Online Assignments, and Papers, and Exams! Oh, My!

Posted by Jeff Davis on March 12th, 2009

Much like the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz, most students can often feel scared of their surroundings of the unknown. Especially when it comes to school and the many assignments that go with this type of educational environment. I am sure that the method and format for completing assignments varies among the different online universities. But in my experience with the University of Phoenix, assignments consisted of mainly reading chapters, writing papers, and creating presentations both individually and in a team environment. But at least there were no exams to worry about! In many regards, my assignments were very much like those in a traditional classroom environment. Among the differences between my online assignments and the more traditional assignments were that you could work at your own pace and all assignments were submitted by email. By having the flexibility of attending an online class, you get the opportunity to work at your own pace as long as your assignment meets its deadline. This works out great if you know how to effectively manage your time. I don’t recall being able to do this in a more traditional classroom setting. Instead, it seemed like that experience was more along the lines of everyone keeping the same pace week in and week out.

In my opinion, the assignments involving written papers were not much different in my online class versus my past experiences in a traditional class. For both types of classroom environments, you knew what was required and had to devote the time to do the necessary research, decide on the writing style, apply proper formatting, etc. My typical paper assignments usually consisted of two individual assignments and one team assignment per course. If this seems like a lot of writing, remember to keep in mind that there were no exams to worry about or study for. Exams were simply not a required part of the online learning environment at the University of Phoenix.

When it comes to online assignments, I have to say that there was a lot more work involved in earning my degree online and that this type of learning should never be mistaken for being “easy”. It is every bit as thorough and challenging as any traditional classroom environment.

Assignments and Exams Online

Posted by Jen Zeman on March 9th, 2009

The online assignments I had at UMUC were no different than assignments at Harford Community College which were in a traditional classroom setting. Projects/papers were a little more in-depth since UMUC is a four-year college, but formats and general content were the same. I didn’t find that the number of major papers required each semester changed – at UMUC we usually had one big paper due at the end of the semester much like it was at Harford Community College. However, UMUC did require weekly writing assignments that weren’t completed in the traditional classroom. My guess for this requirement is to make up for the in-class lecture students participate in the traditional setting. Weekly assignments for UMUC’s online classes seemed to focus on weekly readings and were an attempt to make sure you understood the material being covered.

Preparing for final exams for UMUC wasn’t any different either (when I attended UMUC, there were no mid-term exams). However, the process was vastly different. In the traditional classroom setting, everyone showed up in class on a pre-scheduled night to take the written exam all at once. At UMUC, exams were not offered online. You had to designate a place where you would take a proctored exam and have that location approved by UMUC (I would always take mine at Harford Community College’s test center). Prior to exam week, the exam would be mailed to your designated testing location. You had to then take the exam within the designated exam week. Testing personnel would then mail the completed exam back to your professor at UMUC. Exams sometimes included multiple-choice, but were largely essay-based. None were easy, but if you studied the material the professor indicated would be covered on the final exam, the exam wasn’t as painful!