Self-Paced Courses

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is included in an Apologia Self-Paced course?

  Each Self-Paced science course includes

  • Full online access to the course textbook, including the text, study questions, and lab experiments
  • Dynamic video instruction, including lectures for each module, animated explanations of difficult concepts, and video demonstrations of every experiment from the textbook
  • AutoGrade+ with online exams that are graded automatically for immediate feedback and recorded on the course site
  • Solutions to every practice problem and study guide question in the book
  • Built-in audio reader of the course textbook for auditory learners.

• What’s the difference between a Self-Paced course and the Video Lessons and Experiments?

  The Video Lessons and Experiments are the same videos found within our Self-Paced courses. However, our Self-Paced courses offer much more than just Video Lessons and Experiments. Our Self-Paced Courses include the following:

  • Textbook – Students receive access to a digital version of the textbook for their course.
  • Audio Reader – A built-in audio reader of the textbook enhances online reading and can be beneficial for any student, but especially for auditory learners or students with reading difficulty.
  • Video Lessons and Experiments – Engaging instructors provide video lessons throughout each module and lab experiment to strengthen students’ learning of the concepts presented in the course. (Literature Self-Paced Courses do not include experiments.)
  • Review Questions and Answers – Independent review questions and answers and a Study Guide are included in each module to allow students to practice the concepts taught and prepare for end-of-module tests. (Literature Self-Paced Courses do not include a Study Guide.)
  • AutoGrade+ – AutoGrade+ provides dynamic online testing for Apologia courses with multiple attempts, immediate answer feedback, and automatic grade recording.

  Note: The Self-Paced comes with the digital version of the textbook, but some families prefer to add on an extra physical copy of the textbook for their student(s). However, this is not required.

• What does my student need to complete a Self-Paced science course?

  • • Our Self-Paced online science courses for middle and high school students include a digital version of the textbook, an audio reader of the textbook, video lessons, and automatically graded tests.
    • The companion Student Notebook is highly recommended and provides a place for students to take notes, record answers to the On Your Own and Study Guide questions, and write both informal and formal lab reports.
    • A complete lab supply list is included in the Appendices section of each Self-Paced course. Lab items such as a microscope, slide sets, dissection kits, and chemistry sets are available for purchase within the high school Self-Paced course sets, but household lab supplies for all courses will need to be purchased separately. Although the video instructor demonstrates each experiment, hands-on labs are required for students to earn lab science credit for high school transcripts.

• How long will it take for my student to complete a Self-Paced course?

  The beauty of a Self-Paced course is that students learn at their own pace, taking additional time as needed to master difficult concepts. A typical course contains up to 16 modules. Each module will take approximately two weeks to complete if the student spends one hour of each school day on the course. At this pace, a student will complete the course in 32 weeks.

  However, students should not rush to finish the course in this time frame. Since most school years are longer than 32 weeks, there is some flex time built onto the course. Your student will have access to the course for 15 months from the date of purchase.

• How long will my student have to complete the course?

  Your student will have access to the online course portal for 15 months from the date of purchase.

• How many times can my student take a Self-Paced course test?

  Modules 1 and 2 tests have unlimited attempts so that students can adjust to the test format, while the remainder of the tests have a default of two attempts. Since the test questions are generated from a test bank, students will receive a different selection of questions each time they take a test, with the possibility that some questions could appear more than once. The higher or highest grade of the test attempts is the one that is recorded.

  If your student needs more than two test attempts, please contact our Customer Service team at [email protected] with the following information:

  • Student name
  • Student email
  • Self-Paced course
  • Module tests needing extra attempts