The Online School of Creationism Studies (OSCS) is a planned project that will provide lay-level education in creationism and creationism-adjacent topics from a critical and analytical frame of reference.
I first came up with the idea for a course of study that offered a rigorous (though sharpened) training in the issues that encompass the creation-evolution scene when I came across Answers in Genesis' Answers Education Online. Of course, their courses are nothing more than a repackaging of the warped worldview that paints science as satanic, creationism as credible, and faiths other than their own brand of evangelical Protestantism as fruitless. Additionally, you don't get any external credit for the courses unless you want to pay an additional $10 on top of the registration price (a weird practice, if you ask me). It made me wish that there was a set of classes a person could take online that looked at these topics from a more evaluative and critically reflective point of view - thus the OSCS was born, to give an alternative study option to those who fall on the other side of the creationism coin.
The current draft for the project is as follows:
The school's main offering will be credentialing via examination. The current working framework is the Critical Evaluation of Creation Science Exam (CECS Exam), a 200 question research-based assessment that will result in the designation of Certified Creation-Science Analyst being granted if the exam is passed (70% or higher). The exam will be offered independently for a one time $150 assessment fee for those who possess the drive and / or aptitude to pass without taking advantage of the school's coursework.
The school will offer two lines of education across 10 subjects, each with 10 in depth classes (multiple instructors are currently being considered). The first option is independent coursework: if a student wishes to take individual courses for study or remedial purposes, then they may enroll in each for $5 per course. Prospective short course students will have access to a free field appraisal that can help them narrow down what coursework would best suit them based on their interests.
However, if they are seeking a specialist education in the realm of the creation-evolution controversy, then they may be granted lifetime access to all courses for a one time $450 tuition. Students who pursue the latter path are eligible to undertake examination and receive a Diploma in Evaluative Analysis of Creation Science. They will also receive access to the CECS Exam for free, with the assessment fee being waived for those who enroll as full students.
The current plan is to have the course fully accredited, most likely through the ANSI or IACET (and no, the school will not charge extra for verification of CEUs authorized by our accreditor for a higher fee like AiG).
Special access privileges and tuition rates will also be prepared for scientific or religious organizations that wish to license the exams or courses for 2 or more individuals.
Current projections place pre-production planning to occupy the rest of 2022, with Jan. 2023 being when implementation stages will commence. If you are interested in this project or have any thoughts / suggestions, please forward them to thecollectioproject@gmail.com.
- N. J. Edmonds, Sept. 2022
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