I haven't taken an English course with Athabasca, but I took history. Based on my own experience, the course was much more work than a McMaster 3-credit course. There was an awful lot of reading, and the research essays where on another level (at least for me). I was given a list of 10-11 sources (half books, half articles) that I HAD to cite in my essay. No sources besides the ones I was given were allowed. The were two assignments of this type (3000 words if I remember correctly). I could not get full access to any of the books I had to use. They weren't available in my area, and online free access to them was not provided. I had to write the papers based on what I could get out of limited preview of the books on google review. I don't recommend this method, by the way. Also, the essay questions/topics were such that you really had to do enough research to be able to write anything on it. The required readings for the final exam did not cover anything about the paper topics. So they expected you to read 6 whole books for each essay (so 12 books) in order to write it. That is why I found the course to have a very heavy courseload compared to a McMaster 3-credit course. But, maybe it's not the same for their other courses or from different levels.
I hope this is not discouraging. Like I said, it may be just that particular course I took. Also, keep in mind that I tried to complete the course in less than 6 weeks, so that put extra pressure on me.
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