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Something I realized around seven semesters too late is that most programs are conducive to independent studies, which is I'm sure a wildly broad term but at my

by jmduke 13y ago

Something I realized around seven semesters too late is that most programs are conducive to independent studies, which is I'm sure a wildly broad term but at my alma mater it was basically "Go spend three months on your own learning something interesting and then write a paper or a powerpoint or a plugin on it." You'd have an advisor (or sometimes a board of advisors) to meet with you every few weeks, but the work was all entirely self-directed, sort of like a mini-honors thesis. I imagine that those are going to become increasingly popular. If you abstract it out, its basically a credential system for productive independent thought, which is sort of the whole point.

adamnemecek 13y ago
Where did you go to school if I may ask?
- jmduke 13y ago
  The College of William & Mary, in Williamsburg, VA.
  - deadreturns 13y ago
    Ahaha who the hell are William & Mary? What a childish name for a college.
mjn 13y ago
Independent study credit is definitely worth looking into, if your college has such a possibility (most do). However, as someone who supervises independent studies regularly, I can also say: independent studies are by far the classes most likely to result in the student just not doing anything at all, which to some extent shows why autodidacticism is not universal yet. In a traditional semester-long class with two-times-a-week meetings, it's very rare for a student to literally do nothing. Most will show up at least some of the time, and do at least some of the work. But it's easy to put off an independent study, because you have complete flexibility, and don't have to do anything this week if other things are more pressing. Then you end up 90% of the way through the semester realizing you haven't done anything. Some very good stuff comes out of independent-study projects, but the variance is large, and it doesn't work for everyone. As a supervisor, they take a disproportionate amount of management effort, just trying to track students down and prod them into non-procrastination.

by jmduke 13y ago

adamnemecek 13y ago

Where did you go to school if I may ask?

jmduke 13y ago
The College of William & Mary, in Williamsburg, VA.
- deadreturns 13y ago
  Ahaha who the hell are William & Mary? What a childish name for a college.

mjn 13y ago

Independent study credit is definitely worth looking into, if your college has such a possibility (most do). However, as someone who supervises independent studies regularly, I can also say: independent studies are by far the classes most likely to result in the student just not doing anything at all, which to some extent shows why autodidacticism is not universal yet. In a traditional semester-long class with two-times-a-week meetings, it's very rare for a student to literally do nothing. Most will show up at least some of the time, and do at least some of the work. But it's easy to put off an independent study, because you have complete flexibility, and don't have to do anything this week if other things are more pressing. Then you end up 90% of the way through the semester realizing you haven't done anything. Some very good stuff comes out of independent-study projects, but the variance is large, and it doesn't work for everyone. As a supervisor, they take a disproportionate amount of management effort, just trying to track students down and prod them into non-procrastination.