4 ms·

I am thoroughly impressed by the number of people involved in this class. I teach a class at a large European research university and it is the professor plus t

I am thoroughly impressed by the number of people involved in this class. I teach a class at a large European research university and it is the professor plus two TAs, nobody else. That is a difference tuition and funding can make. You get what you pay for. Edit: forgot to mention that there are 460 students registered for the exam. They wonder why we don’t have them write papers...

briandear 9y ago
What's ironic about your statement is that there are many in the US that clamor for "free" university education for "everyone" -- citing how it's done in Europe. However, like everything, there are tradeoffs and unintended consequences that go beyond the simplistic thoughts of the politically and economically naïve. The University of California system, in my amateur opinion is extremely good. In fact, the state university systems in most US states are all of pretty good quality. I spent a bit of time living near the University of Avignon (France) and, compared to a typical American community college, I was very suprised at how deficient the French university was. In France, university is "free" but as you said, you get what you pay for. Of course, there are exceptional European universities and there are terrible American universities, but overall, American university systems seem to be much better than the equivalent in "free" university countries.
- yodsanklai 9y ago
  > I spent a bit of time living near the University of Avignon (France) and, compared to a typical American community college, I was very suprised at how deficient the French university was. There are two co-existing systems in France. Universities and "Grandes Ecoles". The latter are more selective and usually have more fundings.
- wolfgke 9y ago
  > Of course, there are exceptional European universities and there are terrible American universities, but overall, American university systems seem to be much better than the equivalent in "free" university countries. I personally think that the typical German university is better than the typical US one, but it is a very different system: In Germany you are very much on your own when you are studying. This teaches you a lot about self-discipline, which employers love. On the other hand, if you are a person who needs a lot of handholding, German universities are probably not for you. In my opinion being able to study mostly for free is more than worth the lack of handholding, but as I said: This system is not for everybody.
  - adamnemecek 9y ago
    I agree 100%. The US university system treats the students as kindergarten.
nairboon 9y ago
They have really a lot of assistants! For comparison, this term I'll be a LA at the largest Swiss university in a class of ~140 students, we are 1 prof 2 TAs and 4 LAs and we give twice as much homework. Having taken that class myself, I really don't see why we would need more LAs. Unless you want to go the one-on-one hand holding route, also it's not a funding issue, since LAs are basically free. This is probably more due to a difference between the US and European teaching philosophy.

briandear 9y ago

What's ironic about your statement is that there are many in the US that clamor for "free" university education for "everyone" -- citing how it's done in Europe. However, like everything, there are tradeoffs and unintended consequences that go beyond the simplistic thoughts of the politically and economically naïve. The University of California system, in my amateur opinion is extremely good. In fact, the state university systems in most US states are all of pretty good quality. I spent a bit of time living near the University of Avignon (France) and, compared to a typical American community college, I was very suprised at how deficient the French university was. In France, university is "free" but as you said, you get what you pay for. Of course, there are exceptional European universities and there are terrible American universities, but overall, American university systems seem to be much better than the equivalent in "free" university countries.

yodsanklai 9y ago
> I spent a bit of time living near the University of Avignon (France) and, compared to a typical American community college, I was very suprised at how deficient the French university was. There are two co-existing systems in France. Universities and "Grandes Ecoles". The latter are more selective and usually have more fundings.
wolfgke 9y ago
> Of course, there are exceptional European universities and there are terrible American universities, but overall, American university systems seem to be much better than the equivalent in "free" university countries. I personally think that the typical German university is better than the typical US one, but it is a very different system: In Germany you are very much on your own when you are studying. This teaches you a lot about self-discipline, which employers love. On the other hand, if you are a person who needs a lot of handholding, German universities are probably not for you. In my opinion being able to study mostly for free is more than worth the lack of handholding, but as I said: This system is not for everybody.
- adamnemecek 9y ago
  I agree 100%. The US university system treats the students as kindergarten.

nairboon 9y ago

They have really a lot of assistants! For comparison, this term I'll be a LA at the largest Swiss university in a class of ~140 students, we are 1 prof 2 TAs and 4 LAs and we give twice as much homework. Having taken that class myself, I really don't see why we would need more LAs. Unless you want to go the one-on-one hand holding route, also it's not a funding issue, since LAs are basically free. This is probably more due to a difference between the US and European teaching philosophy.