History Mentor Dr. Patricia O’Neill and husband Dr. Marinus Koning trekking Mount Kilimanjaro.

The Open Course Option is a new degree pathway created by Thomas Edison State College, which allows students to complete the Associate in Science in Business Administration degree by taking free, open, online courses from the Saylor Foundation that are aligned with the College’s prior learning assessment program.

Meet a Mentor:
Dr. Patricia O’Neill

Mentor, Subject Matter Expert and Humanitarian

When the College was looking for a content expert for a new history exam, it did not have far to search.

Dr. Patricia O’Neill, who has served as a mentor in the College’s online Western Civilization I and II courses for nine years, was the perfect match.

"The College's Center for the Assessment of Learning had contacted me to create a new TECEP® history test for our students," said O’Neill. "Since I have taught history courses for a number of years in various formats, it was a natural fit."

O’Neill and fellow Heavin School of Arts and Sciences mentor, William "Bill" Lipkin, were assigned different components of the World History from 1600-Present (HIS-126) exam for the College's TECEP® credit-by-exam program. She and Lipkin created a test description that will serve as the students' study guide and exam questions aligned with the topics in the test description.

Credit-by-exam programs have become increasingly popular among students who want to complete their degree requirements more efficiently while containing costs. More recently, these programs have been instrumental in developing new pathways for students to earn credit, including the College's free open course option through its partnership with the Saylor Foundation.

According to O'Neill, the HIS-126 exam used an associated Saylor Academy course as a guideline to create multiple choice and short answer questions spanning political and military developments from the 1600s through post-war global society.

"The objective is to test students' familiarity with the subject matter in one single, comprehensive exam while incorporating ways to assess their analytical and critical-thinking skills," she noted.

In her own academic journey, O'Neill earned her BA in history at the University of Pennsylvania; an MA in history at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York; and her PhD in history at the University of Washington. She serves on the faculty of Central Oregon Community College, Oregon State University - Cascades and Excelsior College. She is the recipient of numerous academic awards and has presented at many international conferences and scholarly symposiums. O'Neill is also an active member and volunteer for civic councils, auxiliaries and university and health associations in and around her hometown of Bend, Ore.

Like many of her colleagues, O'Neill's teaching experience transformed over time to a largely online endeavor.

"At first, the courses were only face-to-face, and then I began teaching hybrid courses where we used Web CT or Blackboard platforms for a portion of the course activities. For the past 10 years, I have taught entirely online," said O’Neill, who has also mentored Introduction to Chinese History and Culture (HIS-261) online and Guided Study courses for the College.

According to O'Neill, TESC's adult learners are very clear in their academic goals and highly motivated to learn. "Our students submit thoughtful and well-crafted Discussion Board assignments and written work. Many students in the Western Civilization II (HIS-102) course are either in the military and/or they are history majors, so they are very interested in the world wars, the big 'isms' and the dissolution of the Soviet Union," she noted.

When O’Neill is not overseeing college courses and content, she and husband Dr. Marinus Koning, are immersed in the humanitarian effort they launched, Reach Another Foundation.

"Through our work with our foundation, we have been going to Ethiopia since 2009, bringing donated medical and educational supplies," said O’Neill. "We are accompanied by specialists and medical professionals who give of their time to perform surgery on babies suffering from hydrocephalus and help train local surgeons in more complex surgical procedures."

Interested in seeing how Credit-by-exam fits into your degree program? Visit www.tesc.edu/TECEP to find out more.

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