I was observing how many people like to catch up on their blogging on Sunday and posted a tweet to that effect. Mom promptly informed me that I was now required to blog, ergo the following.
So the new semester started recently and I have several classes (ok, all of them) that decided to begin with a review of past material. I do not like to review material from previous classes at the beginning of new semesters or years and I have not liked it since I came home from first grade and told Mom that we wouldn't be learning anything new in first grade since we had already covered the material in kindergarten.
I feel that if material is a prerequisite for a class then all of the students should already be familiar with it, or be willing to review what they need to on their own. I feel that this will allow the class to progress at a more rapid rate and avoid wasting time covering something that all students should already know. For example, in my Digital Systems class (ENGE 240 - not even a freshman level course) we began our semester by learning about powers of 10 and SI prefixes. I believe that this is ridiculous because this is material that students should be learning in their middle school science classes, not their 200 level college courses and taking TWO class periods to cover that material is a waste of time. (I might be persuaded to admit that passing out the reference sheet would be OK.)
Other than the endless review that we are subjected to as students, my classes are going well. I am enjoying learning about logic gates and digital circuitry in my engineering classes, C++ and Java classes in my computer classes, and ways to interact constructively in my communications classes.
7 comments:
Good to hear from you. Hopefully all the review "stuff" is now over and you can plow head on into the "learning new stuff."
Blog, blog, update a blog??? Oops, I seem to have forgotten to do that!
I like the review in classes-- it puts everyone on the same level (as some people are taught things in different ways and /or don't remember from middle school).
Also as a side note on blogging on sunday: in our ward we consider blogging to be a journal-- which we've been told to do. And writing in a journal is a good Sunday activity. :) Plus, a lot of missionaries are allowed to email and blogs on Monday, so i try and do it the day before so my missionaries can see updates when they check....
where are you taking classes?
nvm the last question, City College and grossmont. :)
Just to be clear (because Mom seems to think that this is a negative post) - This is not a "Hate on All Things Review" blog post. This is a "I think that we could skip over this boring part" blog post.
I feel that review is important because some people haven't taken classes that require you to remember certian things that you learned in middle and high school. Every year in high school I wanted the review to last a little bit longer, but. Recognized the importance of learning the new subject. In one of my education classes I'm learning about making your class run smoother and as a unit, and it is important to have a bit of review before you jump into new material.
Good points, Chelsea. Review can help create a cohesive learning community because learners now can have a shared experience and have opportunities to share information they've learned in other locales. Hopefully it will foster an environment of collaboration between learners. Glad to hear you're enjoying your education courses, Chelsea.
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