Free Online Genealogy Course with FutureLearn (Week 4)

[Ruskie]

I finished week 4 last night and found it had a little more substance to it than previous weeks.

I am interested in DNA testing for family history research but find the whole subject utterly confusing and can barely begin to comprehend it, but I felt like an expert reading some of the comments. There was a lot of repetition in the comments and questions (and I only generally read the first 'page' of comments), so for those who know nothing about the subject even this most basic introduction obviously was not clear enough for beginners to grasp.

The example given of how X and Y chromosomes were passed down to sons and daughters, (where they used names John, Hugh or whatever) I found unnecessarily complicated - it was confusing me and I already have a slight understanding of who inherits what. I felt like I was taking a different course when reading the comments which stated how clear the explanation was. Huh?

Regarding the quiz - it was pretty ridiculous - what is the point of including so many obviously incorrect answers? And there was one question which I actually found quite difficult and got it wrong twice.

I don't know - it's probably just me .... 

[sami]

Regarding the quiz - it was pretty ridiculous - what is the point of including so many obviously incorrect answers? And there was one question which I actually found quite difficult and got it wrong twice.

I don't know - it's probably just me .... 

I bet it was the same question where where I got the answer wrong 4 times before I finally figured it out ......and that was only because there was just one choice left 

sami

[Ruskie]

Regarding the quiz - it was pretty ridiculous - what is the point of including so many obviously incorrect answers? And there was one question which I actually found quite difficult and got it wrong twice.

I don't know - it's probably just me .... 

I bet it was the same question where where I got the answer wrong 4 times before I finally figured it out ......and that was only because there was just one choice left 

sami

  Probably! I think it was a trick question. (and I think all the answers were more or less correct anyway)

I'm happy to have challenging questions, but it seemed a bit odd coming after such obvious silly ones.

[Romilly]

I've finished Week 4 as well now. The DNA section has been the most interesting part of the Course for me so far, but I'm still unconvinced that it's worth taking a test if your Ancestry is all UK based.

I agree that the Quizzes are insultingly easy. Talk about dumbing down...(!)

Romilly

[StanleysChesterton]

I'd not do a course because I can get as far as possible with the free sites.  To prove anything costs money - and that's out of the question for me.

There's no point, to me, in learning that you need to get XYZ .... and if you spend £££ on this membership and that membership then you get more records .... and if you travel 300 miles and stay a week in a hotel you can paw through XYZ resources in the archives. 

It's an expensive hobby that draws you in .... just one more cert .... if I only had that cert .... that membership gives me so much more .... just a 3-day break in XYZ town with hotels/transport/dinners .....

And with every step, every discovery, you simply add more research, another 10 people and potentially another 100 bits of expensive evidence and proof to add



So, doing a course is the thin end of the wedge.

[groom]

Surely though the quizzes are just that, put in there as a bit of fun, they don't count at all? It's a pity they haven't included tests,  which do count and are shown at the end of the course. As you lose points for each try you have at the answer, it might stop some people whizzing through each week as, unless they knew everything,  they'd have to read and watch all the sections.

[mare]

I've just done 7 steps so far in week 4, been a busy week ... but checking out the comments here helps too, will look at that youtube link before I progress further, thank you STG 


ps ... I received a reply to a comment from week 2 today, so others are still working through steps in own time 
 

[Millmoor]

Watched the You Tube video this morning, Mare and have to say I thought it was very good. My thanks too to STG for the heads up.

William

[SmallTownGirl]

Watched the You Tube video this morning, Mare and have to say I thought it was very good. My thanks too to STG for the heads up.

William

Thanks peeps! 

Glad it's useful to others.  I'm quite bright (no, really  ) but was in such a fug after the Strathclyde one, it was a relief to find something that made sense to me!