico professor based on his course there
6. Functional Programming with Scala, also on Coursera, also based on an actual course in Lausanne, Switzerland
7. I taught myself a lot of Web development stuff (JavaScript, PHP, HTML) and followed Udacity course on it
8. Long ago I took a database course and probably could pass an exam; same with Algorithms
I know Java, some C++, a lot of Python, enough to pass any courses based on just programming

So, for the subject courses I could just take an equivalence exam on much of this stuff, but don't know how this works actually. So here come my questions:

1. Can I transfer some of my graduate courses from the PhD program to fill up my remaining credits?
2. How do I demonstrate competency in the subject courses above and how much would that cost?
3. Anybody have experience with Coursera courses translating to TESC credits?
4. How about Data Structures and Linear Algebra requirements for the CS major? (I know this stuff already, but haven't found appropriate exams.)

I have about a year to complete this.

Many, many thanks for any help!

[sanantone]

1. TESC has accepted graduated level credits from completed graduate programs in the past.

2. You can choose Learning Counts or TESC's in-house PLA process.
LearningCounts | Time and Cost | Experiential Learning
PLA and Portfolio Help

3. I don't have experience with this. Many people have turned their work experience and hobbies into credits.

4. There aren't any test options for data structures or linear algebra. I believe TESC won't allow PLAs for math subjects.

[bricabrac]

I'm not sure of CBE test, but yes, you can construct PLAs for Math subjects. Here is a link to the database Thomas Edison State College: Course Offerings

Type in the title of each course and you will be presented with the course description and most of the time learning outcomes. But you could search any college level course syllabus to use as a guide to build the PLA.

For computer courses currently in the database use the following link Thomas Edison State College: Course Offerings

The two courses you mentioned are listed in the database so you definitely have the option of using PLA for course credit.
Data Structures (COS-241)
Linear Algebra (MAT-321) 

At your level of education, both professional and teaching, I would call admissions and ask to have a phone interview with the PLA Director, Todd Siben, to layout the best method of possibly turning your experience into college credit.

Also you would have to compare pricing on TESC in house PLAs vs Learning Counts. I think it's TESC who, if you are going to do more than a few the price begins to lower but I'm not 100% sure. Again it will take some research on your part.

This is a fantastic current thread you should review. It is a forum members, FallingWaters, feedback on using Learning Counts for TESC credits.

There are also possible credits awarded for teaching. If you do a search on the forum it will most likely pull up posts where, if memory serves, I think it was cookderosa who spoke about this.

[sanantone]

I guess I was just going off of this. They don't outright ban it, but they discourage it.

Also note that English Composition and most Math courses are not well suited for portfolio assessment—but Thomas Edison State College offers TECEP exams for students who have prior learning in most of those courses, and the College accepts CLEP, DSST, and Excelsior exam credits where appropriate.

http://www.tesc.edu/degree-completion/PLA.cfm

[Prloko]

Hi all,

first, I'm so glad I found this forum! You guys are a wealth of info!
I have a few questions that I hope you might help me answer:

I actually have a PhD in Mathematics from a good US college, but I want to look for a job in Computer Science. (I am stay-at-home-mom at the moment and my littlest is going to preschool.) I have taken some 20 Coursera courses since Feb 2014 and then started thinking that it would be good to actually get a degree in CS if say, I wanted to teach CS in a high school. My undergrad diploma is from Italy, so few of the courses would transfer, if any (we had 16 year-long courses to take in Math exclusively).

I have about a year to complete this.

Many, many thanks for any help!

Have you looked into Oregon State University's One-Year Computer Science Program? It is designed as a second -bachelor's program and takes about a year to complete. It is not cheap though, but its quick and you only have to do CS courses. Computer Science -- Undergraduate Degrees Online -- Online & Distance Degrees | Oregon State Ecampus | OSU Degrees Online

[quickCS]

You guys are the best! Thanks so much for your replies, they were great! Sanantone and bricabrac, I read many of your posts before posting my question - thanks so much for all the info, not just in this thread. I didn't know about LearningCounts, sounds good. Great advice about calling Todd Siben - do I have to be enrolled for that?

I looked at some CS Masters degrees. The Oregon State looks great, but it is waaaaay too expensive for me (and also, probably way too involved - I do teach part-time and have 3 small kids, so I'm afraid of the time commitment - for the CLEPs, I could probably pass without much studying, judging from the practice stuff they have up).

By the way, Udacity and Georgia Tech have an online CS Masters for $6,600 if you get in (that was my problem...) - way cheaper than $24K, and Georgia Tech is a renowned school, too. But I believe they are just starting the pilot program and have a limited enrollment.

[bricabrac]

You guys are the best! Thanks so much for your replies, they were great! Sanantone and bricabrac, I read many of your posts before posting my question - thanks so much for all the info, not just in this thread. I didn't know about LearningCounts, sounds good. Great advice about calling Todd Siben - do I have to be enrolled for that?

Usually yes, but in this case, I would frame the request of a preliminary admissions interview as helping determine whether or not you enroll at TESC. With your experience and background I cannot see how they would deny you. That's why I advised you contact the admissions office and request an appointment to speak with him. I have a feeling this would be the best course of action for someone in your unique position. This case is very similar to FallingWaters, which is why I pointed you to that thread. Now whether you choose to complete the work through TESC, or Learning Counts, is up to you. You just need to know, preferably from Todd Siben and prior to admission, if completing the upper level maths and CS courses via PLA would be a viable option.

Good luck!