Origins - Formation of the Universe, Solar System, Earth and Life
I enrolled for Origins offered by the University of Copenhagen after Useful Genetics. I thoroughly enjoyed this MOOC for several reasons:
1) I've always been fascinated by the origin of life
There are times when I wonder how did I become what I am? How did the metabolisms occuring inside me even as I type this get "programmed"? How can the orca (or killer whale) be more closely related to wolves than each other? I think humans are naturally curious about where we come from and this course addresses the questions that I'm sure many of us think of. The course addresses the big questions and presents the theories in an unbiased manner.
2) The lecture videos seem to "bring" me into the classroom
The presenter is not the same every week, the Natural History Musuem brings "specialist" lecturers to share their experience and their knowledge with us. As such, sometimes we're walking along the cliffs to study rock formation patterns or browsing the exhibits in the museum. This is a great way to connect the students to the study environment in the museum and adds value to the lecture videos.
3) Manageable coursework
I personally prefer coursework with little interaction (with the community) and minimal pressure. The fact that the videos were very interesting made it easier for me to follow the syllabus and the questions were well-balanced. There were links to various references for self-study and this is the 1st course where I found the discussion forums lively and full of great information sharing.
I'm happy to say that I scored 88% (my highest ever!) for this course and I highly recommend it to all curious about where we come from and how we came to be :)
Like their FB community page here and stay tuned for the return of this course!
1) I've always been fascinated by the origin of life
There are times when I wonder how did I become what I am? How did the metabolisms occuring inside me even as I type this get "programmed"? How can the orca (or killer whale) be more closely related to wolves than each other? I think humans are naturally curious about where we come from and this course addresses the questions that I'm sure many of us think of. The course addresses the big questions and presents the theories in an unbiased manner.
The presenter is not the same every week, the Natural History Musuem brings "specialist" lecturers to share their experience and their knowledge with us. As such, sometimes we're walking along the cliffs to study rock formation patterns or browsing the exhibits in the museum. This is a great way to connect the students to the study environment in the museum and adds value to the lecture videos.
I personally prefer coursework with little interaction (with the community) and minimal pressure. The fact that the videos were very interesting made it easier for me to follow the syllabus and the questions were well-balanced. There were links to various references for self-study and this is the 1st course where I found the discussion forums lively and full of great information sharing.
Like their FB community page here and stay tuned for the return of this course!
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