College class schedules

[Teachin'Mine]

Moki's thread on the high school board got me wondering how classes are more commonly scheduled. For example, at her CC they schedule Calc III for 50 mins 5 days a week. Our CC holds classes twice a week . for approx 1.5 to 2 hours. In your experience, which is more common?

[regentrude]

Our school's calc 1, 2 and 3 classes are 5 hour classes that meets for 50 minutes five days a week.

Edited November 11, 2012 by regentrude

[Grace is Sufficient]

It may depend on whether they are on the quarter or semester system. Both mine are at colleges on the semester system, and a 3 credit class is generally 50 minutes, three times per week. Similarly, my son's 4 credit calculus class was four days a week for 50 minutes.

Edited November 11, 2012 by Grace is Sufficient
Clarity

[Teachin'Mine]

Semester system also. This is interesting as I had no idea it was usual for a five credit course to meet all five days. I know that's essentially what the five credits mean, but I've only seen it scheduled for 2 or 3 days per week with the extended class time. There are pros and cons to each.

[regentrude]

Semester system also. This is interesting as I had no idea it was usual for a five credit course to meet all five days. I know that's essentially what the five credits mean' date=' but I've only seen it scheduled for 2 or 3 days per week with the extended class time. There are pros and cons to each.[/quote']

 

The demographic of the students would very likely make a difference. At our university, the clientele are full-time undergraduates which are there every day. At some CC's, the majority of students work during the day and take night classes; they often use block scheduling (with sometimes very unwieldly five hour blocks) that are convenient for the student to schedule around work and family, but probably horrible for material coverage and concentration.

 

ETA: Just checked one of the local CCs: they do class 2 hours+45 minutes long twice per week.

[Teachin'Mine]

Yes, night classes, especially ones which only meet once a week, are between 2 and 3 hours. But the others are during the day. Personally I would rather be in longer classes less frequently as it allows more flexibility in planning free time, or even free days. I agree that the longer class sessions require a longer attention span, but I don't see how less material is covered if length of time in class is the same either way. A 5 credit class which is 2 hrs 20 mins 2x/wk meets for 280 minutes. That same class 50 mins 5x/wk meets for 250 minutes. In looking at our course offerings, many math classes are offered both ways and even some other variations. I hadn't noticed as we just skipped over the ones which meet daily as it's not dd's preference. I think that like most things it depends on the students learning preference. Some like to cover a lot of material and then work on it and others prefer smaller amounts at a time with more frequent feedback.

 

If all classes meet for 50 minutes at a university, that to me would make the day similar to a high school schedule. Comfortably familiar for some students, while not flexible enough for others. Like most CCs there's a mix of full-time and part-time students. The majority are full-time degree seeking students. Some of the classes which meet in blocks of several hours are the honors interdisciplinary courses. For such classes, more time is needed to cover the material in depth and not have discussions cut short.

Edited November 11, 2012 by Teachin'Mine

[AngieW in Texas]

Calc I/II/III all meet for 1 hour and 45 minutes twice each week or 1 hour and 10 minutes three times each week. Out of all Calc I/II/III sections, only two met 3x/week. All others met 2x/week. Calc is a 4-credit class at my cc which is on a semester system.

 

The first two semesters of any foreign language class at our cc is 5 credit hours. Those classes typically meet 2x/week for 2 hours and 20 minutes each time, but there are sections that meet 3x/week for 1 hour and 30 minutes each time.

 

I just checked UTD's schedule for Calc. They offer it as a 4-credit course. It has 1 hour and 50 minute component 1x/week and a 1 hour and 15 minute component that meets 2x/week. They also have an exam section they have to attend which meets for exams on Saturdays for 3 hours 3x/semester. From the way the two class components are described, the one that meets 2x/week is for lecture and the one that meets 1x/week is for discussion/problem-solving.

 

ETA:

One problem my 19yo is running into with scheduling is that the classes in her major tend to meet 1x/week for 3 hours, so they knock out 2-3 timeslots for classes instead of just one. Her major is Arts&Technology. She was focusing on animation, but is switching over to game design. The problem is that the core classes all meet 2-3x/week and she still has a lot of those to take too. For next semester, there were 8 possible classes for her to take. Once she put her 3 set-in-stone classes on the schedule (two of them only had one section, but the other had 3, unfortunately, 2 of those conflicted with the 2 classes set in stone already), she was down to only 7 possible classes and each had only one timeslot that didn't conflict. It made setting up her schedule really easy though. She is registering for 6 classes and will drop one before the survey period ends. The one she'd like to drop is SciFi and Fantasy Literature because it meets on Mondays only from 7pm-10pm and that just seems like a horrible timeslot to her. She will wait until she actually started attending the classes to figure out which one to drop though.

Edited November 14, 2012 by AngieW in Texas

[kiana]

As long as you can handle learning the material for a long block, they're great. I loved taking courses like that. But not every student can handle it.

 

It can be especially problematic in a class that builds upon itself like calculus, where the stuff taught in the last hour may well depend on understanding the stuff taught in the first hour. It also can be problematic for students who don't practice daily -- who wait until Tuesday to begin the work assigned in Thursday's class. Immature students tend to need the more high-school like structure as well.

[regentrude]

but I don't see how less material is covered if length of time in class is the same either way.

 

I teach physics' date=' and I know that with a 5 hour block schedule I could not possibly cover the same amount of material that I cover in five individual lectures.

If I have one 50 minute lecture, the assigned pre-class reading will be a few sections and more manageable than a whole chapter; the student then has homework to solidify the concepts, and he has time to read over the lecture notes again after class. Thus he enters the second lecture with a deeper understanding of the first lecture's material. If I teach daily, the material on Friday depends on the understanding of Monday's or Wednesday's material. (Even if homework is collected only once a week, the breakdown of pre-class reading and the opportunity to review lecture notes are important.)

 

If everything were crammed into a five hour block, this would not allow the student to read, process, and practice in between - so the only way to teach would be to incorporate the practice and pondering [i']into [/i]the class period and slow down, thus covering significantly less material.

(Of course I could also disregard the need for this and use the "drinking from the firehose" approach and innundate the students with all the material, hoping they get it sorted out by themselves over the course of the week by doing their ten hours of outside work after all the lecture material, instead of in between. My experience tells me that this would not be a promising approach.)

Edited November 11, 2012 by regentrude

[Barbara H]

At our state university calculus I and II are five days a week 50 minutes a class. Calc III, and many lower division foreign languages, are three days a week of 50 minutes with a professor and then one day a week recitation section with a TA.

 

The really frustrating thing for students is that the recitation sections can be scheduled at wildly different times and places. So, your main section of the course may meet MWF at 11, and you end up with a recitation section at 8 a.m. on a Thursday or 4:30 on a Tuesday. Students really need to expect they will be on campus five days a week and different hours on different days. It also means students should plan carefully and make sure they register as soon as they are allowed to every semester to maximize their choices.

[Teachin'Mine]

I teach physics, and I know that with a 5 hour block schedule I could not possibly cover the same amount of material that I cover in five individual lectures.

If I have one 50 minute lecture, the assigned pre-class reading will be a few sections and more manageable than a whole chapter; the student then has homework to solidify the concepts, and he has time to read over the lecture notes again after class. Thus he enters the second lecture with a deeper understanding of the first lecture's material. If I teach daily, the material on Friday depends on the understanding of Monday's or Wednesday's material. (Even if homework is collected only once a week, the breakdown of pre-class reading and the opportunity to review lecture notes are important.)

 

If everything were crammed into a five hour block, this would not allow the student to read, process, and practice in between - so the only way to teach would be to incorporate the practice and pondering into the class period and slow down, thus covering significantly less material.

(Of course I could also disregard the need for this and use the "drinking from the firehose" approach and innundate the students with all the material, hoping they get it sorted out by themselves over the course of the week by doing their ten hours of outside work after all the lecture material, instead of in between. My experience tells me that this would not be a promising approach.)

 

Aside from these classes all being well under 3hrs, and in the case of a 3 credit physics class well under 2hrs, it seems that again it comes down to student preference and whether they are able to learn the course content during two lectures a week. The content covered, including depth, is the same for all the sections offered. As you've pointed out, some students would do better meeting 3x per week for 50 minutes instead of 2x per week, but more than 3x per week is not offered at this CC for a 3 credit physics class.

[Teachin'Mine]

As long as you can handle learning the material for a long block, they're great. I loved taking courses like that. But not every student can handle it.

 

It can be especially problematic in a class that builds upon itself like calculus, where the stuff taught in the last hour may well depend on understanding the stuff taught in the first hour. It also can be problematic for students who don't practice daily -- who wait until Tuesday to begin the work assigned in Thursday's class. Immature students tend to need the more high-school like structure as well.

 

Yes, I agree.

[regentrude]

Aside from these classes all being well under 3hrs' date=' ...[/quote']

 

sorry, my mind was wandering and I was thinking of several courses (including chemistry!) that are offered as five hour classes from 5 to 10pm in one sitting at the local CC.

I agree, 2 hours sessions - no problem. (In fact, I'd rather like having a slightly longer time to teach)

[Teachin'Mine]

sorry, my mind was wandering and I was thinking of several courses (including chemistry!) that are offered as five hour classes from 5 to 10pm in one sitting at the local CC.

I agree, 2 hours sessions - no problem. (In fact, I'd rather like having a slightly longer time to teach)

 

No problem. I would think a five hour chemistry lecture would be torture! :tongue_smilie:

[Caroline]

No problem. I would think a five hour chemistry lecture would be torture! :tongue_smilie:

 

I agree, and I like chemistry!

 

One of the local four year universities here only has classes Monday-Thursday. All profs are required to have office hours on Fridays. I taught a three hour Math Ed class there last semester as part of the PDS. It was 5-8 in the evening, because the students were doing their practicum semester in the middle school. It was too much for most of them. But I am not sure that was the timing's fault. I think it was their lack of math foundation's fault.

 

When I took 5 hour calculus, oh so many moons ago, it met for 50 minutes every day of the week.

[Teachin'Mine]

From what Regentrude, Grace, Margaret, Barbara, and Caroline shared it seems that the 50 minute class is the more common. Angie's experience sounds similar to ours with a variety of options offered.

 

I can see that each scheduling has its pros and cons. I'm thinking that dd should take a class which meets for 50 minutes just to compare the experience. I'm also thinking that how the classes are offered at prospective universities may factor somewhat into her decision, but it may not be that important in the end.

 

I've learned a lot from what everyone has shared. Thank you.

[regentrude]

I can see that each scheduling has its pros and cons. I'm thinking that dd should take a class which meets for 50 minutes just to compare the experience. I'm also thinking that how the classes are offered at prospective universities may factor somewhat into her decision' date=' but it may not be that important in the end.

[/quote']

 

I wanted to add one more bit of information about our school: there are actually two different lengths of classes. MWF all classes are 50 minutes, and everything (except labs) are scheduled on this grid.

On T Th, there are also some classes which meet for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

So, a three hour course could be three times 50 minutes, or twice 75 minutes. A four hour course can be 4x 50 or 2x75 plus 1x50.

[Caroline]

I wanted to add one more bit of information about our school: there are actually two different lengths of classes. MWF all classes are 50 minutes, and everything (except labs) are scheduled on this grid.

On T Th, there are also some classes which meet for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

So, a three hour course could be three times 50 minutes, or twice 75 minutes. A four hour course can be 4x 50 or 2x75 plus 1x50.

 

GA Tech and VA Tech both do this, too.

[Teachin'Mine]

GA Tech and VA Tech both do this, too.

 

Yes, our CC too. For some 3 credit classes there's also a 2hr40min (160 min) option for 1x/wk.

[QueenCat]

Ds is taking Calc 1 this semester. He is at a school where most students are full time students, going in right after high school. His Calc 1 class meets twice a week for 90 minutes (each day). It is a small class (15 students max), so they can get a lot of help if they need it.

[JFSinIL]

Our cc has classes either as a long night class, or a twice-a week class, for the most part. Sons LAC is on trimester system, and is similar.

[Teachin'Mine]

Ds is taking Calc 1 this semester. He is at a school where most students are full time students, going in right after high school. His Calc 1 class meets twice a week for 90 minutes (each day). It is a small class (15 students max), so they can get a lot of help if they need it.

 

Sounds like a wonderful Calc I class!

[Teachin'Mine]

Our cc has classes either as a long night class, or a twice-a week class, for the most part. Sons LAC is on trimester system, and is similar.

 

A trimester system sounds interesting. I would imagine it's easier to get in more classes during a year that way. Are these 12 weeks long instead of 16?

[Laura in CA]

A trimester system sounds interesting. I would imagine it's easier to get in more classes during a year that way. Are these 12 weeks long instead of 16?

 

Not JFS' date=' but my son's best friend is on the quarter system at a UC. Quarters are 10-11 weeks long (same as when I was in college). (Oxford's "terms" are famously only 8 weeks long!) It is a fast pace, but I enjoyed it, and yes, you can have more variety in your classes over the course of a year. My son's friend's (5-quarter-unit) calculus class meets MWF for 70 minutes each day. Same with foreign language classes. Math classes have a mandatory 1.75-hour section that also meets once a week, as others have mentioned upthread.

 

ETA: Since this is a UC, the expectation is that ALL students actually live [i']on campus[/i]. Looking at this UC's course schedule, every single math class (except for some upper-division seminars) meets MWF. At our local CC, however, where my son has taken math classes, many math courses are offered twice a week, in the evening, for 2+ hours in one sitting. Oh, and often one semester the class will be scheduled for twice a week in the evening for 2.5 hours each night; the following semester the class will meet three times a week for about 1.5 hours, during the middle of the day -- I assume this is to accommodate different students' work schedules ...

Edited November 15, 2012 by Laura in CA

[Guest TeachingMine]

Thanks for your input Laura. Those 8 week terms must be intense!

 

(This is the OP, but I had to create a new username to log onto the new forum. )