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It is my goal to "cover" most chapters of a calculus-based physics text
(Tipler, Halliday, etc.), up to but not including modern physics
(because we
have a separate modern physics course). I think you have to fly
through the
material to do this in 120 lectures, regardless of whether these lectures
are packed into semesters or quarters or whatever. I used to have 120
lectures (4 per week times 30 weeks) and for two years now I have had 112
lectures (4 per week times 28 weeks). In my opinion this cannot be done
unless I am resolved to have a high failure rate and an angry class. I
don't see how anybody could get by with 84 lectures (3 per week times 28
weeks). But I acknowledge the pressure is there to do this... partly from
administration and partly from students.
At Bluffton College I think our 4 and 5-hour science and math courses are
secure, and I hope our semester length will not be further reduced. But I
think the battle could leap back to life at any time. It's amazing how
strongly some people want to "simplify" things by trying to make
everything
fit into nice neat packages. The daily schedule, calculation of teaching
loads, student schedules, meeting times, etc. would be easier if every
course met three times a week (and I guess we would just have to do away
with labs). At the present, those who would push for further erosion our
educational system are being held at bay.