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Re: [Phys-l] term schedules



Hi Bob,

Thanks for the reply. I've spent quite a bit of time looking over the Providence College web site and I can find academic calendars and various class lists but no general layout of the day to day schedule. It sounds like an interesting layout based on your comments.

I also notice that Providence is almost exactly the opposite of Weber State University as far as the student body. At Providence I see that 97% of the freshman and sophomore students live on campus and 95% of Jr and Sr students are on or next to campus. Weber has over 18,000 students and less than 600 live on campus. In Utah a significant number of our students are married and have kids by the time they are 20 or 22 years old. They are holding jobs, raising families and trying to be full time students all at the same time. It is a challenge to say the least. By 1:00 in the afternoon the campus is quiet with most of the remaining students in lab or clinical or similar classes. In the afternoon many of our students are at their jobs trying to make ends meet.

(Despite all that, we do have some very motivated students.)

Anyway, I was not able to get a feel for how your class schedule works. For what it is worth, the proposed M/W Tu/Th schedule with Fridays for research and the like is intended to actually increase student involvement in research and scholarship in small groups with faculty. A M/Th and Tu/F schedule with Wednesdays for scholarship would be interesting too and better spaced. The problem that I see with that is that the scheduling of late afternoon labs on Fridays is tough with a commuting student body whereas Thursday afternoons would probably not be as hard to do.

So, does anyone else know of a college or university that has tried a 4 day class week with M/W and Tu/Th schedules?

Thanks,

John

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
John E. Sohl, Ph.D.
Professor of Physics
Weber State University
2508 University Circle
Ogden, UT 84408-2508

voice: (801) 626-7907, fax: (801) 626-7445
e-mail: jsohl@weber.edu
web: http://physics.weber.edu/sohl/

"LaMontagne, Bob" <RLAMONT@providence.edu> 9/23/2007 9:39 PM >>>
What an awful idea! It has been proposed in various forms at our college and never gained much traction. 75 minute classes are very useful for many courses. However, it makes a lot more sense to pair them as Monday/Thursday or Tuesday/Friday. This allows a more even (3-4 day) interval of presention of material. Homework makes more sense if the days are more evenly spaced. Other courses benefit from 50 minute classes. Again, a M/W/F schedule will make for a more even presentation of material and time for homework assignments. Pedagogy should drive the schedule - not days off.

I know that attachments are not allowed for this list. However, if you go to the Providence College (RI) website, you will find a unique schedule of classes that allows us to choose 50 minute, 75 minute and 150 minute classes in an incredibly flexible set of combinations - because the day is divided into 3 hour blocks. Built into the schedule are times set aside for meeetings on Wednesday afternoons. Since the mission of our college is centered more on teaching than research, days off with little contact with students are discouraged. We weave our research around daily classroom contact with our students. However, if a day off for research is necessary (such as off campus travel) we can construct a schedule that will allow it. This year I needed Thursday free and was able to do it with the cooperation of my department chair - but I had to justify it.

Bob at PC