I have had reservations about these types of courses for a long time. They seem to be based on the dubious accrediting-agency rule that 45 contact hours are what you need to receive 3-hours credit, independent of how they are encountered by the student.
I once wrote up a joke syllabus for a two-day "hyper-institute" sequence, The student listened to (or viewed) 45 hours of lecture/related content -- even while sleeping. (The description included "references" to new discoveries about the efficacy of sleep learning.)
The fake promo was something like: "You're a busy person! How about a semester of college credit in about a week! You need it! You deserve it!"
Ken --------------------------------------------------------------- Kenneth M. Steele, Ph.D. [email protected] Professor Department of Psychology http://www.psych.appstate.edu Appalachian State University Boone, NC 28608 USA --------------------------------------------------------------- On 5/26/2011 12:29 PM, Jim Clark wrote:
Hi Our institution has introduced some summer courses (generally called Institutes) that appear to meet for only one week, yet grant 3-credits and in some cases 6-credits (equivalent, respectively, to half year and full year courses). It strikes me as highly implausible that anything equivalent to standard one or two term courses could be conducted during such a short period, and / or that anything like equivalent amount of learning could occur. Any thoughts? Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
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