Jonathan Lopez is a second year student in the Integrated Sciences Program, specializing in Environmental Microbiology. One of his program requirements is the completion of BIOL 200: Cell Biology I: Structural Basis and he “chose to do it through distance education because it best fit [his] schedule.” This was Jonathan’s first time taking a distance education course and he initially approached it with some reservations. However, his experience extinguished this scepticism quickly, as he found that his “course was very flexible and as a result was very easy to balance with the rest of [his] courses and schedule.”
BIOL 200 is designed to provide students with an understanding of the structure and functional relations of the major systems in eukaryotic cells. It’s an important foundational course for Jonathan as it provides the context and background for further study in cell and molecular biology, genetics, and development. Jonathan explains how the design of the course enabled him to grasp the complex interactions of cell systems more readily. “I would often find myself working through the more challenging problems in this course with other students, who were having similar problems with the concepts, on the discussion boards.” This online course facilitates learning in virtual social environments that enable interactions between learners and instructors, providing multiple perspectives for problem solving.
Jonathan describes his initial hesitation to taking this course by distance education. “My only reservation in not taking BIOL 200 in a conventional lecture setting was it being such a critical course, and I didn’t want to risk being ill prepared for future courses for which it is a pre-requisite. This was not at all the case as my professor, who also teaches the lecture course, did a very good job at teaching and presenting all the course information I would have been taught in the traditional lecture course as evidenced in studying with my friends enrolled in the lecture course.” Through distance education Jonathan excelled in one of his program requirements while enjoying the flexibility of taking both a distance course as well as other on-campus courses.
Distance education courses do require a fair amount of self motivation and commitment. Jonathan found that his distance course “required more work to cover the course material, in that I had to actively pursue the course material. I felt that I grasped this material better than by simply sitting in a lecture having all the information told to me.” BIOL 200 places a strong emphasis on problem solving and active learning and Jonathan experienced this first hand through his assignments and discussions.
Jonathan expresses a valuable component to his BIOL 200 course. “I really appreciated how available my professor made himself to me and the rest of the class by always answering questions on discussion boards; providing a phone line for us to reach him; and setting aside time during his office hours.” Despite the fact that most students will complete the course without ever meeting the professor face-to-face, the students were well connected and supported by the variety of communication tools the professor offered. Coupled with the fact that his professor teaches the equivalent on-campus course, Jonathan was reassured that he was not missing anything in his distance education course.