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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Emergence of Life by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

4.2
stars
100 ratings

About the Course

How did life emerge on Earth? How have life and Earth co-evolved through geological time? Is life elsewhere in the universe? Take a look through the 4-billion-year history of life on Earth through the lens of the modern Tree of Life! This course will evaluate the entire history of life on Earth within the context of our cutting-edge understanding of the Tree of Life. This includes the pioneering work of Professor Carl Woese on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus which revolutionized our understanding with a new "Tree of Life." Other themes include: -Reconnaissance of ancient primordial life before the first cell evolved -The entire ~4-billion-year development of single- and multi-celled life through the lens of the Tree of Life -The influence of Earth system processes (meteor impacts, volcanoes, ice sheets) on shaping and structuring the Tree of Life This synthesis emphasizes the universality of the emergence of life as a prelude for the search for extraterrestrial life....

Top reviews

NM

Sep 5, 2017

Superb instructor!

And very precise and detailed information.

Thank you so much for putting together such a beautiful course.

SH

Dec 2, 2022

Excellent course with challenging assignments. I wish the peer-review would be more systematic and timely.

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26 - 34 of 34 Reviews for Emergence of Life

By DC

•

Mar 28, 2018

This course really jumps from one broad aspect to another. I really hate that unlike edX, you cannot really do much without purchasing the course. Whenever you resume, it takes you to the orientation quiz that you can't even submit without buying the course (can't even do an orientation quiz for free?). And if you don't pay attention to what you can or cannot do if auditing the course you can do a whole assignment then find out you can't even submit it. This should be spelled out before you begin.

By Lía A

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Jul 2, 2021

The process to obtain a grade is terrible, specially for the Honors assignments. I did them and given that there were no one to grade me, I couldn't have credit for them on the certificate. By the other hand, I enjoyed the course and completing the assignments.

By Mark

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Jun 3, 2017

Good overview course of ALL life even though I was expecting something more on the early emergence of life rather than the Carboniferous-->Mesozoic-->Cenozoic; loses a star for restricting quizzes & activities to only paying members

By Joy S

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Apr 27, 2017

Different, fun approach. Basic science.

By Federico C

•

Aug 1, 2019

Too broad, too shallow.

By karen b

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Dec 20, 2019

Not really about Emergence of Life - a rather dull presentation...I lost interest; I'm off to the U of Alberta's courses...

By Larry S

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Jan 29, 2021

Not the course content I wanted. Thought it was a biology course but mostlly palentology, geology, etc. instuctor boring.

By Sanda B

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Sep 20, 2016

Quizzes and assignments cannot be submitted if course is audited.

By Rupertthecat

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Oct 23, 2016

This g