Tips for Straighterline

[Mab81]

Hi there, I have just bought a few Straighterline classes. On Intro to Criminal Justice, I have noticed that the quizzes are tricky in the sense that they don't necessarily test on the key terms - they will choose a random sentence in the book, switch up the wording a little bit, and want you to complete it (multiple choice at least). Many times it will be a seemingly random fact. Sometimes when I search the e-textbook, it will come up with what look like search results I can click on, but then when you click on it, it sends me to an index page of some sort. Not the actual page it pulled text from. Not sure if this is a technical glitch or what. So I have missed a few on the quizzes due to these issues. Has anyone else noticed this?

In addition, I was wondering about some study tips for Straighterline. I work full time and I feel like these classes are going to take me forever. I decided on Straighterline instead of CLEP because the instantcert flashcards weren't working well for me. I need some kind of context for the flashcards, like a study guide with the entirety of the material to read/look over before I start the flash cards. If anyone has some tips to make Straighterline go faster, or else some tips on other types of tests which may be faster, I would appreciate any info. As far as I can tell, instantcert does not offer study guides, only flash cards? The instantcert website also not very user friendly for me... maybe I will revisit instantcert again in a few months and see if they have finished updating their site.

I like the fact that I can do well on the open book quizzes and then not have to do so great on the final at Straighterline... so I was going to go through and try to take all the open book courses which are applicable to my degree plan. There aren't as many open book courses as there used to be, apparently. Even intro to Philosophy is now closed book!

anyway that post was a little disjointed and I apologize. If anyone has any thoughts on whatever part of it, thanks in advance.

[bjcheung77]

You pretty much have summed up what you need to do first. Take all the courses that have the open book exams, then the ones that don't.
Make sure to take the ones for your degree you have planned even though you have 27 free elective courses that can be anything.
There's also a limit of 90 credits, so if Straighterline is something you're interested in taking the majority of your courses, be aware of it.

Just wondering, what courses have you taken? We can give you recommendations on possible course providers, like Saylor and Study.com
If you haven't finished your math courses yet, you can take them at ALEKS. For cheap non proctored credits, go for Schmoop.
Create a degree plan first by adding it to your spreadsheet and then work on the courses - see my signature for more info.

Recommendation: For SL courses, the midterm reviews the chapter/topic exams, the same goes for the Final proctored exam.
I usually just review the exams I have taken up to that point and keep reviewing the answers/questions (it's like a flash card!)

[Mab81]

You pretty much have summed up what you need to do first. Take all the courses that have the open book exams, then the ones that don't.
Make sure to take the ones for your degree you have planned even though you have 27 free elective courses that can be anything.
There's also a limit of 90 credits, so if Straighterline is something you're interested in taking the majority of your courses, be aware of it.

Just wondering, what courses have you taken? We can give you recommendations on possible course providers, like Saylor and Study.com
If you haven't finished your math courses yet, you can take them at ALEKS. For cheap non proctored credits, go for Schmoop.
Create a degree plan first by adding it to your spreadsheet and then work on the courses - see my signature for more info.

Recommendation: For SL courses, the midterm reviews the chapter/topic exams, the same goes for the Final proctored exam.
I usually just review the exams I have taken up to that point and keep reviewing the answers/questions (it's like a flash card!)

Hi, thank you for replying!

I am starting with nothing. I have done the sophia 'developing effective teams' and that is it so far. I did make a spreadsheet of the degree requirements (which show humanities, written english, all the different types of credits needed) to try to map what i need for general education first. I think what I am tripping up on is, there are different course providers that offer pretty much the same general education classes. So I would love to know which ones are the fastest to get through (or whether CLEP is easier for certain courses).

I think what is worrying me about Straighterline is that there is that $100 monthly fee, and it seems to take me SO long to get through them that I worry I may end up making everything just way too expensive by paying for months and months of fees. Studying for free and then paying for the course at the end might be better for me at this point! I do like that straighterline keeps my progress. So if I want to take a break I can cancel and then renew membership later.

thank you for mentioning the 90 credits, that is good info!

The link in your signature about the spreadsheet, when you visit it and click to download the excel file, the link is broken... is there a good link somewhere? thanks!

[CM1999]

I've been at this for a while (going very slowly, I work two jobs and have an adopted child who has behavior struggles). Straighterline is going the fastest for me. Study.com made me want to pull my hair out (8-110 quizzes). I really like that I can skim the SL book, open the quiz and search the book for the answer ---for some reason this method really makes things 'stick' in my head and I do feel like I'm learning far more than when I did other course platforms. It sometimes takes me a bit to search out the answer but I do eventually find them.
What I do is 'flag' the questions that I guessed on, the ones where I couldnt find the answer, and I go back to those at the end if I have time left over.


how long is it taking you to get the courses done? I'm finding that skimming the book and then hunting the quiz questions is fairly quick. I usually skip the other stuff ---those slides where they show a slide and have someone talking really annoy me for some reason.

[bjcheung77]

Hi, thank you for replying!

I am starting with nothing. I have done the sophia 'developing effective teams' and that is it so far. I did make a spreadsheet of the degree requirements (which show humanities, written english, all the different types of credits needed) to try to map what i need for general education first. I think what I am tripping up on is, there are different course providers that offer pretty much the same general education classes. So I would love to know which ones are the fastest to get through (or whether CLEP is easier for certain courses).

I think what is worrying me about Straighterline is that there is that $100 monthly fee, and it seems to take me SO long to get through them that I worry I may end up making everything just way too expensive by paying for months and months of fees. Studying for free and then paying for the course at the end might be better for me at this point! I do like that straighterline keeps my progress. So if I want to take a break I can cancel and then renew membership later.

thank you for mentioning the 90 credits, that is good info!

The link in your signature about the spreadsheet, when you visit it and click to download the excel file, the link is broken... is there a good link somewhere? thanks!

Oh, the wiki link is broken, the one in my signature directly downloads that file... it's also in the my profile/about me, just copy the hyperlink and paste it into the browser for the BSBA/BALS templates.
Straighterline is the fastest option, but if you want the cheapest that would be the Free Cleps from ModernStates, then Saylor at $25 (they are hard except for Environmental Ethics and Corp Communications)
For Math, take as much as you can from ALEKS. It's all in the spreadsheet for SL/Straighterline/Study.com and ALEKS. You can replace these with the free CLEPS (especially the English Comp parts).
If you are going for the BALS or BSBA, you may want to take all the free credits you can from the FREE courses links for "free elective credits".

[Mab81]

I've been at this for a while (going very slowly, I work two jobs and have an adopted child who has behavior struggles). Straighterline is going the fastest for me. Study.com made me want to pull my hair out (8-110 quizzes). I really like that I can skim the SL book, open the quiz and search the book for the answer ---for some reason this method really makes things 'stick' in my head and I do feel like I'm learning far more than when I did other course platforms. It sometimes takes me a bit to search out the answer but I do eventually find them.
What I do is 'flag' the questions that I guessed on, the ones where I couldnt find the answer, and I go back to those at the end if I have time left over.


how long is it taking you to get the courses done? I'm finding that skimming the book and then hunting the quiz questions is fairly quick. I usually skip the other stuff ---those slides where they show a slide and have someone talking really annoy me for some reason.

Yep, I figured out that those presentations did not help at ALL on the quizzes so i started skipping them too. I have also been skimming the book and then just searching for the quiz answers. I still feel like I am going at a snail's pace though.

Have you done any final exams yet? I am very nervous about the 'proctor' part of it, I've never done anything like that before.

[Mab81]

Oh, the wiki link is broken, the one in my signature directly downloads that file... it's also in the my profile/about me, just copy the hyperlink and paste it into the browser for the BSBA/BALS templates.
Straighterline is the fastest option, but if you want the cheapest that would be the Free Cleps from ModernStates, then Saylor at $25 (they are hard except for Environmental Ethics and Corp Communications)
For Math, take as much as you can from ALEKS. It's all in the spreadsheet for SL/Straighterline/Study.com and ALEKS. You can replace these with the free CLEPS (especially the English Comp parts).
If you are going for the BALS or BSBA, you may want to take all the free credits you can from the FREE courses links for "free elective credits".

Thank you! I am actually going for a History degree. But the general education will be the same so that is super helpful on the spreadsheet. Do you think Straighterline is actually faster than studying for a clep?

[bjcheung77]

Thank you! I am actually going for a History degree. But the general education will be the same so that is super helpful on the spreadsheet. Do you think Straighterline is actually faster than studying for a clep?

Yes, Straighterline is the fastest option, you can practically finish a course faster than studying for a CLEP.
I would recommend doing the ALEKS courses first if you're missing math, and "Free courses" together...

In regards to the General Education Requirements, yes, they are practically the same for the BALS/BSBA.
The main difference is one extra course requirement, either an extra math or an extra humanities course.

If you wanted a BALS vs a BSBA template, I have one made up using Shmoop courses for example.
It's in the signature bottom, actually, in my profile "about me" link. Just copy/paste to a browser.

[Mab81]

Yes, Straighterline is the fastest option, you can practically finish a course faster than studying for a CLEP.
I would recommend doing the ALEKS courses first if you're missing math, and "Free courses" together...

In regards to the General Education Requirements, yes, they are practically the same for the BALS/BSBA.
The main difference is one extra course requirement, either an extra math or an extra humanities course.

If you wanted a BALS vs a BSBA template, I have one made up using Shmoop courses for example.
It's in the signature bottom, actually, in my profile "about me" link. Just copy/paste to a browser.

Oh thank you, that's amazing! I have been wanting to try Shmoop. I am curious about Davar though, it seems like it may be a good option for me since you only pay at the end for the exam.

[cookderosa]

I've been at this for a while (going very slowly, I work two jobs and have an adopted child who has behavior struggles). Straighterline is going the fastest for me. Study.com made me want to pull my hair out (8-110 quizzes). I really like that I can skim the SL book, open the quiz and search the book for the answer ---for some reason this method really makes things 'stick' in my head and I do feel like I'm learning far more than when I did other course platforms. It sometimes takes me a bit to search out the answer but I do eventually find them.
What I do is 'flag' the questions that I guessed on, the ones where I couldnt find the answer, and I go back to those at the end if I have time left over.


how long is it taking you to get the courses done? I'm finding that skimming the book and then hunting the quiz questions is fairly quick. I usually skip the other stuff ---those slides where they show a slide and have someone talking really annoy me for some reason.

In the courses my sons have taken, I almost always notice 3 streams of information, so quizzes can come from any of them. (1) the ebook (2) the words on the screen during the lesson (3) spoken words during the lesson. The spoken word part is hard to retrieve unless you take notes. When my kids did their first class last year, I made them take notes on the spoken lesson as well as print out the slides from the first 3 lessons - it was about a zillion pages. We had the ebook and the paperback (before they made ebooks free) and so we had a MOUNTAIN of resource material. Still some questions were just random and hard to find. I sat through that entire course with my sons to help them learn the SL system (it was the first time for both) and we did overkill no question. Now they both work 100% independently and almost never take notes or watch the lessons unless it's interesting. That all may change later this month when the both start Business Statistics, which will be 100% new info for both- but I would just encourage you to find the path of least resistance. I'm not familiar with Western Civ or CJ, but if the lessons don't match the quizzes, don't waste your time on the lessons!