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Re: Semesters: more of my opinion




Roger noted:

Joel, I was going on weeks based on three 50 min. lecture periods per week.
Under that system 1 sem. hr. credit transfers as 1.5 quarter hrs. of credit
at the places that I am acquainted with

Here we have three 50 min lectures a week under the semester system, but we
start in early september and we get 41 or 42 lectures total. the quarter
system school I went to had four 50 minute lectures a week for ten weeks =
40 lectures. These numbers are for the standard courses, I've ignored the
extra semester hour our students get for the laboratory portion of the
course. Perhaps we are an extreme case, but even in the school I got my
Ph.D from (semesters) which started in late August, you couldn't cover the
same material in a year. I admit that if our introductory sequence were 3
semesters as is the case at many schools, my arguement wouldn't apply.

Joel


Joel,

It seems to me that you are talking about a modified 10-week semester
schedule. In a year, there would, of course, be four of these sessions
possible. Thus, what we are really discussing is whether a shorter period of
time that is more concentrated with fewer other courses is better or a more
extended time with the typical 15 or 18 credits taken by students. You
obviously, perfer the shorter, more concentrated sessions. Others can argue
with data that it takes the mind a certain amount of time for the concepts
in physics and mathematics to "jell". I suspect that each person has his/her
own preference for one or the other of the systems. Neither is right, nor is
either wrong.

One private college in Kansas operated under a seven, seven, four, seven,
seven week system. The humanities, and social and behavioral faculty love
it, but the math and science people hated it.

Have a nice vacation.

Roger Pruitt