Is it a good idea to do a summer online course ahead of the actual course in fall? For example my son is a little concerned about upcoming Organic chemistry in Fall 2016 in the Sophomore year. He is thinking about taking an online organic chemistry course during the summer, just to prepare himself ahead of time for the “tough” course coming up. One option is CH331 in Ecampus at Oregon State university…
I’m not quite sure what you’re asking. I would think it would be a bit pointless to take an online course at a state university just to prepare for the same course the next semester. That online course might be transferable so I don’t see why he would do that. Just seems like a waste of money. If he’s already signed up for the class for the fall semester he can probably find the syllabi for his profs previous semesters and get the book ahead of time. Studying it by himself over the summer might be just as effective as an online course and you won’t have to pay for the same course twice. There are also resources on the internet for organic chem (youtube, chem books in .pdf format, khan academy), coupled with the syllabi from previous semesters he should be able to get a head start. There really is a wealth of information on the internet if you know where to look. Given the time and drive someone can immerse themselves in any subject, even complex and obscure ones.