Classes without Tests

When I first started taking Coursera courses, I did everything: listened to videos, made notes, read supplementary material, took tests, and participated in discussion forums. The only rationale I had for tests was that it verified that I had indeed picked up the most important points from the instructor. Most of the time my score was 100% or one missed.

At this point in my life - there is no purpose of proving what I have learned to anyone…and what I want to learn may actually be somewhat different than the main points of the instructor. I stopped taking the tests this past summer. It is refreshing to realize I’ve overcome the mindset developed through so many years of ‘school’ that learning must be tested to be real.

My purpose in taking the courses is to gain a framework into other - perhaps tangential - areas relative to the topic of the course. It seems to happen automatically. The richness of the resources available on the internet and when I travel is so tremendous that I find myself savoring the relative order of the courses as the starting point for lots of other exploring.

I hope the Coursera folks realize that there are probably a lot of people like me that are getting a lot from their offerings - even though we are not taking the tests.