by Dr Davis on September 3, 2010
Online Masters, a degree-touting site, has an article that lists the 40 Best for the Classroom.
I think calling them comic books is going outside the level I would teach. For instance, I wouldn’t teach Asterix (39) and TinTin (30) anywhere but a French classroom. However, there are others I would use.
Last year I attended a talk at SCMLA on Persepolis (1) and have seen several on Maus (2). Watchmen (3) and V for Vendetta (13) have been discussed various places, though I don’t think I’ve seen a teacher talking about them. I have heard Sandman (16) and American-Born Chinese (23) talked about for classroom work.
Even if you aren’t sure about the works, at least the list gives you some to look at.
by Dr Davis on September 3, 2010
The Washington Post has a review of a college admissions book entitled “Best (and Most Unsettling) College Admissions Book Ever.”
Just a taste:
There are far too many assaults on conventional wisdom in this book to summarize it properly. His grasp of the financial issues, from the flaws of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form to the benefits of investing in college-town real estate, is deep. His patience with the usual ways of doing admissions is thin.
He argues that families assume far more college debt than they have to, and students would have better educations and better lives if they took advantage of the many underutilized resources of affordable state universities, instead of spending a fortune at one of the private schools at the top of the U.S. News list.
by Dr Davis on September 3, 2010
The NY Times Opinion page as an article on students studying less. It refers to a study which found that students studied 40 hours a week in 1961 and only study 27 hours a week now.
One thing I will say about this. My father was a college student in 1961. He was taking 18-21 hours each semester. That means he was studying just a bit over or under two hours a week for each hour in class. My son is a college student in 2010. He is taking 14 hours this semester. He took 12 last semester. If he studies 27 hours he is studying just a bit over or under two hours a week for each hour in class.
So, are they studying less? Or are they studying the same amount, but taking fewer classes?
Community College Spotlight has “What’s in a College Credit?” which says that the Department of Education is looking at identifying a credit hour.
One hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out-of-class student work for 15 weeks in a semester or trimester program.
So an hour in class and two hours out of class equals a credit hour.
That says two hours out of class studying is/should be sufficient studying. It’s enough to define the term.
Of course, students who are slower readers, need repetition, or just need to take more time ought to study more. I’m not sure that those who are faster shouldn’t study two hours a week. Any course I’m taking I do that for, even if I don’t need to.
