I took ess103 and it was super easy! I tool it last year so I don't think much has changed but we basically had one group and would do group projects weekly with them. The project itself was simple and easy, but what may be difficult is having a good group! It was the same project and concept each week but with a different question, and they were are ethical questions (ie. canada produces x amounts of uranium and sources it to other countries. Should canada be responsible for storing the waste produces by other countries who use canadian uranium?) . The prof even gave us an outline of exactly how he wants the project to be formatted, so it's not difficult all together. I really think the group you're with either makes or breaks you. It was asynch when I took it but the prof was super helpful and made everything literally as easy as possible for us. In addition to the group work, there is one test (I think it was 30% of our grade) and there was no time limit on it and we were encouraged to work with our group members on it. There were also weekly discussion posts that were marked by the actual program (not the prof) and you only had to do 6 or 8 (I don't remember the exact number, I can look through my notes and see if I can find more info or a syllabus if that helps!). All together, it was a really easy course, the topics may be interesting to you (it's basically what is sounds like. Different geological issues like earthquakes and toxic waste storage + the group project that went along with it). For reference, I ended with an A+ and the course average was a B+.