I'm a ruge fan of Coursera style of learning. I think this is a powerful tool for knowledge and a way to spread it. And this course about the connections between theropods and birds just ratify my thoughts. I'd like to say i'm much obliged to you (paleo)scientists of Alberta for the experience and opportunity to learn such a valuable subject for someone that's always fascinated with life's history and Evolution's ways to transform. One day, i shall visit Alberta to see by myself these amazing fossils records you have. Thanks again, you got a (another?) fan from Brazil.

This is truly a very interesting and informative course on the origin of birds! My only preference would be that the rich lecture notes would be more thoroughly covered in the video lectures... even though that would make those videos longer (oh, what a "shame" that would be -- yeah, right!!). I was impressed that the video lectures reflected some of the latest findings in fossil & genetic findings. Last but by no means least, the professional yet personal style of the video lectures was not only helpful in my learning but made it that much more enjoyable! Well done!!!

Fantastic. Both the primary and secondary professors were excellent, had superior presentation (speaking, gesturing, personality) skills and of course, were extremely well informed. The accompanying illustrations and samples of wings and bones also helped tremendously. Technically, the people who designed the online course know what they are doing, are experts. The ease to which we can take notes, go back easily and re-listen to something said, to leave and then later, pick up the lecture anywhere we want, is first rate. Cannot say enough good things. Superb.

A very comprehensive introduction to theropod dinosaurs. It's rare to see good courses on this topic so gave it a 5 star. I have always been intrigued by dinosaurs and finally get a chance to learn more deeply about it. The instructor was passionate and explanation was clear and helpful. I just found that, without these lively explanation, some part of the materials with mere long texts explaining the animals' characteristics get too abstract for me. It sort of gave me headache remembering all the strange name for different groups. But, it was also the fun part:)

The course was simply amazing. I am a Brazilian student of veterinary medicine with an special interst in birds. I love to watch and learn about them, and, if possible, I will work with the medicine and rehab of that incredible group of living dinosaurs. The course was extremely didactic and clear on all past information, making my interest only increase. Unfortunately I can not afford to buy the certificate, which makes me sad in a way. However, I am very grateful to the entire mini-course team and I congratulate you on the incredible work you have done.

I gave this course a 5-star review because I believe that it fulfilled the intent (guessing!) of (a) being informative in at a high-level of the subject and (b) left enough bread crumbs for science students to take a deeper dive. My disappointments (not complaints) is that like meany Coursera science courses, (a) it is not sufficiently challenging and (b) there are no lab opportunities. That said, I highly recommend this course to anyone who is curious about the evolution of non-avian theropods to the various branches of avian dinosaurs, aka birds.

After completing Dino 101: Dinosaur Paleobiology, I wanted more!!! Palaeontology: Theropod Dinosaurs and the Origin of Birds was such an interesting course. I started taking Coursera sponsored courses starting in 2013. The two Palaeontology courses I have recently taken are two of the best. The presentations are excellent. Please extend my sincere appreciation to the staff of the University of Albert's Palaeontology team for their hard work and dedication - just an excellent course. Your hard work is very much appreciated. Thank you.

I had such a great time taking this course.

Is the second I take from the University of Alberta, I'm sure going to take them all.

The classes are comprehensible, with well made videos, and written material that's great to study later on, or before you watch them.

This written material frees a lot of time on the class, as I usually take notes when watching online courses, this let's me concentrate on watching the material without having to pause over, and over to write down what seems important.

Thank you!

This is an excellent course! It presented a very detailed explanation of the content with great visuals and examples. The information was complete and thorough, yet fairly easy to understand. Presenters had excellent voice control and made the material easy to comprehend. I would definitely recommend this course. Plus, part of the course is presented by Dr Currie! Namesake of so many scientific works, and the Phillip Currie museum outside of Grande Prairie, Alberta. Thank you Dr Currie!

Excellent course! Very informatiive. However, it felt like information overload at times. It would have been helpful to stretch out the number of lessons for better retention. I felt that the lectures were rushed compared to the amount of reading material. Most of the reading materials indicate that it would take 10 minutes to read. It took me far longer than that to be able to aborb and not rush the material. Overall I would recomment this course to anyone interested in Paleontology.

This course presents fascinating current evidence for the evolutionary path that leads from non-avian theropods to modern birds in a way that's both fun and accessible. I learned a great deal from this course and feel that I could now explain the basics of this transition to others. I found the interactive phylogenetic tree particularly useful for working out the relationships between the many theropod groups. Highly recommended if you love dinosaurs - the extinct or the extant variety.

I had attended to the Dino101 classes to get a better understanding of the subjects of the course, but actually it turned out that the teacher has a so good didatics that I understood everything, and now I even have a passion for this subject. As a person who started this course knowing nothing about dinossaurs, I only can say: do it! It's great! Thank you a lot for spreading this knowledge for people around the world... University of Alberta seems like the best place to visit.

A very comprehensive unbiased clear course that has something for everyone, the approach is very modern with interactive flip card phylogenetic tree and bone assembling games etc as well as good comparisons of extinct and extanct animals. The fast speed, interactive nature and bonus reading materials made this course great fun, professors teaching paleontology can even learn about modern teaching techniques and many more ideas from such courses.

This was an informative and well presented course that covered the basics of Theropod Dinosaurs and the evolutionary processes which led to the origins of birds. The lecture videos were engaging and easy to follow and the supplementary readings are structured well and a perfect accompaniment. Additionally, I would recommend taking this alongside other University of Alberta introductory paleontology courses for a more complete experience.

Even if you've never had a lifelong fascination with natural history like I did, this course should be fascinating and educational enough to draw you in. Scott Persons is an amazing teacher: clear, concise, knowledgeable and passionate enough that you will never feel lost, learn a great deal and yet never feel bored. Philip Currie is also very informative. Highly recommended for anyone with even a modicum of interest in dinosaurs.

Definitely one of the best courses I have taken, I loved it from the beginning, what brilliant explanations from Dr. Currie, and not to say from Gavin, very professional, very good in the way he explains each of the steps evolutionary of birds. A thousand congratulations to all the team that made this possible, because I am very happy with what I learned, this branch of science has always been my fascination, thank you very much.

I enjoyed the depth of the material, vocabulary and definitions. The presenter was very informative and the realm of the material was vast but presented clearly with suitable diagrams and models. The course notes were detailed and supported by photos. I enjoyed both the Dinosaurs 101 and the Paleontology: Theropod Dinosaurs and the Origin of Birds courses offered by the U of A. Very professional and knowledgeable presenters.

This course provided excellent information about the evolution of Theropods. Careful examination of adaptations, changes in environment over time, and predator-prey aspects of these dinosaurs all created a good foundation of knowledge to see how modern birds are the only surviving dinosaurs. This course included great diagrams, details, fossil evidence, and interactive features that made it enjoyable and engaging.

I will definitely follow the recommendation of Dr. Phil Currie and Angelica Torices and will take the DINO 101 course. As an amateur palentologist I have learned a lot and I will be able to contribute more to my team. The reading material and videos and references are excellent. The course explains everything clearly. Professor W. Scott Persons is a great presenter and didact.

Thank you very much!!

The presenter is amazing, Scott took the show and helped me respark my dream of paleaontology and was kind enough to sit down and discuss things with me. Philip Currie the legend he is was an amazing guest in some of the episode and the entire lesson goes really well into how theropods evolved and lived. I recommend to anyone who has already taken one of the other UofA courses and wants more.

This course helped to expand my knowledge of theropod dinosaur biology, their relationship with each other, and evolutionary progresses that lead them to the avian forms they bear today. This course provided a complex set, and range, of information that was carefully and efficiently tied together to help the overall understanding of the concepts and themes. I really enjoyed this course!

This is a nice and a informative course. The main reason for which I chose it was because there was an option to read subtitles in a European language. I have to say, also that it is nice to hear another point of view (more scientific) from an university on the topic of dinosaurs, except from documentaries. This is the reason for which I have enrolled for other courses on this topic.

Extremely detailed for such a short course, stuffed full of fascinating information that offers an exciting new perspective on dinosaurs, modern birds, evolution (especially convergent evolution) and the recent history of life as a whole. Presenters are passionate and deeply knowledgeable, and the use of graphics and web-based tools was excellent. Very highly recommended.

An extraordinary journey through from last theropods to modern birds. I congrat Scott Pearsons and Dr. Phillip Currie for their amazing course, funny and very interesting exposures complemented with very well documented resources to go back and to read once again the lessons of this course. Thanks to all University of Alberta's team that made this course possible.

Really a great course , not only for paleontology enthusiasts but also for general zoology and biology enthusiasts. the assignments were way too easy in most cases. I hoped to get questions that made us more indulged with the excellent detailed content provided by the University. Had a real great time learning in such detail with such simple yet elaborate way.