I am taking 3 classes this semester that require me to spend time in a classroom. Two of them are standard business courses (ECON 211 - Macroeconomics and COMM 311 - Business Communication) and the other is a computer science course (CSCE 235 - Discrete Mathematics).
There is a marked difference between the two genres of class.
+ Everybody shows up for the computer science course. You see the same faces in class every day, because the students in that class know that you just have to go to class to do well. Attendance is spotty in the two business courses, and some of those who do show up are obviously not paying attention.
+ In computer science, you have homework to do. As soon as one is completed, another one is assigned - if not sooner! It *will* take you at least 4-6 hours to do, and it does force you to learn the material. The business classes have no homework to speak of - the worst out-of-classroom work has been some truly stupid group work in my communications class.
+ There are a lot more girls in the business classes. Seriously. There's only one girl in Discrete Mathematics.
Students in both classes complain about the same amount for their assigned workload, but the students in my computer science class have a lot more reason to complain. They're all computer science or computer engineering - I'm the only business major.
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
2006-09-22
2006-01-26
Those poor poor dormies
It's 3:30AM right now, and I'm still awake.
If I was living in the dorms, I would have probably been in bed by 12:00-1:00. I could have gotten 8 hours of sleep easily.
The only reason I'm still awake now is because I went downstairs to talk to one of my fraternity brothers about a social event going on tomorrow evening involving ice cream and females (simultaneously!). I didn't get upstairs until 2 and a half hours later because I got caught up in talking with my brothers about random crap while watching the show Homewreckers, featuring the crazy pranks of some guy from Jackass.
I finally managed to tear myself from the hilarity, only to get caught up in a discussion about girls with two other guys at the bottom of the stairwell. Eventually, the conversation degenerated into a discussion of what crazy movies we were going to watch this weekend. (The Japanese zombie movie "Wild Zero" is the headliner.)
Holy crap - if I lived in the dorms, I doubt I'd have more than one or two friends. My roommate would probably be the only person I knew well. And, there would be an automatic 50% chance that the person assigned to be my roommate would grate on my nerves horribly, making my life that much suckier.
I can't help but pity those dormies. I'd guess that only 10% of the campus is actively social - and I'd say half of those people are members of the greek system (7% of those on campus are in a greek house). Crazy.
If I was living in the dorms, I would have probably been in bed by 12:00-1:00. I could have gotten 8 hours of sleep easily.
The only reason I'm still awake now is because I went downstairs to talk to one of my fraternity brothers about a social event going on tomorrow evening involving ice cream and females (simultaneously!). I didn't get upstairs until 2 and a half hours later because I got caught up in talking with my brothers about random crap while watching the show Homewreckers, featuring the crazy pranks of some guy from Jackass.
I finally managed to tear myself from the hilarity, only to get caught up in a discussion about girls with two other guys at the bottom of the stairwell. Eventually, the conversation degenerated into a discussion of what crazy movies we were going to watch this weekend. (The Japanese zombie movie "Wild Zero" is the headliner.)
Holy crap - if I lived in the dorms, I doubt I'd have more than one or two friends. My roommate would probably be the only person I knew well. And, there would be an automatic 50% chance that the person assigned to be my roommate would grate on my nerves horribly, making my life that much suckier.
I can't help but pity those dormies. I'd guess that only 10% of the campus is actively social - and I'd say half of those people are members of the greek system (7% of those on campus are in a greek house). Crazy.
2006-01-25
Easy classes
There seem to be two acceptable definitions for the term "easy class." To my understanding, what most people mean when they talk about having an "easy class" this semester is that they are in a class that
1. Doesn't require homework very often
2. Doesn't have many quizzes/tests
3. Requires little in-class participation
But when I'm looking for classes (and I *do* like to have it easy) I find myself hoping for classes that
1. Have lots of take-home homework (that I can do right and be sure of 100%)
2. Lots of small quizzes that I can prepare for a little at a time
3. Chances to make up bad grades on old quizzes/homeworks
I'd rather do some more work to get a guaranteed A then do minimal work and roll the dice for a grade between B- and A.
1. Doesn't require homework very often
2. Doesn't have many quizzes/tests
3. Requires little in-class participation
But when I'm looking for classes (and I *do* like to have it easy) I find myself hoping for classes that
1. Have lots of take-home homework (that I can do right and be sure of 100%)
2. Lots of small quizzes that I can prepare for a little at a time
3. Chances to make up bad grades on old quizzes/homeworks
I'd rather do some more work to get a guaranteed A then do minimal work and roll the dice for a grade between B- and A.
2006-01-09
The night before class...
I stayed up a bit later then I intended to - I meant to be in bed by now, but some of the guys started a game of The Settlers of Catan and I couldn't pass it up.
Another semester about to start... the possibility of a decent education, the passing of time, insert generic deep sounding statement here. All I need to do is average an A- and make enough money to break even this semester.
Two of the three class I'm taking tomorrow are econ classes. Now, call me cynical, but I am of the opinion that it is possible to learn more about economics by going into the retail business (or another enterprise based on a free market) and learning from experience. Or, by paying attention to someone else who has already amassed experience in that area.
Alas, I am almost positive that my classes will deal with the theoretical side of economics, and involve the memorization of equations and formulas. I glanced at my books - looks like just another sort of math, which is good for my grades - but somewhat disappointing.
My second semester, I took a business communication class one evening a week that happened to be taught by a local businessman. I consider that class the most useful one I have taken so far - he followed the curriculum prescribed by the College of Journalism, but managed to teach useful and practical things on written business communication.
Looking back at the 14 classes I've taken to date, I can count 3 classes - one per semester - that I enjoyed/felt like I benefited from. I suppose I should be glad that the scholarship money wasn't completely wasted each semester. With any luck, I might learn something this semester too.
Another semester about to start... the possibility of a decent education, the passing of time, insert generic deep sounding statement here. All I need to do is average an A- and make enough money to break even this semester.
Two of the three class I'm taking tomorrow are econ classes. Now, call me cynical, but I am of the opinion that it is possible to learn more about economics by going into the retail business (or another enterprise based on a free market) and learning from experience. Or, by paying attention to someone else who has already amassed experience in that area.
Alas, I am almost positive that my classes will deal with the theoretical side of economics, and involve the memorization of equations and formulas. I glanced at my books - looks like just another sort of math, which is good for my grades - but somewhat disappointing.
My second semester, I took a business communication class one evening a week that happened to be taught by a local businessman. I consider that class the most useful one I have taken so far - he followed the curriculum prescribed by the College of Journalism, but managed to teach useful and practical things on written business communication.
Looking back at the 14 classes I've taken to date, I can count 3 classes - one per semester - that I enjoyed/felt like I benefited from. I suppose I should be glad that the scholarship money wasn't completely wasted each semester. With any luck, I might learn something this semester too.
2006-01-07
Why can't they just pick my pockets like an honest robber?
I can stand useless classes, crappy teachers, and the fact that attendance is a major factor in my grade. Whatever. But why does the university have to rape me once a semester when it comes to textbooks?
I'm aware of the fact that the publishers charge exorbitant prices in the first place. A standardized textbook for a class like economics, math, or computer science is just going to be expensive - because the publisher knows that hundreds of thousands of students will pay whatever they ask in a desperate attempt to succeed at their classes.
But why does the university have to play along? For the love of all that is good and cheap, the principals of algebra have not changed that much over the last two years. What could possibly justifying spending over $100 on a book to learn, say, economics - when you could be learning from a book dated (gasp) two years back - for $20?
The university doesn't move up to the latest edition when the books become dated. They have an equation based on the number of used books being sold versus the number of new books being sold. Once the ratio of used books sold to new books sold gets high enough, they move up to the next edition.
It's a good racket - hard to beat. I can get through my computer science classes without cracking the book, so I saved myself $120 on books for that class this semester. I don't feel optimistic enough to try my economics and statistics classes without the aid of books, though - I paid $20 for a $100 book for my economics class by searching used books on Amazon, but I couldn't find any worthwhile deals for my statistics books. I spent $190 on (USED) books for that class.
I still have to get some books for my history class, but since it's not one of the huge general classes (like American History after 1877, for example) it only has a few cheaper books - I should only end up dropping $30 to get the books for that class.
If I only knew that they would give me a decent price at the end of the year, it wouldn't be so bad - heck, I'd settle for 50% of the used price. But I know I'll be doing good to get 10% of the used price, if they decide to pay me anything at all. Once they move up to the next edition, they won't even give you a dumpster to throw your books in.
I'm aware of the fact that the publishers charge exorbitant prices in the first place. A standardized textbook for a class like economics, math, or computer science is just going to be expensive - because the publisher knows that hundreds of thousands of students will pay whatever they ask in a desperate attempt to succeed at their classes.
But why does the university have to play along? For the love of all that is good and cheap, the principals of algebra have not changed that much over the last two years. What could possibly justifying spending over $100 on a book to learn, say, economics - when you could be learning from a book dated (gasp) two years back - for $20?
The university doesn't move up to the latest edition when the books become dated. They have an equation based on the number of used books being sold versus the number of new books being sold. Once the ratio of used books sold to new books sold gets high enough, they move up to the next edition.
It's a good racket - hard to beat. I can get through my computer science classes without cracking the book, so I saved myself $120 on books for that class this semester. I don't feel optimistic enough to try my economics and statistics classes without the aid of books, though - I paid $20 for a $100 book for my economics class by searching used books on Amazon, but I couldn't find any worthwhile deals for my statistics books. I spent $190 on (USED) books for that class.
I still have to get some books for my history class, but since it's not one of the huge general classes (like American History after 1877, for example) it only has a few cheaper books - I should only end up dropping $30 to get the books for that class.
If I only knew that they would give me a decent price at the end of the year, it wouldn't be so bad - heck, I'd settle for 50% of the used price. But I know I'll be doing good to get 10% of the used price, if they decide to pay me anything at all. Once they move up to the next edition, they won't even give you a dumpster to throw your books in.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
