General Questions
Concise online courses produced by university lecturers consisting of the same online learning material (interactive lecture videos and PDF course notes) delivered to their university students.
Our short courses are designed for adult individuals eager to learn property but who do not have the desire to pursue a formal degree or it’s simply not practical for them to attend on-campus lectures. Our short courses are not intended as a substitute for a formal qualification in property.
Our courses are also ideal for property professionals wanting to sharpen their existing property knowledge.
Unfortunately, no. Although short course participants access university-level lectures and course notes, Think Sharp's online short courses are not formally offered by an NZQA-accredited institution and do not contribute to any university degree, diploma or certificate.
Each course has a stated number of hours which is approximately the number of lecture video hours and time needed to sit any online quizzes or tests. We suggest that you should anticipate spending twice this number of hours to complete your short course.
This additional time is consumed by pausing and taking handwritten notes while watching the lectures and re-watching material as needed. You'll also spend time answering the embedded quiz at the end of each lecture video. After you've completed watching all of your course's lectures you'll want to revise the material and prepare for the comprehensive online test. Ultimately the time you allocate to completing your short course depends on your study habits.
None aside from a minimum age of 18 years old. Course participants are expected to understand spoken and written English. That said the lectures' closed captioning feature assist non-native speakers to better understand the course content.
Enrolments in our short courses are continuous so you start the moment you enrol. Our courses are self-paced meaning you complete them on your own schedule and timeframe.
Firstly you need to sign into your Think Sharp account. On the Think Sharp home page click on “LOGIN” in the upper right-hand corner. Once signed in, click on your account name and then select the “COURSES” user menu item. Here you can access your enrolled courses.
If you wish to earn university credit then you should sidestep our online short courses and either apply to the University of Auckland's Bachelor of Property (BProp) programme, which is a 3-year full time undergraduate degree, or apply for the Master of Property Practice programme, which is an 18-month full time, online non-cognate taught masters degree. Lastly, you might consider applying for a Certificate of Proficiency (CoP) which is not associated with a degree or diploma but would allow you to transfer your credits to a BProp later if you choose.
No, Think Sharp's short courses are independent study. If you desire face-to-face, personalised tuition you should consider applying for either the University of Auckland’s Bachelor of Property, Master of Property Practice or a Certificate of Proficiency and enrol in full university courses.
The Think Sharp website is protected with a 256-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. In terms of private information, we do not see or have knowledge of any user-generated passwords. The data that is collected and known to us such as course participants’ names or contact information is kept confidential and is not shared with any third parties.
For the most part, yes. The Think Sharp website is responsive so our content is designed to be viewable on smaller devices such as a smart phone. However, we suggest that you view our lectures using a PC or Mac to get the full benefits from them. Also, ensure that your web browser is up-to-date.
Money Matters & Certificates
Think Sharp short courses are comprised of bite-sized lecture videos each containing an embedded quiz at the end. To fully participate in a course, participants must fully watch each lecture video and attempt its embedded quiz. Embedded quizzes do not impact students’ overall course performance. When all the lecture videos have been completed, participants are encouraged to revise what they’ve learned and then sit their time-limited comprehensive online test. Participants must achieve a minimum score of 50% to pass the course. Those who pass will automatically receive their downloadable Certificate of Completion. Participants can, if they wish, retake their short course once at no additional cost.
Participants must score at least a 50% on their comprehensive online test to pass their online short course. Be aware that performance in embedded quizzes placed at the end of each lecture video DO NOT count towards their short course performance. Only the final comprehensive test counts towards the 50% pass requirement. Participants can, if they wish, retake their short course once at no additional cost.
Simply contact us and provide the name of person, the certificate being referenced, the date of issue and the unique code stated on the certificate. We will contact the individual, assuming they have indeed taken our short course, and request their permission to confirm with you the validity of the referenced certificate. We will then get back in touch with you.
That partly depends on the style of your CV, but here is a suggestion that may be suitable:
EDUCATION
Short Courses in Property (www.ThinkSharp.co.nz)
Certificate of Completion in Construction Project Management – July 2022
Certificate of Completion in Residential Finance – January 2023
No. If you do not reside in New Zealand and you will be accessing your course from outside New Zealand, your purchase will be a zero-rated supply and therefore you will not be charged GST (currently 15%). Overseas participants may be required to provide a declaration by email to support a zero-rated supply.
There will be a minor additional cost to print and bind an online short course’s lecture notes which are provided as a downloadable PDF file. Lecture notes vary in length but can reach upwards of 100 pages. Printing the lecture notes is not an absolute requirement but course participants are strongly encouraged to take handwritten notes while watching the online lectures as this will enhance their learning. For course participants living in New Zealand, one option for printing and binding their lecture notes is The Online Printer.
It depends. If you enrol in our Residential Finance or Commercial Property Investment short courses you may choose to acquire an emulator for the HP10B II financial calculator. These are available for PCs, Macs and mobile devices. Here is a link to download a free emulator for use on a PC while Mac and mobile device users can purchase a low-cost emulator from RLM Software or other provider.
Yes. Online learning is new for most everyone. Therefore if you find that you are not benefiting from your short course, simply contact us and request a full refund within 7 calendar days of purchase.
Only one short course, Commercial Property Investment, has a strict prerequisite. Before taking that course, participants will need to complete the Residential Finance course or be provided a waiver to override the prereq. Other courses state in their descriptions some suggested courses to be taken beforehand. For example, depending on the education background of the course participant they may benefit from first taking our Building Structures course before attempting our Residential Construction or High-rise Construction courses. All other short courses can be taken in any order without any specific prerequisites.
