Williamson-like critique


As a senior who is graduating this semester, this course was the most interesting course with unique approach of learning and rules. For our course, there were two rules: attendance was not required and deadlines were soft. These rules impacted my own behavior toward this course, further the class as a whole.

In the beginning of the course, the professor specifically told us that the attendance is not required for this course, and the deadline for assignments are soft so that students who missed the first concept quiz that was due before the first class can still do it for credit. And, we have the soft deadline for blogging. Writing a blog was my very first time to do so, and I thought it is extremely interesting and new learning style for me. Those rules made me more relaxed toward the course. Compared to other courses that I am taking, there are required attendance and strict deadline to follow. I had to bring i-clicker to the class to get credit, and for some courses I don’t get any credit for attendance if I answer the question wrong. So, when I go to class, I usually get stressed on doing i-clicker and getting credit for my attendance. However, this course didn’t have any of those stress, which can possibly make students procrastinate submitting the work the latest as possible and not showing up to the class since there is no penalties.

In the beginning of the course, I showed up to the class. However, as the semester goes, I got busy with other course works that I later tend to not showing up to class since I am taking 18 credit hours with all major courses in Chemistry and Economics. And, I could notice that there were less students showing up to class as the semester goes. The fact that I am saying “busy” is an excuse. As a grown personality, we all have our responsibility and maturity to go to class even though it is not required and turn in the assignment in time. Though it is easy to procrastinate and skip morning classes. And, it was okay to do so in this course, but as I tried to go to class and turn in the blog post before Friday noon, pushing and training myself to be morning person, not to procrastinate, and most importantly to be a responsible and matured person.

The behavior and attitude toward courses as students are most likely to be maintained after graduation and in work place as well. Responsible and matured employee would not procrastinate, work in timely manner and diligently. I think these rules trained us to become more mature and responsible person since there are no defined rules to follow in real social life. Also, when I go to class, I don’t get stressed. I think I could have a better learning experience and learn the concepts and apply it to related real-world examples more deeply, taking my own time. This course has taught me to learn both in practical and conceptual regarding economics of organization.

For the soft deadline, I used to turn in the blog on late Saturday or Sunday so that I can have more time to write it and revise before turning it in. Then, I tried to turn the blog post in earlier than that to train myself not to procrastinate and I reminded myself to start writing it early. It helped me to push myself harder and be responsible.

If I were the professor who is teaching this course, I would keep those two rules, because I think it is good learning/training experience. Furthermore, I would mention that there are reasons behind these rules; students should be able to behave responsibly and mature without having strict rules to follow as seniors in college and future employee of our economy. In addition, I would give out extra credits to students who came to class in random days to encourage students who are trying to push themselves. In class, I noticed that there are very few students who are actively participate in class discussion. In one class that I am taking, the professor gives out 3 extra points to one who answers the question correctly and 2 points for who answers wrong. In this way, more students have become active learner in class. So, I would suggest having similar awarding system for students, coming out of their comfort zone and share their own thoughts or experience to other classmates.

Overall, I think this course not only taught me various concepts and theories on economics of organization but also how to act and think as mature and ethical person. So, thank you very much for teaching this course before I graduate and work in real-world. I truly enjoyed learning this course and following unique rules.

Comments

  1. Professor ArvanDecember 6, 2019 at 2:38 PM

    Let me disagree with you on one point. I think even very mature people who normally do their work on time may procrastinate on doing certain things. Procrastination, I believe, is related to a lack of confidence in the effort succeeding. If the confidence is present, then delay won't be an attractive alternative. But when the confidence is lacking, as it surely is in everyone when doing something that is unfamiliar, then not confronting it immediately can be attractive.

    Regarding attendance - I can understand students missing some classes, especially in the morning (though I don't think 9:30 AM is that early) but I can't understand this for courses in the major. It is now a commonplace for students to have a dual major. When I was a student, that didn't happen. I was a math major and i never missed a math class. So, it seems to me, this taking so many courses at the same time may be part of the explanation. Regarding what you retain from those courses after graduation, I doubt it is a good thing to do.

    You've talked about stress and I've come to learn that many students feel a great deal of stress these days. Enforcing arbitrary rules can do this. In a very large class, it's easier to understand having such rules as otherwise managing the workflow would be a nightmare for the instructor and the TAs. Otherwise, such flexibility as was in our course might be do-able and improve the quality of the experience for students.

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    Replies
    1. Lawrence Klein Econ 490 fall 2019December 6, 2019 at 4:33 PM

      After reading your comment, I think when I said the person is procrastinating, I meant the person is too lazy to start working or even reading the prompt/manual on the assignment or work that is due. I can see that people may procrastinate since they don't have enough confidence to working on it immediately. And, people can learn a lot and get benefit from self-pacing and taking time to work on and it can make the best output of them.

      Attending class is the most important way to learn from the professor. In class, you can interact with the professor and other classmates to actively and effectively learn. I strongly agree with you that missing class is not good thing to do. For this course, the professor posted the course materials such as videos and power points. Whenever I missed the class, I could catch up with self-studying/learning those provided materials on website.

      As I mentioned in the post, there is no good reason to miss the class and it can't be excuse. For me, I just declared Chemistry major this semester so I had to take all 15 credits of advanced Chemistry courses in one semester to graduate this semester, which was extremely challenging for me. And, this course was my last advanced ECON major class, without required attendance. Though I missed some of the classes, there were ways to catch up on the course materials using course website, which I think extremely helpful for students who want to learn.

      Yes. I think flexibility in the course improves the quality of course and provides students a better learning experience.

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