[lit-ideas] Re: Potlach etc.

You guys are lucky.  Here university depts decide how much
reading per course per week (OK, York Pol decreed it).

 That is, they decide/d the (notional) hours.  (7 outside class,
David.)  Also they decreed that certain pieces of the weekly
reading should be compulsory for all students on a course, the rest,
obviously, merely 'recommended'.

   Then the math is simple.  If they're
> supposed to spend six hours outside class doing work for that class,
> they can read 360 divided by (x), give or take.

When the regime came in I asked a seminar group (a receptive and amiable
one) to log their reading and report back (promising the results
would not count against them... ).  One, a woman RAF officer,
probably, had read 4 books -- not surprising -- some had struggled
to read two articles.  There was no feasible mean -- even excluding her,
there wasn't -- I ended up, as I think most people did, making
two articles or two chapters 'compulsory'.  Luckily, some students
still did more (and of course some did zero).

> My daughter's professors are still in "ought to be able to" mode.

I'm still in 'ought' but for a reasonable version of 'ought'.  But then,
British
students now do need some 'ought' -- as they did when I was still
teaching --
the figures given below are probably an overestimate...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article2007997.ece

and see http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/philos/cbbio.htm -- so true

as for

But I was
> actually thinking about those moments when everyone in the class has
> prepared something and the issue is, who shall speak first?  Do you
> pick the most eager student?  The recalcitrant one?  The one at the
> back of the room?  The one who is likely to start well?

rare moments, yes?!  I think I, like you, chose somewhat randomly.

Judy Evans, Cardiff








----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Ritchie" <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 7:20 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Potlach etc.


>
> On Sep 27, 2007, at 7:57 AM, wokshevs@xxxxxx wrote:
>
>
> > Regarding the matter of dull moments in class:
> >
> > A comment undergrads often make in my course evaluations has to do
> > with what one
> > of them once called "dead air in class." I think this is what
> > Davied refers to
> > below.
> >
>
> Thanks, Walter, for your response.  I agree with you absolutely about
> the importance of silence and admitting ignorance.  But I was
> actually thinking about those moments when everyone in the class has
> prepared something and the issue is, who shall speak first?  Do you
> pick the most eager student?  The recalcitrant one?  The one at the
> back of the room?  The one who is likely to start well?  I was just
> saying that after years of thinking about all this, it occurred to me
> (how slow I am) that demonstrating random selection was as good a way
> as any.
>
> One reason I wrote was to encourage those of us who teach to
> contribute tips from time to time; if we are thinking about
> literature and ideas, then surely we must occasionally think about
> how we, as the fellow in "The History Boys" puts it, "pass the parcel."
>
> On the subject of "doing" reading, I have this to contribute.  When I
> first began to teach I used to assign amounts of reading that were
> "good" for students.  My professors had assigned impossible tasks-- 
> read four Shakespeare plays this week, four the next, oh and the
> "Faerie Queen," and...--so why not continue the tradition of "ought
> to be able to"?  I am now in favor of "is".  I now hand out samples
> from the reading and time, in class, how long on average (x) it takes
> students to read a page.  Then the math is simple.  If they're
> supposed to spend six hours outside class doing work for that class,
> they can read 360 divided by (x), give or take.
>
> My daughter's professors are still in "ought to be able to" mode.
> How about you?
>
> David Ritchie,
> Portland, Oregon
------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html

Other related posts: