Time
I realise that I have been too kind a person. I've given too many classes chances that I regret giving. To date I have never skipped a class because it is not worth going; I have only skipped classes because there were more important things to attend, like for example a seminar or a meal with people with whom the arrangement of a meal is extremely hard to attain.
This has got to change. I got to take charge of my life. I got to buck up and skip classes that are not worth the time. I can't be wasting 2 hours of my life here and there attending classes with the hope that the class is worth the time. There are 2 cases in which classes are informative but still not worth going. The first is where the class simply summarises or regurgitates information that can be gotten elsewhere at significantly lesser cost. The second is where there is some value added, but where the value added is so slim that to dedicate 2 hours of time and energy to gain that value is a poor bargain.
Some may think it's pretty presumptious of me to think that I can gain information without some classes, or that I think the value added is not a lot. That's what I told myself for a year. Time and time again I've also told myself the next class would be better. And I've been punished time and time again for my discipline, humility and hopefulness. It's time to stop being kind and start being more discerning.
This has got to change. I got to take charge of my life. I got to buck up and skip classes that are not worth the time. I can't be wasting 2 hours of my life here and there attending classes with the hope that the class is worth the time. There are 2 cases in which classes are informative but still not worth going. The first is where the class simply summarises or regurgitates information that can be gotten elsewhere at significantly lesser cost. The second is where there is some value added, but where the value added is so slim that to dedicate 2 hours of time and energy to gain that value is a poor bargain.
Some may think it's pretty presumptious of me to think that I can gain information without some classes, or that I think the value added is not a lot. That's what I told myself for a year. Time and time again I've also told myself the next class would be better. And I've been punished time and time again for my discipline, humility and hopefulness. It's time to stop being kind and start being more discerning.
11 Comments:
I shall give you a standing ovation now.
Now I really think I should drop one of my classes. Two of my philosophy classes this semester are sorely disappointing. My favourite professor this semester is actually newly hired by BU - he graduated with his PhD only recently, and this is his first time teaching, but his performance is so outstanding that I think he teaches better than some experienced professors. He is very well-prepared, lucid and helpful, and the readings he assigns are extremely informative and insightful. I'm so glad I signed up for his class.
Hmm...maybe there's an ethic dimension to going to lecture classes. Anyway its probably because you're overloading and you're so stretched for time. In times of extreme circumstance, normal 'laws' don't apply.
Aquila
If there's anything at all that can be said about the ethics of attending classes, it is that the tertiary student should have a large degree of autonomy. Sometimes this means choosing to attend all classes; sometimes this means choosing not to attend any. Whatever the decision made, the important thing here is the autonomy of the individual.
I don't know where one can get the idea that I said what I said because I'm overloading and "stretched for time". Let's not lose track of what's being said here. All that I have said remains equally valid in a context where I am extremely free or extremely busy. As should have been clear in the entry, these thoughts of skipping classes have been present throughout the past year, and I have consistently felt disturbed when I dedicate time and energy to unproductive classes, independently of the number of commitments I had to fulfil.
Er...okay.
Aquila
1. would you choose the subject if you know that it is not worth going?
2. the fundemental question is what made you to select this subject?
3. is it the lecturer problem or curriculum issue?
The issue may not necessarily lie with the subject but with the value-addedness of classes.
In any case, to define it as a problem is too extreme. Part of learning is also knowing when you can learn independently, or when time can be better spent elsewhere.
if it is the 'value-addedness' issue, could it then be the expectation set vs the outcome received. any case, this is relatively subjective.
In NUS, the assistant professors/associate professors/professors are graded based on 60% research, 20% service and 20% teaching. It is difficult to juggle both research and teaching at the same time. As a result, most professors end up neglecting their teaching jobs and focusing more on their own research. This is how life is like in a university that is in the top 30.
the lecture system was developed in the medieval times for the dissemination of information, due to the lack of books.
don't feel guilty because this unfortunate tradition has carried on.
Sometimes there is a hidden dimension in attending classes that you can read yourself. It is outside of knowledge, in the aspect of professor-relations... I suspend judgement on whether that is good or bad because while I have gained some intangible benefits from attendance, I have also had the accompanying cost of wasting my time by zoning out in useless lectures as well.
Plausible. Most of my classes are 'boring' so if I have to abandon any one of them, I might as well abandon *all*. I think I'm attending mostly because it forces me to think about the content, and also for the chance to meet up with group mates.
Post a Comment
<< Home