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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Paleontology: Theropod Dinosaurs and the Origin of Birds by University of Alberta

4.9
stars
1,483 ratings

About the Course

Paleontology: Theropod Dinosaurs and the Origin of Birds is a five-lesson course teaching a comprehensive overview of the origins of birds. This course examines the anatomy, diversity, and evolution of theropod dinosaurs in relation to the origin of birds. Students explore various hypotheses for the origin of flight. Watch a preview of the course here: https://uofa.ualberta.ca/courses/paleontology-theropod-dinosaurs...

Top reviews

MC

Mar 14, 2018

This course was great! It explains everything clearly, and it keeps you involved by asking questions about the material, and keeps you amused with some interesting anecdotes. Highly suggested by me!

CH

Jan 6, 2021

I loved taking this course. I learned a lot (The first course I did was DINO 101 and I wanted to dig deeper). The teachers are really passionate and engaging. Cannot wait to do the others courses!

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51 - 75 of 451 Reviews for Paleontology: Theropod Dinosaurs and the Origin of Birds

By Al B

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Nov 13, 2022

This is an excellent course. The pace is good, the examples and readings are very informative, the narrator/instructor has a very expressive and effective delivery. The quizzes are mostly on the "big concepts" and do not require memory of minute details. My only "complaint" is Week 5 which covers a great deal of material and could have been organized better.

By London C

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Mar 30, 2022

This was a comparatively short course, but a fulfilling one nonetheless! Theropoda is a very intriguing group of dinosaurs, including Spinosaurus, Deinonychus, and the thousands of dinosaurs that still exist today. For newcomers there's a lot of lenghty terms to remember, but otherwise this course is accesible even to those unfamiliar to dinosaur biology.

By Rokubi

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May 22, 2019

Está genial este curso, sí que es verdad que algunas palabras son muy técnicas y yo algunas no las supe, pero en general se entiende y la traducción está perfecto. Me encanta este curso, está muy bien elaborado y para todo aquél "friki" de los dinosaurios, este curso es idóneo para aprender a conocerlos y estudiarlos. Muchas gracias. Un saludo.

By Ayla M

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Aug 9, 2020

Wonderful learning experience, really helped me learn some new ideas about theropods and their relations to birds that I had otherwise been unable to find. Not only was it demonstrated in a way that's easy to understand but the course was also enjoyable to work through and often resulted in me re-watching videos for the pure enjoyment of them.

By Paul A K

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Jul 28, 2020

Fascinating material. If you are an older person like me you may have not kept up with the developments in dinosaur science over the past 30 years. Our knowledge has exploded over this period with more and more impressive and nearly complete fossils being discovered. This course helped me catch up and stimulated more reading and study.

By Jingtian Z

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Dec 26, 2020

Well, I have been in three courses that the University of Alberta provided, two about paleontology, I am familiar with some material the University of Alberta provides, like the course notes, interactive learning objects, and the phylogenetic tree we use. This course give me more understanding about how dinosaurs step by step, become birds.

By Sourav C

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Jun 13, 2017

It was a real pleasure to learn so much about this course. I thoroughly enjoyed and learned huge amount of new things which would very important for me in future. Some questions were confusing and did not had straight forward answers which I think could have been better, otherwise in context of overall learning , I am extremely satisfied.

By viv b

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Oct 22, 2020

Excellent course. Presented in a lively informative way with lots of fossils and picrures. Particularly enjoyed the hat eating parrot. Wil now begin finding out more about birds and their extraordinary adaptability. Thank you University of Alberta. Have loved all your paleontology courses. Hope there maybe some new ones at some point.

By Johanna A L

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Oct 13, 2020

This is my very first paid university course and as an aspiring Paleontologist, I'm very thrilled and satisfied with this course. Might consider studying or working in the University of Alberta! Thanks for helping me to set off on the path of Paleontology, to further appreciate the animals we have here now, and those who came before.

By KELLY K

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Nov 25, 2020

I really enjoyed this course. The course instruction was excellent and the online modules were the best I have seen for virtual training. The instructors had excellent communication skills and the props were really interesting. Kudos to staff of the University of Alberta for putting together this amazing training.

By Thian Q Z

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Nov 1, 2020

I love this course so much! It shows me that birds are the direct descendants of dinosaurs. This is truly a compelling fact, and the presentation of the content is just mesmerizing. I definitely recommend this course to students who have an interest in paleontology, even to those who are new to this field.

By Don C A

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Jul 5, 2022

This is an excellent introduction to bird evolution. It shows very clearly how the characteristics of theropod dinosaurs were an essential prerequisite for the evolution of birds, and shows the evolutionary path of birds themselves after the great extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous.

By Alison V

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Jul 28, 2020

Such a wonderful course - I learned so much and was entertained every step of the way. The main presenter was engaging and passionate. What a fascinating journey to understanding one of my favourite animals - birds. Thank you Uni of Alberta Palaeontology team. I didn't want the course to end.

By Julia S

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Apr 9, 2020

Such a great class! I decided to take it during quarantine as I work with birds but didn't know much about their evolution and I am so glad I did. The material was interesting and presented in a way that was very easy to understand for someone with almost no knowledge of dinosaurs. Thank you!

By Brayan R C

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May 6, 2019

En mi opinion personal , el contenido de este curso es claro , y muy completo , deberia incluso darle un nivel de reconocimiento superior debido al contenido tan bueno y completo que tiene , ademas esta reconocido por la Universidad de Alberta , que para mi es la mejor Universidad de Canada.

By Jacob M P

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Apr 23, 2020

This course was amazing! I've been interested in dinosaurs and their relationships with birds for a while now, and this course thoroughly fed my curiosity! Thank you for teaching me about this fascinating subject and I plan on taking many more courses by University of Alberta in the future!

By Yana V

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May 12, 2020

The course is fascinating. Very intresting and informative, keeps you engaged. Lecturers are charismatic, they are real experts in the topic and don't let you get bored.

So, the course is reaaly great. However, it could be diffucult for those who are not familiar with the topic at all.

By James B

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Feb 29, 2016

Excellent course for anyone with an interest in the relationships among dinosaurs, and theropods in particular of course. The lectures themselves were well done and the lecture notes had more detail for those who would want to dig in a bit more for themselves. Keep up the great work!

By Melinda M

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Jun 7, 2019

I enjoyed this course and all the courses from the University of Alberta. When understanding how animals came to their current state, we first need to go through the geological time line of how the animals came to be. This course and the other courses showed evolution at its finest.

By Mina N

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Sep 26, 2021

Very informative and educational. I recall every moment of studying it fondly. Mr Scott Parsons' narration was very nice and Dr Phil Currie's lectures were great and informative too. It is such a good opportunity to have a chance to listen to U of Alberta lectures at home!

By Alexander E

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Aug 2, 2021

I personally thought this course was great. I think I have learned enough in this course to dissect any bird, and know about every organ, bone, anything! this course was Fun and Entertaining in my eyes as well. I encourage you to take this course. Trust me, you'll love it.

By Nilanjan C

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Jun 10, 2020

It was a very fascinating study and i learnt a lot about evolution and in a quite detailed manner. The teachers explained everything amazingly. Their was so much to know. And being a student of biology i had a great time learning and interacting in the course. Thank you.

By David H

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Nov 23, 2021

An excellent course presented in an easy to follow way. Lots of information and plenty to learn. I found the course very enjoyable and put together in a chronological sequence. Never knew there is so much to our past and certainly makes me want to expand my knowledge.

By Charles G

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Jul 31, 2019

Who knew that birds were dinosaurs? As a bonified bird nerd, I found this course to be fascinating. It is very well presented and makes relatable the anatomical evolutionary paths taken by various dinosaurs to the final incredible populations of birds we see today.

By Blake R

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Apr 26, 2020

This course was so much fun and I really learned alot. I'm now going on to do any other similar courses from Alberta that I can get my hands on, and hope to see more added in the future. I'm particularly hoping that they will add a degree program at some point :)