This isn’t the class I registered for!
It’s happens to us all, and every semester it’s the same thing. We sit down to check our list of required classes, we get online and make a selection of what we think, are ideal classes, selecting all of them in perfect harmony with our lives and outside responsibilities. We print out our schedule and think ok, this is good, this will work. We go about the rest of the week feeling ready for the new term, excited were on tract and ahead of the game.
On Monday morning or when ever it is, you get to your new class rooms, find a seat in the perfect spot and the teacher hands out the class syllabi. This is so exciting, what will I be doing, and what will I be learning? As you look over the syllabus and the teacher reads aloud the focus of the class, you start to get this feeling that you have just entered a foreign country, or something resembling a really bad horror movie. You scan the class schedule and start counting the amount of assignments, the amount of reading, and then you try to recall what the course catalog said the class would be about, by this time your head is spinning, you know what must be done. But you wait and you tell yourself maybe it won’t be so bad, I’ll just see what my other classes are like and then I’ll decide.
Later that day you sit down out side under a nice tree looking over all five or six syllabus’s that you received. Great! Two classes are manageable, but these other three or four are just not what you expected, and you’re just not interested in the class material, or maybe the work load will not be at all possible. You have a job, or maybe kids and a job, or two jobs to pay for all these classes. You head to the computer lab to do that thing that must be done. Drop a class.
There is a solution to this problem, a simple solution actually, but one that isn’t taken very seriously by the faculty or the staff at most universities. Why not? We are we paying for a service aren’t we?
Think about this for a moment, you go to the restaurant and look over the menu and you know exactly what is being served with your entre. You go online to order a book and there before you is a review or a summary telling you the basic ideas contained and the amount of pages to be read, or maybe you go to the store and buy a computer, the contents are not missing from the outside of the box. No. You know exactly what you’re getting. And students have the right as patrons to know what they are getting before they pay for it.
There are lots of reasons that factually and staff does not want to implement this policy and I have posted some links at the bottom of my blog so you can see some of them, but I’m sure you will feel as I do that they are not at all valid reasons.
There is however a valid and simple solution and that is for the universities to provide a link to the current class syllabus on the registration pages so that students can decide before registering if it is what they want, expect, or can even handle.
People don’t often think of an education as a product. But it is. And you can buy a good product or you can a bad one. Students need to demand that universities provide them product information. Too much valuable time and many credit hours are wasted that otherwise wouldn’t because students are unaware of what they are purchasing.
Don’t you want to know what you’re paying for? Don’t you want to know that the English class you’re taking next term is going to teach you how to write a better argument like you thought it would instead of turning out to be a creative writing class? I know I sure do and as a student I am tired of having to drop classes that I paid good money for and then having to readjust my whole life, (or worse) have to keep a class that I know I’m not going to do as well in or struggle to get through.
I want to know what you think. This is our university and our education we are paying for. Please post and take a stand on the issue.
I would also love to hear the opinions about posting syllabi from any of the staff and faculty.
Thank you for reading, good luck next term and may all your classes be exactly what you thought they would be; or close.
LJ
Here are some links to other interesting articles on the subject if you are interested in doing further research.
http://www.popecenter.org/issues/article.html?id=2041
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:OjH441BWuBoJ:scue.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/syllabi-online-policy-paper.pdf+getting+class+syllabus+before+registration&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
http://www.mycollegesuccessstory.com/
I def. experienced similar situations throughout my college live. You enter the class because somebody told you its very easy but you end up doing work that you are not familiar with. You already planned your live around your neew schedule and now you have to drop the class which turns your life upside down. In cases like this it would be more helpful to look at the syllabus beforehand to ensure that class is right for. I am totally supporting this idea, right on!
ReplyDeleteI agree completely - it's the no-fly zone as I call it. It's as if you have a schedule in place - but yet it's not a stable one. It's all about that first day. Like a first date in my case, I say yeh or ney in the first hour.
ReplyDeleteSorry ladies, its rock it or stop it for me.
Dan Guglielmo
I think a good majority of students have experienced similar things with the registration process, unfortunately. I also agree with the idea of making the syllabus readily available before class registration to ensure a higher student success rate as well as preparedness for the course. Obviously it would present an inconvenience for the course instructor, but in the long run it would prove beneficial. The first link you have made an interesting point regarding this idea, stating “‘this way, instructors can market their courses more effectively, and they no longer have to fend off endless questions from interested students trying to make out their schedules.’ ” If students pay the money for a course, I think it is most definitely the teacher’s responsibility to portray the correct information about it.
ReplyDeleteI always noticed that students frequently dropped classes. I always just took the class because I figured I had to take it eventually. This would definitely be a huge help because classes are very expensive and if you don't drop in time then you loose your money. Even if you realize early on that the class will not work it is often too late to add another class, especially when you only need certain ones. I normally do not drop because I couldn't find another class at the last minute and it was too expensive to drop.
ReplyDeleteI have found that a good teacher can make a HUGE difference in wether or not you take anything from the class. If anyone is interested go to
www.ratemyteacher.com and you can look up the teacher you are interested in taking to get a idea of their teaching methods. Having a good teacher can make all of the difference.
I've had to drop so many classes because of this very problem. I would love to know what each of my future classes will consist of before the first day of class. If a syllabus could be posted along with each class it would make everyone's lives so much easier.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent idea! Not only would this enable students to enroll in classes that they are interested in and believe they can manage, but it would also alleviate a great deal of the headaches caused by dropping and adding classes, which often occur in the first few weeks of the semester. Since we, as students, are paying the university for a service, I do not think that it is at all unreasonable for professors to market their classes to prospective students. Also, since professors would (I assume) want students in their classes who are able to rise to the occasion and fulfill their requirements, it seems like this option is a win-win for students and professors alike!
ReplyDelete