Fall 2017 First Month Review

That Passed by Quickly!

Over the weekend I realized amazingly that we're already through the first month of classes.  Man, that passed by quickly!  So I thought it would be good to give a quick first month review of what I've been doing, how things have been going, and what I've learned thus far in my classes.  I can definitely tell you that two classes is a little more challenging than one class, but it didn't take me long to get organized and into a groove.

Getting Organized is Key

My schedule this semester is beyond bonkers.  Everyone at home seems to be going in separate directions, work is really getting busy as we look to finish out the year, and I've been very active at my church.  So making time for my classes is a little more challenging than last year.

I learned pretty quickly the best way to get organized is to set up one calendar.  While Canvas is easy enough to navigate and has a good calendar which shows when your work is due, it's difficult to get a view on what's next.  Being able to plan ahead is key as I've learned that not all modules require the same amount of work.  Sometimes, you might have a slow week and be tempted to kind of take it easy, only to learn that you're utterly buried the following week.  So I needed a view of my classes that would allow me to plan not only my current work but my upcoming work as well.

I didn't do anything fancy, I just loaded all my semester assignments into an excel spreadsheet which lets me see all the course streams for my classes.  Now I can identify when I have assignments due and how those overlap between classes.  This has been helpful in informing where I should spend my precious little time on any given evening.

ST101OL

By far, I've spent most of my time working on my ST101OL class.  There is a tremendous amount of reading required for this course and as a result, I'm finding that any downtime I have during my day is usually a good time to pick up a book to knock off a chapter or two.  I've already been through 2.5 books and I know there are another 3.5 waiting for me as I continue on.

So far, I've spent a little over 42 hours total on this course over the month.  So if we look at that by week, I'm spending a little over 10 hours per week or about 3.3 hours/credit/week.  This is still very well balanced as far as the work goes and I'm happy with those numbers right now.  I do know that there are some big assignments down the road, so I'll need to keep a keen eye on where I am in the course to ensure I'll have enough time in my schedule to complete them.

I really am enjoying the class thus far and I really like Dr. Kreider's lectures.  I'm definitely having my brain bent in some different directions as we begin to discuss theology and theological methods, but I see this as a good thing.  It's just a different kind of learning when compared to my previous education in the sciences.

RS101OL

So the RS101OL class has moved along at a much slower pace, but remember, it's only a 1 credit class.  Most of the work has been to this point just class lectures and reading which has not been overly burdensome.  In fact, it has been very interesting.

To date, I've spent a little over 17 hours on the coursework thus far.  Similarly to the ST101OL class, this works out to be about 4 hours per week or 4 hours/credit/week.  Not too bad.  I can see though that I need to be a little more careful in planning my schedule here as it's easy to say, right, I've got 2 weeks until my next assignment is due.  But these assignments require a little forethought and you're just not going to get away with waiting until the last minute.

I have learned some good things thus far in research methodology which has really shaped my thinking on how to develop quality research skills.  For the next few weeks, I'll be putting some of that learning into practice as I continue to hone in on developing good research arguments using various new (to me) tools.

Summary

It's hard to believe that the first month is already gone.  But I'm staying on top of things and I haven't faced any significant challenges with the work or the assignments yet.  I know that will likely change as we get through the introductory material and get into the meat of the courses, but thus far I've been happy with the pace, the material, and the instructors.

Oh, I should mention that once again, I've got great TAs who have been very interactive and have already provided me with really good feedback.  Good TAs really take a lot of the stress out of the work and support and supplement the learning.