I was an MIU physics student and have studied at three other universities, including recently finishing an MBA.
I really liked the block system and missed it at other schools. I don't like having my attention broken up by a mixture of classes and competing finals and midterms. I also liked the long weekends between them. Note that other schools use similar systems, including Johns Hopkins. --- In [email protected], "Patrick Gillam" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > We would have overlapped at MIU, Shemp. I was > there from fall '77 to late 1980. > > The faults you cite are valid, but I didn't come > away from the block system feeling it was a > total failure. I liked it. I went to the University > of Iowa before MIU, and the University of > Missouri after, and nothing about the experience > of a conventional scheduling system changed > my affection for the block system. > > The block system was definitely incompatible > with quantitative learning. The math and organic > chemistry students were at a disadvantage. > There's a school of thought that the mind > processes knowledge when we sleep; I wonder > if some subjects are more readily learned by > taking in manageable bites of information and > sleeping on it before getting the next helping. > > - Patrick Gillam > > --- In [email protected], "shempmcgurk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > I went to MIU from '75 to '79. Graduated with a BIDS degree. > > > > How do others feel about the block system? > > > > I don't much care for it. For example, a course's reading list: > > because an entire semester's course is packed into one month, one > > must read a book(s) required for a course within that single month, > > which I always felt was hard to do and rushed. Whereas if I had a > > whole semester to do it, it wouldn't be such a burden. Sure, I would > > have had other books for my other courses to read as well but at > > least I could switch from one to the other as I saw fit. > > > > Another negative about the block system: professors' time outside > > the class. With a semester system, there is time between classes to > > informally meet and greet the professor at his office and talk about > > he subject matter and go off on tangents about whatever. Under the > > block system there simply isn't time to do that because all > > classroom hours are taken up with attending the classes for the > > course. > > > > And what do you do if you get a class and/or professor that you > > simply don't click with? It may take 3 or 4 days before you realize > > it...well, under the semester system, it may not be too late at that > > point to switch classes; not so under the block system because > > you're almost 25% through the course at that point. And under the > > semester system, even if it is too late to change classes after you > > realize you're unhappy with the class/professor, at least you have 3 > > or 4 other classes that you may be happy with... To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
