Week Three - Test One

Summer courses always go by too fast. The amount of work and material is compressed so tightly that it's a little hard to keep up with it as well as a job and the semblance of a social life. This week we had our first test in the course and while it wasn't quite what I expected, overall it wasn't too bad.

The test focused on mostly lecture topics with one problem that related to our first project. However, I was expecting at least one question on the assigned reading. See, for the day of the test we had at that point been assigned part of the introduction of our text, two sections on limits and an entire chapter (100 or so pages) on streams. Being the diligent student I am, I read all of that for the test, the last two parts the night before. Unfortunately the test didn't have a single question regarding the reading, or at least nothing that wasn't covered in the lecture. To be honest I was a little relieved, because my reading comprehension is not so great between 10 and 12 on the night before a test. It's just frustrating that I spent a significant time reading something I didn't need to, when I could have spent that time preparing differently for the test. Though in the end, this is a small gripe because I feel I did rather well on the test, so I probably shouldn't complain too much.

This does bring up an interesting debate I've noticed recently in college. The decision between using a text and not seems to be becoming a bigger issue with teachers, administration and students. Probably because the price of these books keep skyrocketing and are contributing to the increase in student debt and back problems. I've had teachers that didn't require a text and taught the whole course from their own notes and materials. And I can see how this could be very difficult for every professor to accomplish due to the time it would require to prepare all the material. Though I will say I feel like I have gotten more out of any lecture than out of any text I've every had to read. Not to say that I can't see the appeal of a text book. A centralized collection of information on a course is nice to have when you can't contact the teacher or a fellow student and you have a pressing question. I don't see this issue disappearing though, there's big money in text books and it's simply easier to teach out of one than not, but maybe someday the lug of weight I have/had to carry around will be a thing of the past.