Yeh. I had offers to pursue a phd in either English lit or US history. But I was done with uni and wasn't looking forward to being paid little to nothing. Also not every phd includes a teaching position as well. You can also just spend three years doing research.
nevar forget
Thanks for chiming in guys. Clearly, we have a serious problem in the US. I am not sure how to begin to resolve it at my university but we'll see. The technological 'solutions' we use now are basically attempted solutions to problems that should not have existed in the first place. All that said, there may be parts of the US system that is better. For example, I am a little surprised at the lack of assessment. A typical math course of mine has around 14 written quizzes, 6 written worksheets, 20 online homework, 3 written exams, and a final exam.
These tutorial groups are run by whom? This sounds like you use TAs to run these groups, are they graduate students?Originally Posted by Djan Seriy Anaplian
Lectures are coupled with tutorial groups.
Work is set through a tutorial group of no more than ten students - discussion on lecture material also takes place in tutorial groups.
I see. Thanks for chiming in with your experience. So this method seems like you did not really have 'homework' per se, but more like you did problems in class and if you didn't finish it, you would do it at home. And the lecturers and assistant professors would grade this themselves? Did you use an English-language textbook, and equally important, did you actually bother to read it? Here in the US, we have a big problem where students do not read the textbooks, but they can hardly be blamed for this since commercial textbooks are bloated garbage. I wouldn't read them, myself!for me, it was 3 hour sessions, 1h 20 minutes lecture, 1h 20 minutes problems in groups (4-10 people), textbooks are for prep for the lecture and reference. the 20 minutes usually divided up into breaks during lectures.
during the problem solving groups are expected to help each other out as best as they can with lecturer and assistant prof's going from group to group to help with the problems as required, problems are specifically selected to be relevant to the lecture, and range in difficulty, usually we could do about half without assistance and i would often take home problems and solve in my spare time.
running evaluations where 2 a semester, consisting of a assignment set covering recent lecture material, rarely more than 3 pages, as well as a mock exam, usually using last year's set, the month before exams that would make it painfully obvious how inadequate you where.
Interesting. Here in the US, our libraries will carry copies of textbooks but it is usually a maximum of three or four physical copies of a book. And there will be dozens if not hundreds of students who need this textbook. Thus, as a student, I bought all my textbooks for every course, and so did most other people. In the US, it is a violation of copyright rules to provide a pdf of a textbook, unless the publisher explicitly allows this, so we are barred from doing that.
You were not assigned homework from a book? Usually, if homework is not done online, then the homework consists of "do problems #1-10 from the book".
Last edited by August; November 7 2020 at 04:31:46 AM.
All of the excercise problems are graded, but tests (even more standardised tests) don't really teach people anything other than taking tests. We rather have people actually learning than sitting in exams. Also our courses are probably smaller units than yours.
TAs run the excercise groups. And no, the problems aren't usually from the books, they are devised by the lecturers as the ones in the books are generally just quite horrible from the learning point of view (and any moron can get the answers online if he wants, thus they tell nothing)
Last edited by depili; November 7 2020 at 07:25:30 AM.
For me the lecturers ran 9/10 tutorial groups, with some PhDs for the others mate. PhDs were definitely more prevalent in pure humanities like English/History etc because its not really necessary for a lecturer to get so hands on. But for my subject (law), they were almost all lecturers.Thanks for chiming in guys. Clearly, we have a serious problem in the US. I am not sure how to begin to resolve it at my university but we'll see. The technological 'solutions' we use now are basically attempted solutions to problems that should not have existed in the first place. All that said, there may be parts of the US system that is better. For example, I am a little surprised at the lack of assessment. A typical math course of mine has around 14 written quizzes, 6 written worksheets, 20 online homework, 3 written exams, and a final exam.
These tutorial groups are run by whom? This sounds like you use TAs to run these groups, are they graduate students?Lectures are coupled with tutorial groups.
Work is set through a tutorial group of no more than ten students - discussion on lecture material also takes place in tutorial groups.
I see. Thanks for chiming in with your experience. So this method seems like you did not really have 'homework' per se, but more like you did problems in class and if you didn't finish it, you would do it at home. And the lecturers and assistant professors would grade this themselves? Did you use an English-language textbook, and equally important, did you actually bother to read it? Here in the US, we have a big problem where students do not read the textbooks, but they can hardly be blamed for this since commercial textbooks are bloated garbage. I wouldn't read them, myself!for me, it was 3 hour sessions, 1h 20 minutes lecture, 1h 20 minutes problems in groups (4-10 people), textbooks are for prep for the lecture and reference. the 20 minutes usually divided up into breaks during lectures.
during the problem solving groups are expected to help each other out as best as they can with lecturer and assistant prof's going from group to group to help with the problems as required, problems are specifically selected to be relevant to the lecture, and range in difficulty, usually we could do about half without assistance and i would often take home problems and solve in my spare time.
running evaluations where 2 a semester, consisting of a assignment set covering recent lecture material, rarely more than 3 pages, as well as a mock exam, usually using last year's set, the month before exams that would make it painfully obvious how inadequate you where.
Interesting. Here in the US, our libraries will carry copies of textbooks but it is usually a maximum of three or four physical copies of a book. And there will be dozens if not hundreds of students who need this textbook. Thus, as a student, I bought all my textbooks for every course, and so did most other people. In the US, it is a violation of copyright rules to provide a pdf of a textbook, unless the publisher explicitly allows this, so we are barred from doing that.
You were not assigned homework from a book? Usually, if homework is not done online, then the homework consists of "do problems #1-10 from the book".
edit: one thing I would say is that is your experience possibly the result of the major/minor system? Universities outside the US dont run that way and students turn up expecting to specialise immediately, so theres a lot more buy-in with regard to engaging with course materials etc.
Last edited by Djan Seriy Anaplian; November 7 2020 at 08:44:24 AM.
Grading at German unis happens at the end of the semester in a final exam most of the time.
You're an adult, it's your responsibility to get shit done.
Tapapapatalk
nevar forget
Grading homework
Burger unis seem more like an extension of high school
Well they are primarily learning to dodge bullets in high school so they have some catching up to do by the time they get to uni.
Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves for slaughter.
Ive had graded exercises (and lab courses) that made up 50% of the course credits; admittedly, in a technical field so maybe the experience was different.
Attendance, on the other hand, is entirely voluntary. If you think you can absorb the material on your own, noone is going to swaddle you. You are free to fail on your own.
At schools which aren't good schools (the top 10-20%), yes the first two years aren't necessarily so different from high school. After that, students should be done with their general studies and the higher division courses rarely operate in the way I describe.
Last edited by August; November 7 2020 at 07:02:07 PM.
What, shouldn't all of EU be on Blognone Declaration with uni courses chopped into tiny pieces with zillion semestral papers and mini exams?
they didn't grade it, we where provided solutions the next lecture to compare and where encouraged to discuss it if we didn't grasp the particulars, indeed often the more complex problems would be discussed and explained at the start of the lecture. it's not school, they're not there to ram knowledge down our throats, learning is your own responsibility.
the exam is there to verify you did indeed learn things, and structured into discrete portions that test particular knowledge and skills. we where encouraged to provide feedback on lectures and usually at least one session would be dedicated to repetition of difficult subjects, chosen by the class.
Viking, n.:
1. Daring Scandinavian seafarers, explorers, adventurers, entrepreneurs world-famous for their aggressive, nautical import business, highly leveraged takeovers and blue eyes.
2. Bloodthirsty sea pirates who ravaged northern Europe beginning in the 9th century.
Hagar's note: The first definition is much preferred; the second is used only by malcontents, the envious, and disgruntled owners of waterfront property.
You shouldn't need to do any general studies at uni.At schools which aren't good schools (the top 10-20%), yes the first two years aren't necessarily so different from high school. After that, students should be done with their general studies and the higher division courses rarely operate in the way I describe.I studied during the Bologna Process and along with our professors made sure that it would not destroy the way our uni and by extension German unis work.What, shouldn't all of EU be on Blognone Declaration with uni courses chopped into tiny pieces with zillion semestral papers and mini exams?
Tapapapatalk
nevar forget
EU legislation is not decrees from god, it's a set of guidelines to make national legislation under.
Viking, n.:
1. Daring Scandinavian seafarers, explorers, adventurers, entrepreneurs world-famous for their aggressive, nautical import business, highly leveraged takeovers and blue eyes.
2. Bloodthirsty sea pirates who ravaged northern Europe beginning in the 9th century.
Hagar's note: The first definition is much preferred; the second is used only by malcontents, the envious, and disgruntled owners of waterfront property.
Did you use English-language textbooks and did you read them? Through the miracle of sites of questionable legality, I'm looking into Singapore's materials at their universities for the Calculus series and I'm shocked to find that they use the same 800-page textbooks that we do in America. However, they have superb 'study guides' that are around 200 pages long, and it's plausible to me that most of their students read that rather than the textbook.they didn't grade it, we where provided solutions the next lecture to compare and where encouraged to discuss it if we didn't grasp the particulars, indeed often the more complex problems would be discussed and explained at the start of the lecture. it's not school, they're not there to ram knowledge down our throats, learning is your own responsibility.
the exam is there to verify you did indeed learn things, and structured into discrete portions that test particular knowledge and skills. we where encouraged to provide feedback on lectures and usually at least one session would be dedicated to repetition of difficult subjects, chosen by the class.
They're Singaporean students. They read both the text book and the study guide if the ones I went to uni with are any indication.Did you use English-language textbooks and did you read them? Through the miracle of sites of questionable legality, I'm looking into Singapore's materials at their universities for the Calculus series and I'm shocked to find that they use the same 800-page textbooks that we do in America. However, they have superb 'study guides' that are around 200 pages long, and it's plausible to me that most of their students read that rather than the textbook.they didn't grade it, we where provided solutions the next lecture to compare and where encouraged to discuss it if we didn't grasp the particulars, indeed often the more complex problems would be discussed and explained at the start of the lecture. it's not school, they're not there to ram knowledge down our throats, learning is your own responsibility.
the exam is there to verify you did indeed learn things, and structured into discrete portions that test particular knowledge and skills. we where encouraged to provide feedback on lectures and usually at least one session would be dedicated to repetition of difficult subjects, chosen by the class.
some of it was english, some danish, and even a bit of german. i usually read parts of them, the lecturer would provide what chapters where relevant, or rather what elements of what chapters where relevant and usually hand out material as needed.Did you use English-language textbooks and did you read them? Through the miracle of sites of questionable legality, I'm looking into Singapore's materials at their universities for the Calculus series and I'm shocked to find that they use the same 800-page textbooks that we do in America. However, they have superb 'study guides' that are around 200 pages long, and it's plausible to me that most of their students read that rather than the textbook.they didn't grade it, we where provided solutions the next lecture to compare and where encouraged to discuss it if we didn't grasp the particulars, indeed often the more complex problems would be discussed and explained at the start of the lecture. it's not school, they're not there to ram knowledge down our throats, learning is your own responsibility.
the exam is there to verify you did indeed learn things, and structured into discrete portions that test particular knowledge and skills. we where encouraged to provide feedback on lectures and usually at least one session would be dedicated to repetition of difficult subjects, chosen by the class.
things where rarely off a single textbook, often it would be a set of chapters from one, then a bit from another and so forth, we'd be expected to have the main book, with the rest provided as course material. the books where a supplement to lectures and i most often found them useful after, rather than before the lectures themselves.
its a way to work around the overly verbose and test-centric english language books, maybe a third of a given volume would be useful.
Viking, n.:
1. Daring Scandinavian seafarers, explorers, adventurers, entrepreneurs world-famous for their aggressive, nautical import business, highly leveraged takeovers and blue eyes.
2. Bloodthirsty sea pirates who ravaged northern Europe beginning in the 9th century.
Hagar's note: The first definition is much preferred; the second is used only by malcontents, the envious, and disgruntled owners of waterfront property.
Well Serbia is not in EU and Bologne declaration was presented as a absolute word of God that must be respected. What, Miloević was ousted in 2000 and by 2005 all universites were fully Bologne.
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Might have something to do with a desire to join the club rather then listen to "God" for the sake of it?Well Serbia is not in EU and Bologne declaration was presented as a absolute word of God that must be respected. What, Miloević was ousted in 2000 and by 2005 all universites were fully Bologne.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
I think as a freshman I bought 4ish english books for uni as I tought I would need them, didn't buy any after that as they were useless paperweights. Bought some focused finnish books later, mostly made by the university press. The american books are just a lost cause with little nuggets of information hidden in a rambling prose for 20 pages. Completely useless as referencessome of it was english, some danish, and even a bit of german. i usually read parts of them, the lecturer would provide what chapters where relevant, or rather what elements of what chapters where relevant and usually hand out material as needed.Did you use English-language textbooks and did you read them? Through the miracle of sites of questionable legality, I'm looking into Singapore's materials at their universities for the Calculus series and I'm shocked to find that they use the same 800-page textbooks that we do in America. However, they have superb 'study guides' that are around 200 pages long, and it's plausible to me that most of their students read that rather than the textbook.they didn't grade it, we where provided solutions the next lecture to compare and where encouraged to discuss it if we didn't grasp the particulars, indeed often the more complex problems would be discussed and explained at the start of the lecture. it's not school, they're not there to ram knowledge down our throats, learning is your own responsibility.
the exam is there to verify you did indeed learn things, and structured into discrete portions that test particular knowledge and skills. we where encouraged to provide feedback on lectures and usually at least one session would be dedicated to repetition of difficult subjects, chosen by the class.
things where rarely off a single textbook, often it would be a set of chapters from one, then a bit from another and so forth, we'd be expected to have the main book, with the rest provided as course material. the books where a supplement to lectures and i most often found them useful after, rather than before the lectures themselves.
its a way to work around the overly verbose and test-centric english language books, maybe a third of a given volume would be useful.
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