Thomas Edison History Portfolios

[hornj]

I'm enrolled at TESC for a BA in History. My plan was to take all the history DSST and CLEPs, and then use PLAs for the rest of the classes, including the upper level requirement.

But today I talked with Todd Siben, Assistant Director at the Portfolio Assessment office, and he really discouraged trying this approach. Ignoring his lecture against distant education outside of a classroom, which he said wouldn't save time or money, he said that for portfolios you need experiential knowledge, and that history would be very difficult unless you were involved with something like Civil War reenacting, and that even teaching on a college level may not be sufficient. But he also said that if I had a deeper voice, had spent years going to battlefields, listening to guides, reading brochures, and attending reenactments, you could get credit for that. But I think for some courses I would qualify for everything in that except for the deep voice. He said I could try, but he thought I was on the wrong path.

My question is, is he right? I have been going to battlefields and reenactments for years, have ready many books, produced print, audio and video resources. Would any of that qualify for a PLA?

If not, where could I quickly and cheaply get enough upper level credits? I would prefer to not take the classes from TE if possible.

[Tayon]

CLEP101 posted what they did for there BA in history on the wiki

http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...plate.html

[hornj]

Thanks, but since then Thomas Edison added a requirement that you have 18 upper level credits.

CLEP101 posted what they did for there BA in history on the wiki

http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...plate.html

[sanantone]

Yeah, some of the really old degree plans might come from a time when TESC counted 200-level courses as UL. :O My degree plan is up to date, but always verify everything with an advisor. Even with my plan, you would have to find one more UL course. There are schools that offer self-paced courses for probably less than what you would spend taking TESC's two required PLA courses plus the portfolio assessment fee: BYU, University of Idaho, Ohio University, LSU, CSU Pueblo, Adams State College, etc. Ohio University also offers credit by exam, but their offerings are limited right now.

Sanantone's BA in History - Degree Forum Wiki

The whole deep voice thing is strange if I'm reading that right. I also heard that Todd discourages people from using FEMAs.

[hornj]

Thanks for that. They are also telling me I have to take a 12 week class on PLAs before I can submit them. Did they just add that, or did I just miss it on the website before?

And yea, you're reading the thing about the voice right. He seemed to be against the idea of distance learning, at least in my case. Strange considering he is working at a distance learning school.

Yeah, some of the really old degree plans might come from a time when TESC counted 200-level courses as UL. :O My degree plan is up to date, but always verify everything with an advisor. Even with my plan, you would have to find one more UL course. There are schools that offer self-paced courses for probably less than what you would spend taking TESC's two required PLA courses plus the portfolio assessment fee: BYU, University of Idaho, Ohio University, LSU, CSU Pueblo, Adams State College, etc. Ohio University also offers credit by exam, but their offerings are limited right now.

Sanantone's BA in History - Degree Forum Wiki

The whole deep voice thing is strange if I'm reading that right. I also heard that Todd discourages people from using FEMAs.

[sanantone]

TESC just created a new PLA system that's like LearningCounts. It's supposed to be cheaper than the way it was before, but that's only if you earn at least 6 credits. Before, they charged you by the credit hour. LearningCounts is still a lot cheaper than TESC.

[hornj]

I see. The problem for me is that I would have to sit through a 12 week class, the first four weeks he said was just about CLEPs, instead of them just sending me the notes that tell what they are looking for in a portfolio.

TESC just created a new PLA system that's like LearningCounts. It's supposed to be cheaper than the way it was before, but that's only if you earn at least 6 credits. Before, they charged you by the credit hour. LearningCounts is still a lot cheaper than TESC.

[IrishJohn]

Yeah, some of the really old degree plans might come from a time when TESC counted 200-level courses as UL. :O My degree plan is up to date, but always verify everything with an advisor. Even with my plan, you would have to find one more UL course. There are schools that offer self-paced courses for probably less than what you would spend taking TESC's two required PLA courses plus the portfolio assessment fee: BYU, University of Idaho, Ohio University, LSU, CSU Pueblo, Adams State College, etc. Ohio University also offers credit by exam, but their offerings are limited right now.

Sanantone's BA in History - Degree Forum Wiki

Yeah, I'd skip PLA as it seems to complex and pricey for this degree. Your degree plan should work and for 1 more UL course I'd suggest this as an option: http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...sophy.html