Swinburne Courses

[mellotron]

Hi,

I am considering taking a course at Swinburne. I already have an Hons degree in engineering, but work and family prevents me from studying anything further full time. These online post grad courses seem very good, but as I am fairly new to Australia I don't know much about the reputation of Swinburne.

Would any of you recommend taking these courses?

http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/sao/

Stu

P.S. Please excuse my ignorance if Swinburne turns out to be the greatest Astro school in Australia.. I am new! :screwy:

[edit]
P.P.S. Just did a quick google and found out that the famous Trevor Barry studied there. I must be on the right track!

[renormalised]

You can either do it there, or here...

http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mathphys/astronomy/

Which is similar to Swinburne, except here you can go onto get a PhD.

It's where I'm doing my Masters....

[Ian Robinson]

Looks OK to me , lots of this stuff is also in undergraduate physics .

Will your foreign credential be accepted by Swinburne ?

[renormalised]

Just so long you've got a degree, it doesn't matter.

[mellotron]

It's a UK degree so it should be ok - hopefully.. The JCU course looks really good as well. How much time do you spend studying per week to keep on top of the course?

[renormalised]

Well, you usually study, on average, 1-2 hrs a day for 3-4 days a week...that's about how much you should put in, although I do more, myself. If you can fit in 10hrs/week, you'll be fine. Plus, on weekends I do extra....plus have work done to hand in on Sunday. Try to keep in touch with the lecturers and other students on a regular basis.

[Quark]

Hi Stu,
I would highly recommend Swinburne, the unit instructors and project supervisors that I ran into were very supportive and obviously passionate about their particular subject. The interaction with other students within each units discusion group was most enjoyable and the essay topics & projects were very interesting.

I found the whole experience extremely stimulating and rewarding. I always thought people that recorded variable star data must have just been extremely bored but after doing a variable star project and researching the subject to great depth I became a convert and now have about 1000 obs with the AAVSO.

I think with this sort of thing you really get out of it what your prepared to put in. I had no previous tertiary experience, so had to work very hard at it. I put in about 10 hours a day. What ever the criteria were for any particular assesable element, I made sure that I exceeded them.

It was the totally unrelated info that I picked up along the way, while researching an essay, project or the answer to another students question that I found incredibly valuable. I was like a sponge sucking up all of this.

I note that Swinburne has now negotiated time on the Keck's for their research scientists. Sarah Maddison the head of SAO is an astrophysicist and runs a tight ship. She does an excellent job and if you have any queries then I suggest contacting her.

Regards
Trevor

[renormalised]

It looks like a very comprehensive program, Trevor. I've actually downloaded some of their sample tutes to have a look at.

[Quark]

Hi Renormalised,
Thats what I did when I was thinking about taking the plunge.
There used to be access to the project list for each unit from the SAO website. I based the selection of some of my units on what projects were available. Not sure if that material is still on the site.

There is a great deal of info available about the various units. Some are prerequisite to others.

Being distance ed the students tend to be from many different countries, I think that adds to the discussion groups.

Regards
Trevor

[renormalised]

I probably could've been doing my Masters there but I stuck with my old alma mater:)

It's good, though, to find extra materials to study from other institutions, that can compliment what you do at your own uni.

Yes, I would agree with that....having students from all over the place and with varying degrees of experience really gives the courses a great depth they otherwise wouldn't normally have.

[rogerg]

I'm 3/4 the way through a Swinburne course (short course) at the moment. It's been a very positive experience, I've enjoy it a lot.

I have no doubt about the worthwhileness of their courses, it just depends how much time you have to put to it. Doing more than a short course would be a stretch for me I think, too many things on the go. For the short course I spend about 6 hours a week on it, at a guess. A degree would take considerably more time but I'm not sure exactly how much more.

Roger.

[renormalised]

To give you an idea, I work part time so I have plenty of spare time to do course work. I do a full 3 days a week, plus extra on the weekends to finish things up and revise some stuff. I do my course part-time, so that's one subject a semester, but I'll most likely switch to doing 2 a semester.

That's a fairly intense workload, and you normally wouldn't do it like that because of work commitments and such. 10-15 hrs or so a week would be more than sufficient to do a degree course.

You just have to be on the ball with your subjects.

[Terry B]

I did my master at UWS. This was the precurser to the JCU course and has now ceased to exist and most of the lecturers seem to have migrated to JCU.
I worked full time as a country GP whilst doing the master and found I had ample time. I just didn't watch TV in the evenings.
I think either course would be great.
JUST DO IT.:):):)

[renormalised]

You know, it's a pity that uni's are like that. When the peeps move on to somewhere else, the uni's never seem to want to carry on with anything they happen to setup whilst they're there. They talk about taking initiatives and being innovative in education, yet they're lax really...and conservative.

That course at UWS should still be running. It was the pioneer course.

[rogerg]

Does anyone know how these internet courses stack up in the real world against a "normal" university degree? I wonder where you would be left after completing one, can you seriously consider a profession in astronomy?

[renormalised]

They're the same as doing your masters at uni...they're "normal" degrees. Having your masters will get your foot in the door in so far as a professional career goes, but to go all the way you need your PhD. The masters will allow you to teach astronomy at a college/high school, tutor at uni (here or in the UK) or if you were in the US you could get an adjunct or associate position at an University. You could also get a position as an observer at an observatory. It really depend on how far you want to go with it...but I would recommend if you get your masters to go onto the PhD if you want to make a full blown profession out of it.

If you want to see what you can do, just goto the SAO page and look up what their grads are doing now.

[Terry B]

Unfortunatly the uni seemed to see the course as a money making venture rather than something to produce real research and teach. Quite a number of good papers came from our course and some people have gone on to do a PhD.
When the lectures wanted more paid hours to cope with the increasing students they canned it. Quite a shame really.

[renormalised]

Just goes to show you that you really need people dedicated to the job to carry on with it. Once it falls into other people's hands they tend not to have the same dedication and enthusiasm for the idea and if the uni itself isn't dedicated to the course, it falls by the wayside.

[leinad]

I currently work 40hours week full-time; and would only have night and weekends if I started the Grad. Cert course.

Is anyone working full-time and doing the Grad. Cert course or another?

I'm thinking that more commitment is most likely needed; and I'd have to switch work to casual or part-time.

Prior to seeing these course offerings, I was looking at completing my tertiary studies, discrete mathematics, calculus, physics, etc.
Would this be preffered before enrolling in these courses?

[renormalised]

If you can finish your previous course and graduate, it would make it easier to get into the astronomy courses. However, if you can demonstrate strong prior knowledge, then you may get in.

How far have you got to go??

[leinad]

Enrolment to End of cousrse

[[1ponders]]

I was doing the Grad Cert (two completed semesters) and had no prob with the workload and depth of 1 unit per semester. I decided not to continue partway through my 3rd semester. I found the bulletin board style teaching too......uninspiring. If you like realtime communication, regular lectures and interaction by your lecturer, then these courses may not be for you. And while it wasn't an issue for me I could imagine the "black belters" could make replying to questions intimidating. Even though you may be doing a Grad Dip you have others who are working on their Masters included in the class. This could be a bonus for you or a detriment depending on your personality and learning style.

[renormalised]

That's one thing I'm very conscious of with some of the members in my course. I know that there are people who don't have the astronomical background that I have, so I am careful to fully explain myself when I post something technical. All the members of my course (25 of us) are doing the Masters degree. Luckily, there are a few of us with extensive experience and so we help the others out. We also get a lot of feedback off of our lecturers and I don't find doing it online all that hard.

[ruggiero54]

Hi there everyone (especially "renormalised" :)) ...
I run a company, working 50+ a week and travel interstate/overseas and hav little trouble doing the Masters program at James Cook - I treat the reading, research and practicals as welcome relief from the day-to-day stresses of work; with the added advantage of being able to pick it up, communicate & submit from wherever I am.
My tutor and fellow students are a great source of encouragement.
Don't get too hung up on whether you can do it or not, you'd be surprised how the time can be found AND it's incredibly interesting.
"Just do it!"

[renormalised]

I concur...totally:D:D

How do you think you went with the exam?? I hope I did alright.

[Ian Robinson]

Good guide is 2 hours "study = reading , doing assignments" per hour "contact" time. More is better.

Do all the recommended reading and all the tutorial and "practical" work if you want to get a good handle on the material - this is how it works in most math and physics and engineering type subjects if you to do better than just a passing grade.

[leinad]

Hi Rugg,

Do you do your work during the daytime; or after work and weekends?
I think the only time I'll have is after work and weekends. Unless I cut my hours down and do causal or night-hours.
Do communications with lecturers; and other members are mostly during set times during the day ?

[renormalised]

Most of the communications is during the day....not at set times, any time, though usually between 1-5pm daily. I've been talking to the guys as late as 1-2am in the morning. But even if you don't hear from someone immediately, you'll have your message answered that afternoon or the next day, for sure.

[leinad]

Ok thanks. How did you find the Grad. Cert course? Did you have background mathematics before enrolling?
They offer a bridging mathematics course which I might look at; or else where if it is not an external solution.

On average what is the overall cost of doing the Grad. cert?
Do these courses offer an opportunity to other fields of study as well; recognized pre-requisites ?

Thx

[renormalised]

I'm doing the masters degree course:)

Yes, I did, from some of my previous studies, although you can do it without the maths, as it's not a prerequisite. At the beginning of your course you are given the URL of a maths site in the UK which is basically revision for all higher maths (calculus, algebra, vectors, trig etc, etc) and you go through the modules for each week as a refresher. Here's the address to one of the modules...

http://www.mathcentre.ac.uk/students.php/mathematics/trigonometry/

The others are easy to get to from there:)

To do a subject, it costs $2510 per semester....however, you can get government assistance through FEE-HELP which pays for your fees. If you decide to do the JCU course, here's the address to the Centre for Astronomy.... http://www.jcu.edu.au/school/mathphys/astronomy/

and the address to the postgraduate help pages at JCU...

http://www.jcu.edu.au/future/money/JCUDEV_002097.html

That'll take you to the pages you need to look at.

Yes, you can go on from the grad cert to the masters and then the PhD or you could use it as extra points for another course. Or you can go straight into the masters and then go from there.

[leinad]

Thanks,

I havnt done mathematics since high school (over 10 years ago) and my attention was never really there and didnt do to well back then; so I'm wondering whether I should do a secondary school mathematics course to get up to speed; or do alongside the Grad.Cert course.

[renormalised]

The refresher should get you through....quite a few of the students haven't touched maths in years. It's 21 years since I last did any hard maths, as most of my other postgrad work didn't involve too much maths....enough, but not to the extent astronomy requires.

[AlexN]

I just stumbled across these courses, came here to ask a question or two, and as usual, I found most questions had already been answered....

Now heres my main one.... I haven't completed anything past year 12 at high-school, Cert II small business, Cert III/IV Info-tech and diploma of multi-media/web development.

Im keen on firing up one of the SAO courses, however Im not sure If I would meet the requirements of entry. I also considered doing their short course in Astronomy, and wondered if that would count at all towards my entry..

My Math/physics knowledge is good and my high school grades reflect that....

Anyone got any ideas?

[higginsdj]

I did 4 units of the Swinburne course then called it quits. I couldn't see much point in continuing as really it's just a structured self taught course - and I can do that myself and save the $1000/unit.....

Entry requirements are very low. I had completed secondary school 30 years ago and nothing since. BUT I must admit that my math skills were lacking and they throw in math problems to solve (that they don't teach you the math) so it's sink or swim......

Cheers

David

[spacezebra]

Hi guys

I have been watching this thread with great interest as I have just lodged my application for the Masters with JCU. Interested in your thoughts on both courses (Swinburne and JCU). I sought an unbiased view and was still left asking questions.

However I appreciate the comments that have been posted to date.

Cheers Petra d.

[renormalised]

I've looked at both courses....I think they both have fairly similar approaches except that there's more multimedia presentations of the course material in the Swinburne course... JCU's course, so far, has been more book based....however the disks that come with the books and the online material are very multimedia oriented.

I think with both courses, you get out of them what you put into them. There is a vast amount of material which is at your disposal, both bok based and multimedia based.

And....welcome to the course at JCU:)

[spacezebra]

Many thanks

Cheers Petra d.