Introducing our latest ebook: Photographic Techniques

Explore how to take better photos. This is a book packed full of practical tips, from the authors' own experiences, coupled with a solid introduction to well established and widely practiced photographic techniques. This is a well illustrated, excellent reference for students of photography; and an equally useful source of inspiration to the amateur photographer.

To download a free sample, to read the full outline, or to purchase, please click here.

Featured Course this week: Vertebrate Zoology

This course has recently been updated and will give you a thorough understanding of "higher" animals' Zoology, Taxonomy and Biology, together with some principles on animal ecology and morphology.

You will learn the essentials of Vertebrate Zoology with the help of highly qualified and experienced zoology tutors, as a foundation for understanding animals. Alone this course helps anyone who is working with animals or lays a sound foundation for further studies whether in farming, wildlife, veterinary or pet care industries.

To read the full course outline, or to enrol, please click here.

Student Feedback - Ornithology

ACS requests feedback from each of its students. This helps with course improvement and improvement to student services. Student feedback follows:

Student Name: Mari Jones

Course: Ornithology BEN102

Was the course a valuable learning experience for you? Why?

Yes, definitely. I really enjoyed learning about birds, and I especially like that the course encouraged students to go out and find information and watch birds for themselves.

Did the course meet your expectations? Why / Why not?

Yes it did. The course description was very clear on the acsedu.com website, and perfectly acccurate. The website was also very clear about the hours of study required.

Did you like the way the course was structured / presented? Please add comments.

Yes, the description of the course at the beginning was very clear. I like how the course was organised around the taxonomy of birds, it made for a very clear, logical way of studying.

Were there any parts of the module that you had difficulties with? Which parts and why?

On a couple of occasions I was uncertain of how to go out and observe a family of birds when very few birds of that family live in the area. However, the questions asked in the assessment made it clear that if finding a kind of bird was difficult, simply researching it would suffice.

Did you receive helpful feedback from your tutor (assignment marking / answers to queries etc)?

Yes, and not only that, but my tutor added extra pieces of information and links to videos that I might find interesting. It was clear that the tutor thoroughly read my work, and I really appreciated him putting the extra effort into getting me interested.

Did you receive good service from the schools administrative staff? Please add comments.

Yes, emails were always answered promptly, and the informality made for a more relaxed correspondence.

Are there any parts of the module you feel could be improved?

When I was just over halfway through the course, I did start to find one of the assignment questions rather repetitive. I believe it was when the student was asked to give a description of six different birds of the bird family studied, over 2-3 pages. Although this got repetitive, it was still a good way of getting the student to research birds for themselves.

How has this course helped you further your career?

It actually changed my mind about the degree I wanted to study, I switched my choice to Ecology and Conservation.

Are there any other comments you would like to make?

I don't think so, the course was very enjoyable. I'm glad I did it.

If you would like to read the full course outline for Ornithology, please click here.