{"id":10616,"date":"2012-02-01T10:41:35","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T15:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/UpbeaT\/?p=10616"},"modified":"2012-02-01T10:41:35","modified_gmt":"2012-02-01T15:41:35","slug":"is-bigger-always-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2012\/02\/01\/is-bigger-always-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Bigger Always Better?"},"content":{"rendered":"Is bigger really better? Well, a bigger piece of cake is better than a tiny slice, and a larger paycheck is better (sometimes way better) than a skimpy one. But, is a bigger class superior to those smaller? No. In this case, smaller reigns supreme.\n\nI\u2019m currently in my last semester and taking two English courses that are, by all means, on the opposite ends of the \u201clearning\u201d spectrum. One is a second year course, with enough students to pack an auditorium, and the second is a 20-student seminar, apparently the last of its kind in the English department. Given the fact that I\u2019ve been here so long already (and I emphasize \u201cso\u201d), I feel like I\u2019m able to say, from all the different kinds of courses I\u2019ve endured and survived, that there is nothing quite like the seminar. I\u2019ll explain.\n\nYes, there are many students who relish in the ambiguity provided by the larger, first and second year courses. You can go the whole semester without anyone even knowing your name, and if you don\u2019t show up \u2013ever\u2014well, it wouldn\u2019t matter, especially if there aren\u2019t any participation marks and if you can manage to learn on your own. But, I don\u2019t like these larger courses. For one thing, because they are lower level, the material isn\u2019t as specific as I\u2019d like, and therefore there is less room for creative independence. But, perhaps more importantly, I really dislike being in a room full of people where we are constantly shuffling seats\u00a0every class and\u00a0you never get to know each other.\n\nThe seminar, on the other hand, is the best kind of course I\u2019ve taken here. It\u2019s smaller (now English seminars average 40 people), you see the same students each class, and you can get to unearth the mind of your professor. The material is much more specific (I\u2019m taking Americans in Paris) and therefore much more interesting. Unlike larger classes where you can hide, there is no such opportunity in the seminar. You are inclined, if not forced to participate because it is such a big chunk of your mark; however, this is not necessarily bad. Sharing ideas is pertinent to the university experience, and, in my opinion, way more exciting than hearing a professor speak to you, rather than with you, for two hours.\n\nFurthermore, in the age of technology, combined with the ambiguity of larger classes, one can simply doze off during lecture and rouse themselves three hours later unaffected, in the intellectual sense, of course. In the seminar, at least in mine, technology is forbidden. My professor has outlawed all technology, but he will only allow you to use your laptop if you provide him with a written letter stating your abandonment of said technology in class. Scary? Yes. Useless? No. Paying attention in class enriches the experience, and not to mention watching others update their facebook feed is quite annoying (and pretentious).\n\nI implore you, take a seminar. I had to take some because I\u2019m in the Specialist Program, but I took more than I needed because it\u2019s such a fine learning experience. See, learning can be fun!\n\nDesiree","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\nIs bigger really better? Well, a bigger piece of cake is better than a tiny slice, and a larger paycheck is better (sometimes way better) than a skimpy one. But, is a bigger class superior to those smaller? No. In…\n<\/div>
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