My favorite thing about this class is the way we learn each chapter’s material. The three blogs are really useful because they really make you learn the material you are covering because you are forced to explain a topic in your own words. You can do this without reading it thoroughly and teaching it to yourself first.
My least favorite thing was the group projects and papers. I think the thing I hate the most about classes is when we have group projects. I know they are meant to help you learn how to work with others but this can only be achieved if everyone is willing to give effort and 99% of the time there is at least one group member who is not willing to do so. I don’t think it is fair that people who really care about their academics have their grades end up in jeopardy because they are stuck nagging people who don’t care as much as you do.
A way this segment of the class can be improved is if you make group project optional. So instead giving three group projects you can make it possible for people to do it by themselves. The first day of class you can take a survey of what they would rather do giving them the option to take their own grade in their own hands. Other than that I can’t think of any other improvements.
Catastro-Phi! I agree with you on your favorite thing about this course. I too wrote about how blogging was a helpful way to learn the material and explain it in your own words. I think in the final sentence of your beginning paragraph you might have meant to said, “You can’t do this…” But yes I agree you need to read the material thoroughly in order to post a blog about it. I also agree with your least favorite thing. It was so hard to work on a group project when people are not willing to help. It was very frustrating working with some people in the group. Making the group project optional is a great idea! Good work this semester ☺
ReplyDeleteI also really liked how this class enabled you to learn more in depth what was assigned to read by doing the blogs, I never really thought about how much they helped until I read what you had to say about them. I also completely agree with you 100% that I did not like the group assignments. I think that since the deadlines were so close together there was so much pressure on each group member to be able to meet and just sometimes certain members had other things to do, like work or studying and someone would just get left out and the other members would feel like someone was not contributing. I think that making the group project optional would be a great idea!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you how blogging have helped us working, and learning on our own.Learning to paraphrase in to our own words. I agree with you it was hard to work on the group projects, because of time conflicts, some people not willing to do their work. It would be better if the projects are on individual bases. Also great way of learning material of the class.
ReplyDeleteMy least favorite thing about the class was also groups discussions. I felt like every time I wanted to get the group together to go over something or just get something done, it was a hassle. I believe it was fine for our class to have one or two group projects, but not more than that. It was a hassle to get everyone together at the same time because as college students we have so many things going on outside of class that it gets tough to do so and I am almost positive everyone went through some sort of conflict with their group.
ReplyDeleteCatastrop-Phi! I always found your blog posts very interesting and informative. You always did a great job at explaining concepts in great detail and providing detailed examples of concepts. I agree with you that the group work should be optional and maybe even extra credit. Sometimes you can work with a studious group, or get stuck in a group that does not do a lot of work which can affect your grade. I agree with you as well that posting three different posts for each chapter was very helpful. I learned a lot of different information and was able to really dissect each chapter by doing a lot of work on it.
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