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I personally never had the motivation to work hard in college. I always assumed this was a personal flaw. Years later, after I'd completed a large number of Co

I personally never had the motivation to work hard in college. I always assumed this was a personal flaw. Years later, after I'd completed a large number of Coursera courses, I realized it was because college was boring. (edited to add) I should also note that the Coursera lectures themselves were pretty boring -- the innovation is that they provided slides and lecture notes so that I didn't have to sit through the lectures.

koblenski 11y ago
That's a good point. I couldn't stand the lectures in the few edX courses I took, but the slides and notes could be more beneficial. Although, I tend to prefer the better continuity of books when reading, and there are tons of great books out there. Of course, getting through books takes a lot of intrinsic motivation while Coursera or edX courses may provide the extra motivation that will help more people get through the whole course.
bphogan 11y ago
No, college isn't boring. Lectures are boring. And they're boring because they can't rely on students to read the textbook so they have to tell you what's in the textbook. The best teachers don't lecture. They facilitate discussion or present a problem and give you feedback while you work through it. You watch some videos outside of class and you come to class to be assessed. But that's hard work. Lecturing for an hour 3 times a week and giving a bubble-sheet test is easy for the teacher, and easy for the student.
- nightski 11y ago
  Well, the other problem is similar to all schools. Students are at varying levels of competence. I finished many labs in 10 minutes which took the other students a full hour and a half simply because I already knew Java/C inside and out. Same with lectures where I was already familiar with the material.
  - bphogan 11y ago
    The question is why were you in the class if you already knew the material? People like you should be able to get credit for what you already know if you can demonstrate it. Unless of course you're just looking for a GPA and need the easy grade. If the school just made you sit there because reasons, well, yes, that's a huge problem. A problem which is being rectified all over the US.
    - nightski 11y ago
      I actually did skip several math classes (calc 1/2) by taking exams. There was a limit to how much you could skip though as they wanted you to earn the degree.

koblenski 11y ago

That's a good point. I couldn't stand the lectures in the few edX courses I took, but the slides and notes could be more beneficial. Although, I tend to prefer the better continuity of books when reading, and there are tons of great books out there. Of course, getting through books takes a lot of intrinsic motivation while Coursera or edX courses may provide the extra motivation that will help more people get through the whole course.

bphogan 11y ago

No, college isn't boring. Lectures are boring. And they're boring because they can't rely on students to read the textbook so they have to tell you what's in the textbook. The best teachers don't lecture. They facilitate discussion or present a problem and give you feedback while you work through it. You watch some videos outside of class and you come to class to be assessed. But that's hard work. Lecturing for an hour 3 times a week and giving a bubble-sheet test is easy for the teacher, and easy for the student.

nightski 11y ago
Well, the other problem is similar to all schools. Students are at varying levels of competence. I finished many labs in 10 minutes which took the other students a full hour and a half simply because I already knew Java/C inside and out. Same with lectures where I was already familiar with the material.
- bphogan 11y ago
  The question is why were you in the class if you already knew the material? People like you should be able to get credit for what you already know if you can demonstrate it. Unless of course you're just looking for a GPA and need the easy grade. If the school just made you sit there because reasons, well, yes, that's a huge problem. A problem which is being rectified all over the US.
  - nightski 11y ago
    I actually did skip several math classes (calc 1/2) by taking exams. There was a limit to how much you could skip though as they wanted you to earn the degree.