Great Schools for Online College Biology Courses
Top Online Courses for Biology Students
Oct 5, 2009
There are many colleges and universities nationwide that offer a number of online degrees, though most of those degrees seem to steer towards business and legal-type majors. There are, however, a growing number of online college biology courses, making it easier than ever for nontraditional students to work toward their degrees from home.
Here are some of the better programs offered around the United States. Requirements vary from university to university, as will be vaguely outlined below, so be sure to check with the school’s registrar if any questions arise.
MIT Open Course Ware (OCW) Biology
If a degree isn’t that important and all someone is looking for is to learn, then MIT’s Open Course Ware is the way to go. As one of the top schools in the US, MIT has made available over 60 previously-taught online biology courses, for free. Of course, these courses won’t earn college credit, but they will certainly look fantastic on any future college or job application.
The array of biology courses is vast; some of the class topics are: Intro Biology, Cell Biology, Experimental Microbial Genetics, DNA Damage Response as a Target for Anti-Cancer Therapy, and Protein Folding Problem, to name a few. Some of the classes repeat themselves, but are listed separately because they were taught during different semesters.
Included in these free courses are the original syllabi and calendars, scheduling out the reading material. Each course page has an assignment tab, which also helps to give the knowledge-junkie some structure for learning. Most courses even have recordings and notes on the original lectures, to make the experience all the more college-like. Of course, reading lists are also included for each course.
Online Biology Courses at Indiana University
Indiana University’s Online and Distance Education School of Continuing Studies offers a number of fully credited science and biology-related courses. Their class topics are basic undergraduate biology fodder, beginning with Biology Level I, which tackles scientific method, chemical aspects of life, and principles of heredity. After this class, it’s on to the second semester of Biology Level I, which deals more specifically with the study of protists, plants, and animals, and also with population biology.
Indiana University’s courses are fully credited and can work towards degrees at other schools (depending on the transfer credit acceptance, of course), but as they are most “useful,” they also require registration and tuition at IU.
Online Biology Courses at the University of Utah
The distance education department at the University of Utah is quite extensive and very well organized, so students looking for biology classes should have no problems. While classes vary from semester to semester (some are ongoing, however), they have several classes to offer, such as the basic Principles of biology (offered both online and print-based), Human Physiology (print-based), and Organic Chemistry I and II (both print-based).
All classes require registration with the University of Utah, and each costs $760. There are several options for distance classes: print-based, online, and telecourses. With print-based classes, the university mails out the course materials to the registered students; with the online structure, all materials are electronic. The telecourses are an attractive option, but aren’t offered as often; they entail video lectures and frequent communication with the instructor.
Some of the courses listed require students to be on campus for scheduled exams, so for those students who live across the country, it is best to check out the syllabus before registering.
Just remember when hunting down online college biology courses to check the requirements for each program. Some schools will require on-campus lab sessions, while some will not. Students should make sure they will be able to meet all of their program’s requirements, of course. For more information on online biology degrees, visit WorldWideLearn.com.
 |
 |
