Just read an announcement that Bates College in Lewiston, Maine is offering a class on the Boston Red Socks. A lucky group of 15 students at this $51,400 per year college got into the class.
Because the class is an elective, IN THEORY, taking it does not cut into the required/standard curriculum needed to graduate from Bates. But when your student's college education costs over $50,000 a year, is this a good use of their time in college? Is this what you are paying for on a per unit basis? Should electives outside the major be allowed?
As the daughter of a retired college dean, I have talked to many professors who teach classes on pet interests. I have seen classes on speaking "Klingon" or analysis of the soap opera "Dark Shadows" or classes on current "topics" like Paris Hilton. Why such off-the-wall topics?
The real question is what is the purpose of electives? Colleges say that electives "help a student become more well-rounded" by "exposing them to topics that help them better implement their major". And virtually everyone of the professors I talked to defended their unusual topics by saying they "wove current events and unpopular topics into the class disguised by the more 'sexy' class topic". But talking to the students, the class was usually more fun than "well-rounding".
So is this a good use of your student's time? Is this what you pay a per-unit tuition fee for? Does taking a class on the Boston Red Socks or Star Trek or . . . help with your career choices? And most important, should such classes even be offered when students can't get into required classes because there aren't enough of them?
As an engineering major, taking an off-the-wall elective on "Star Trek" (yes I did) was a mental vacation for me. But I should have taken a class in marketing or public speaking. My parents weren't paying for me to use my units for "fun". And about that "weaving" unpopular topics into the class -- talk to most students and usually does NOT happen. (Sorry professors who do, many of your peers use these classes for their mental vacations!).
So what do you think about these not traditional classes being part of your student's options? Do you think it is appropriate to pay per unit for these classes? Do you think professors should teach these topics if the school doesn't have enough prerequisite classes?
