I will add commentary on these results soon. Click Fullscreen in the Scribd menu below to get a version that is large enough to read. You can also get a copy to print by clicking Too Much Time?
TooMuchTimeSpr10
Monday, March 29, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I suspect there was some confusion with the questions about time with the profession. I doubt seriously 17 of your students think that more time is needed to prepare to babysit than teach.
ReplyDeleteI was also a bit surprised by the the workload comments simply because of the amount of friction you have had about making your students do work outside of your class. I haven't assigned "homework" for years. I feel students should be able to learn enough the seven hours they are in school and that time outside of school they need to do non "schooly" things. It seems that many of your students think they should only have to learn or work while in your allotted class time period as well. I often see teachers that complain bitterly about after school teacher meetings load students up with an hour or two of homework without blinking. The world is a strange place....
I was just about to post that I think I read the "do you think your education" questions wrong therefore answering wrong. If I said yes than after re-reading I certainly meant no to most of these questions. I would not put it past me to do such a thing. Sorry! I think, like Mr. Chamberlin, that maybe some others read it wrong as well.
ReplyDeleteTHANK you for the no homework outside of school comment Mr. Chamberlin. I realize that in a college setting that is almost impossible. However, I do like your thinking. We do have lives outside of college. I can think of a few teachers at my school who complained and complained about coming to a fundraiser night for the school. I am sure they didn't mind assigning homework every night that week to the kiddies. Something to remember in the future.
Your comment on Summary Thoughts ...
ReplyDelete1. Yes, I think many misunderstood the question. Next time I will ask
Which takes the MOST time to prepare for and then list the pairs.
2. I was intrigued by your comment to Mr. Chamberlain. I am certain that he was NOT advocating no homework in EDM310, and you hedged your comments a bit so you probably aren't either but I think you would prefer it if all you had to do was work during the class or lab time. Am I right?
Yesterday Mr. C and I corresponded by email on this subject. You should read and think about my email to him:
I was afraid this would happen [students fall behind in their work] when we implemented the blended approach which substituted lab (treated as optional by students even though attendance is required) for one of the weekly class sessions and converted the other into "independent learning time." About 25% of the students attend labs less than half the time. This group of students attends a class or lab about 16 hours a semester. A SEMESTER! About 25% attend a class or lab about 21 hours a semester (the maximum). The rest fall somewhere in between.
But others are very productive on their own. And it doesn't take me long to figure out who will be productive as an independent learner. I am wrong sometimes (both ways), but not often.
In another interesting finding, one of the students in Class B, Amberly Elmore, got a different set of results. On her blog she wrote (among other findings): "How much time do you spend outside of class doing things for school? 36% said one to three hours, 29% said four to six hours, 29% said six or more hours, and 6% only study less than an hour!" Her survey was a general survey about college experiences and did not focus on EDM310. So her responses reflects work done outside of class for all their classes combined!
My students have 1.25 hrs per week in a lab for 11 weeks and 2.5 hours per week in class for 4 weeks. So that's 10 hours required in class per semester and about 14 hours in a semester in a lab that is treated as optional by most. Life is indeed tough.