# Question on OPME's



## Glorified Ape (18 Oct 2005)

Alllllrighty - I searched the forums, read through every thread with even the slightest mention of OPMEs but didn't find what I'm interested in knowing: what is the workload like for an average OPME course? I'm specifically interested in assignments and exams - do you have to write a paper? If so, what length (generally)? Are there two exams or only a final?  I've gone through the DCS section of the RMC website but I didn't find any of this information. I understand that the courses may vary in their requirements, but any information would be helpful. 

The reason I'm asking is that my SEM suggested that instead of taking an extra course in university to fulfill the full-time student requirement in my graduating semester, I should take an OPME. That sounded like a good idea but I'll have three university courses at the time, two of which are likely to be pretty heavy in their workload (especially in paper writing) so I'm trying to figure out what I'm in for if I take an OPME instead of a bird course at university. 

The course I'm looking at is HIE208 (Canadian Military History). I'd prefer Technology, Society, and Warfare (HIS475) but I need a junior history credit first. Hopefully I'll be able to skip a couple of the OPME's by getting credit for a few of my university courses. 

Thanks in advance.


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## AmmoTech90 (21 Oct 2005)

The workload for an OPME isn't that bad.  I find it averages out to six-eight hours a week, usually spend over one night, and one morning or afternoon on the weekend, or two nights.
The assignments and exams depend on the OPME.  I've done one where there were two assignments (including a take home mid-term) and a longer paper for the final (Canadian Military History) and one where there around six assignments that ran around six to eight pages of answers and a final exam taken at the BPSO's office that was a combination of short answer and a two page essay (CF and Modern Society).  Had to withdraw from War and Tech due to an operation but that had a class presentation, one (or two) take home assignments and a final paper.


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## Glorified Ape (22 Oct 2005)

Ah, Thanks... that clears up a bit. Sounds about the same as an average university course. Dammit.


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## Icer (22 Oct 2005)

I just finished HIE 208 for Summer 05.  There were a total of 8 assignments.  They range from 4 that were 500 words and the others were 1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500 words.


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## Gunner98 (23 Oct 2005)

Some Bases/Areas run condensed version OPME where you can do a full course in 5 days, excerpt from ROs at CFB/ASU Edmonton:
OPME Course On-Site in Edmonton
Condensed OPME Courses
DCE 001 & DCE 002
1) DCE 001- Introduction to Defence Management
28 November - 2 December 2005 (full-time 0800 â â€œ 1600)
2) DCE 002 â â€œ Introduction to Military Law
5 â â€œ 9 December 2005 (full-time 0800 â â€œ 1600)
Course Descriptions: http://www.opme.forces.gc.ca/engraph/timetable/desc/course_e.asp

Anyone have any experience with these "condensed" versions?


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## casing (24 Oct 2005)

Just a note about the above mentioned condensed OPMEs.  While DCE001 and DCE002 can easily be set-up over 5 days each--and, in fact, often are--the other 4 OPME will not be possible over 5 days each.  They require too much essay writing, etc.  DCE001 and DCE002 have no essays and no mid-terms.

At St-Jean Campus the OPME program is run over a period of 12 weeks as in-class courses.  DCE001 and DCE001 each take one week (weeks 11 and 12) while the other 4 are taken together over the first 10 weeks.  I believe the Navy runs something similar to this.  That set-up gives an indication (ok, an education guess) as to the level of workload that might be expected.


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## Glorified Ape (24 Oct 2005)

I doubt I'd be able to do the condensed versions, given obligations at university. I guess I'll be taking an OPME next semester, given that the workload doesn't sound like it'll take away from my uni courses too much. Thanks for the info fellas, now all I have to do is clear everything with my SEM/ULO.


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## Scants (24 Oct 2005)

I'm not sure what your degree is in but if you have any courses that you think might have anything to do with any of the OPMEs (Mil Hist, Pol Sci) you can contact RMC at:

Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)
(613) 541-6000, ext 3985 , CSN 271-3985
email: plar@rmc.ca

They will ask for a copy of your syllabus and they can grant you credits toward your OPMEs. I did it a couple of years ago and had credits granted to me. Not a lot but any is better than nothing.


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## Scotty Hortonville (25 Oct 2005)

It has been my experience that not a lot of credits are handed out for any of the OPME's, take for instance the Lawyer on my BOTC who was asked to teach the Mil Law, turned it down, then was required to take the course (until some discussion took place that is  :)

At any rate, my suggestion on OPME is approach them as a University Course, there is a fair amount of work to do well on them. And I would also suggest start early and keep picking them off one maybe two at a time.  There never seems to be much time to "do it later"

$0.02


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## Glorified Ape (25 Oct 2005)

Scants said:
			
		

> I'm not sure what your degree is in but if you have any courses that you think might have anything to do with any of the OPMEs (Mil Hist, Pol Sci) you can contact RMC at:
> 
> Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)
> (613) 541-6000, ext 3985 , CSN 271-3985
> ...



I thought about that and I plan on at least trying but there's I've only got a couple courses that could apply - namely an Intro to Strategic Studies course and an Advanced Strategic Studies course. I've got political courses coming out my wazoo, but how many of them may be what they're looking for, I'm not sure. One of the OPME courses sounds like a basic Canadian Politics/International relations course, both of which I already have. I'm in my 4th year of my BA (honours) in Political Science, so I've got just about every type of poli sci course done. Whether they'll let me use two courses to eliminate one OPME course, I don't know. 

As Scotty said, it would appear they're quite strict on exemptions.


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## Scants (27 Oct 2005)

The only thing to do is to ask. The worst they can say is "no".


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## honestyrules (28 Oct 2005)

> Anyone have any experience with these "condensed" versions?


 


Actually, I've done the final exam this morning for OPME DCE 001 "Intro to defense management". It was 1 week long here in Gagetown.

Two assessments of 35 questions (15 multiple-choice + 20 short answer questions each). I spent around 2 1/2 hrs to complete each ones. Those aren't really complicated and a good score is common.

Final exam : 75 questions. Tricky, I'd say! All multiple-choice questions. On 75% of the questions, there is good stuff even in the wrong answers.
I mean your have to pick the "best answer of all the answers" type of thing.

I'm a college graduate, never been to the university. To me, it was a good challenge.

You have to pass each assessments, plus the final exam. If you fail the test, but scored 100% on each assessment and reach the passing mark when adding up all scores, you fail anyway.

My two cents: Even though DCE 001 doesn't give you any university credits, it doesn't means that it's a joke. Feasible yes. Just take it seriously.


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## honestyrules (5 Nov 2005)

Finally, I got the result! I passed with honors! (It shows pass,fail, or passed with honors on the MPRR)....
Anyway, if you do one of those, be interested in the topic, it's the way to go.
Good learning, great asset for you...

Delavan


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## ballz (1 May 2011)

If you do these things by distance, to what extent do they determine the deadlines for assignments?

For example, if there's 8 assignments like mentioned above, 4x 500 words, then 4 bigger ones.... Will you be given the assignments at the start of the course so you can just go to town and finish them? Or are they released to you "x" amount of time before they are due type of thing?

What about for scheduling the exams and whatnot?


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## REDinstaller (2 May 2011)

The assignments are given out on a schedule, so there is no getting ahead. On some of the courses you have 3 hours to complete short essays on 3 out of 4 subjects. Exams if required will be scheduled as part of the final online assigment for the most case. Usually on the non-DCE courses, your final grade is made up of your assignment marks.

Hope this helps.


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## dimsum (2 May 2011)

Tango18A said:
			
		

> *The assignments are given out on a schedule, so there is no getting ahead. *



That's not entirely true.  For the History one I just completed, the prof put all of the assignments and discussion questions up on the first week with their respective deadlines, because enough people in the course were deployed/otherwise busy to wait until a certain time to do them.  However, this may have just been what one prof does and not a standard procedure.


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## muffin (2 May 2011)

The assignment files for OPME courses are always given at the beginning of the course. For some with discussions, the discussion topics are not put up right away, but the essays etc should be available from the start.


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## ballz (2 May 2011)

Excellent info everyone, although I'm curious as to why it's a bit conflicting. I asked because I am probably doing HI208 this Fall semester by distance, but I will also be doing 5 courses at MUN on campus.


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## BernDawg (2 May 2011)

I did one OPME during my time in Uniform and it was HIE475 (without a pre-req) and it was on-site.  I highly recommend taking the OPME's on-site as much as possible. The first thing our Prof told us was that the module had too many assignments and cut them in half then set the schedule for hand-ins. Our final assignment was a PP presentation prepared in teams. Considering the course content the presentations were very informative and enjoyable.

 :2c:


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## REDinstaller (2 May 2011)

muffin said:
			
		

> The assignment files for OPME courses are always given at the beginning of the course. For some with discussions, the discussion topics are not put up right away, but the essays etc should be available from the start.



This wasn't the case for HIE275. The essays were only online for the week scheduled, and once started you only had 3 hours to complete.


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## muffin (3 May 2011)

Tango18A said:
			
		

> This wasn't the case for HIE275. The essays were only online for the week scheduled, and once started you only had 3 hours to complete.



Ah we refer to those as "discussions" because of how they are administered technically. (Through the discussion forums)

I just wanted to add a couple "tips" with these courses in DNDlearn - I'm not sure if RMC has this info in their courses or not... 


write out your long answers in notepad first. DNDLearn "times out" and if you spend an hr writing an answer, it's really infuriating to lose it when you hit submit/enter because the system logged you out.
don't paste text written in Word/Excel/etc - the text editor in DNDlearn really has a hard time with Microsoft formatting markup - it could "break" the discussion and will need the helpdesk to delete the post to get it working again.
if you attach a file don't use french characters or symbols like & or () - the database the files are saved to will not let the prof open/save the doc if you use these characters and the helpdesk will have to rename them.
or quizzes, if you write out your responses in notepad and try to paste them into the quiz and find right-click is disabled you can still paste with Ctrl+V 
if you encounter trouble with the quizzes (technical issues, lockouts, freezing, connection errors etc) call/email the admin at RMC or the helpdesk. For technical issues we can reset quizzes or submit them on your behalf when applicable. 
Update your email address in the "reply to" field of your "My Prefrences"->"Email" section on your DNDLearn homepage. If you don't do this and you use the system to send an email to the instructor/another student using the system he/she can't reply to it. (There are instructions in the RMC School page "News" )
If you are enrolled in more than one school and can't see the RMC School page when you log in, you can click on the left/center of the banner at the top of any page and it will take you to the DNDLearn Homepage ("the purple page"). On this page near the bottom/center you will see a list of the schools you are enrollled in. You can click on the links here to see the school home pages.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head... if I think of anything else that might be helpful for learners to know I will add it.


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## Journeyman (3 May 2011)

muffin said:
			
		

> Ah we refer to those.....


Perhaps the Army.ca owner can intercede with your husband's Career Manager, so that you can stay and continue answering DNDLearn questions here.....  

Just sayin'


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## muffin (3 May 2011)

Hahah I might still be working with it in Gagetown


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