<< he last topic, "How many hours is considered full-time?" reminded me of
something I have been thinking about for quite some time. How many of you
have 12-week semesters? I have found that our 8-week summer course moves
too fast for most students taking developmental math. To the contrary,
most students have had enough by Thanksgiving Break (in the Fall semester)
and by Spring Break (in the Spring semester). It seems the attention span
of my students and, I must admit, myself is about 12 weeks. I wonder if a
break in semesters at that point would be healthy for both students and
faculty.
If anyone is teaching in this arrangement, please let me know. Any other
ideas or comments along this vein are welcome.
>> I was at a school in RI for twelve years that was on a trimester
system. The standard 3 semester cr or 4.5 quarter credit classes met four
times a week for 11 weeks, 55 minute a day. We had trimester break at
Thanksgiving, for a week and then 2weeks at the Winter Holiday and we broke
again last week in March for a week, before starting the third trimester.
The original premise was that the students take ten courses a year, 3, 3
and 4, so that they wouldn't be overwhelmed with 5 preps or more at a time.
However, many departments increased the credits for graduation, so the
students were usually taking four at a time., sometimes more.
They were burned out by third tri. As`was the faculty. The teaching load
was twelve credits per tri, for a total of 36 credits/ year. The other
drawback was that we finished about two weeks or more after the rest of the
local colleges , so that the last few weeks were a waste...and students were
a a disadvantage for summer jobs.
The 11 weeks was nice,( attention span) but miss a few days for a
conference or for illness and you were rushing beyond belief.
Also we had two 4 - weeks summer sessions..........
Joni Bookbinder
Elgin Community College
Elgin, IL 60067