Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Unscientific media fluency class survey: Would you take a winter break course?
It sounds like UW-Madison is moving to institute a winter term of classes during the month-long break between fall and spring semesters. I'm curious about how many of you would be interested in staying in Madison over the break and paying for an extra 3-credit course (probably taught in intensive three-week fashion where you're basically in class from 9am-noon every weekday, cramming a week of instruction into each morning). Further, I'm curious if you would do this for a particular class that I developed a while back but haven't been able to teach in years: Video Games and Mass Communication. Any interest? (Even if you're not interested in particular -- and don't worry, I don't blame you if you're not -- given your thorough "media fluency" understanding by now, do you think this course would have relevance or appeal to your peers here at UW?)
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First off, I would definitely take the winter course. I think that is a really good way to get extra credits in without having to give up your summer. I would like to see how intense a class would be though before committing myself to three weeks of no sleep/only studying. Also, I think the video game class looks awesome! I would definitely take that. Since video games are such a huge part on some children's lives, it could be a really interesting topic to study. In my J201 class our first essay was an analysis of people playing a video game. There are so many theories that apply to how video games impact us, thus I would definitely take that course.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't think I would take a class over winter break. I feel like students need that break between semesters, to clear their head and have some free time. Also, I treasure that time with my family and friends. Otherwise, I wouldn't really see my family often for nine months out of the year. I could see students taking classes over winter break who couldn't go home because they are from too far way or what not.
ReplyDeleteI'm not quite sure how I would feel about taking a class over winter break. I plan on taking courses over the summer this year but I think the situation might be different with winter break. Winter break is much shorter, so there's much less time to relax. With summer break, you have three months of relaxation, so it doesn't hurt to take a class or two. I would definitely not consider taking a difficult math intensive course just to fill requirements like calculus or economics over winter break... but if I found a class I was genuinely interested in, I would probably want to! That being said, Video Games and Mass Communication would definitely be a class I would consider taking over winter break! I am thoroughly interested in mass communication and how it influences peoples lives, and I think incorporating video games into this idea could generate not only an informative course but a FUN one as well!
ReplyDeleteI think there would definitely be some students who would be interested in taking classes during winter break and your "Video Games and Mass Communication" course... I personally enjoy having a month off a school but if there was a course offered online then maybe I would consider taking a course during winter break. As for your "Video Games and Mass Communication" course, the course sounds really interesting. Video Games and Gaming Counsels are still very popular despite all the other devices (ipads, ipod, smart-phones etc) and they have significantly changed over the years so it could be a neat thing to study
ReplyDeleteI think that taking a class over winter break would be a great way to get some of those pesky prerequisites and gen ed requirements out of the way in a timely fashion. Especially for those classes that one is not particularly inclined towards taking, but are required to, the immersion of an intensive winter course may be helpful. Giving up time with the family would make deciding to take such a course a struggle, but as long as one could be home for the holidays, I think taking a class might be a better use of that long month off of school.
ReplyDeleteIf they actually do institute a winter term, I would definitely consider it. I took a class over summer that was about a month long, it had 3-4 hour class, although only twice a week. I would probably sacrifice my break to take a class about video games though.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though winter break is the only vacation I would not want to spend taking a course. Not only is it the holiday season and the one time that all colleges have the same vacation, but for me, it is the only time other than Thanksgiving that I return home. Furthermore, having only one week of vacation between semesters sounds very stressful. I think courses during vacation are great, but better suited for the summer. I do, however, think this course seems extremely interesting and relevant. It seems the name would grab the attention of my peers and the content would hold it. Regardless of winter courses, I think this course should definitely be added back into the course catalogue.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would not be interested in taking a class but that is more so because I am from Rhode Island and winter break is one of the only times I spend during the year with my entire family. I do however think many people would be interested especially since this is a very large state institute. I would say that some of my close friends who are from Wisconsin would be very intrigued by this idea. On the idea of Media Fluency, I have not enjoyed a class more than this once since being at UW. I think that is certainly should be added back and I would recommend this class to almost any student despite their academic interests.
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