College that teaches one course at a time
In 1999, I designed a one-year post-baccalaureate computer science program, so that an English major could get a job as a software developer in the then-booming tech industry. One feature that I thought was innovative was that we would teach one course per month, rather than asking students to juggle multiple simultaneous courses. Just today I discovered that this system was adopted in 1978 by Cornell College in Iowa. It is apparently working well for them, since they have not returned to the conventional system.
David Anderson
January 1, 2010 @ 6:48 am
Colorado College is well-known for its “block plan” — an academic year with eight 3.5 week segments — which it adopted in 1970.
http://www.coloradocollege.edu/welcome/
http://www.armytimes.com/careers/college/military_colorado_college_071101/
–david
Spencer
January 1, 2010 @ 7:20 am
Actually, Colorado College in Colorado Springs has had the “block plan” since 1971.
Sean O.
January 1, 2010 @ 9:16 am
Colorado College has been on the same sort of system since sometime before 1975, the year my sister began her studies there.
Colin Summers
January 1, 2010 @ 11:33 am
I believe Colorado College at Colorado Springs does the same thing. They call them blocks. http://www.coloradocollege.edu/admission/why-cc.asp
My cousin went there. He said Block Breaks were great for skiing.
elsa dorfman
January 1, 2010 @ 1:54 pm
cambridge school of weston, a MA high school does the same thing. teaching in blocks.
Scott
January 1, 2010 @ 4:50 pm
This “immersion” method would be wonderful for the students – the intense training to really learn material absent from other distractions. Unfortunately, large universities seldom prioritize students’ experience and learning over bureaucratic numbers-gathering and the extraction of research grant overhead costs.
Steve
January 1, 2010 @ 6:32 pm
As a CC alum, I can attest to the fact that the block plan is a great way to study CS. You really are able to get into “the zone” when you don’t have to be juggling three other classes…
Trevis Rothwell
January 2, 2010 @ 1:07 pm
I attended Cornell College. My first semester there, I thought it would be neat to use the block plan scheduling to enable me to take four consecutive classes in mathematics. The first couple of classes went fine, but by the end of this I was pretty burnt out.
Even though there may have been the same number of hours available for learning the material under the block plan compared to a standard semester, I was trying to force myself to understand material in four months that is usually learned over more like twelve or eighteen months. Despite focusing on math full-time, it was a lot to cover so quickly.
I am told that the college instituted a new rule limiting consecutive math classes to three, not long after this.
But, spread apart a little more, the block plan allows study schedules that semester plans do not, and may be ostensibly better. I took four classes of Spanish over the course of a year, putting some other classes in between. That seemed to work pretty well.
Cincy Steve
January 2, 2010 @ 5:21 pm
Case Western Reserve school of Med has taught by block (particular organ system) since the 1950’s. While not computer science it is a similar concept- Take a “heart block” – spend days doing everything cardiac- gross anatomy, function, electrical system, fluid dynamics, drugs affecting the organ, disease of the heart, etc. At the end of the block you are tested on the organ then move onto “lung block” or whatever is next.
gwern
January 3, 2010 @ 5:25 pm
FWIW, in middle school my ‘group’ of teachers decided to try out a similar block plan – it’s a 6 hour day, and 2 classes would get 3 apiece, instead of 4 classes fighting it out. I remember that it worked really well and we got some large projects done as a class, but the teacher had to be very well-prepared; I guess that’s why the experiment wasn’t repeated.
Craig Shaw
January 5, 2010 @ 5:11 pm
Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, has been using the block system since 1971. I believe this is the only university offering BA – PhD degrees where all students study one full-time course per month.
Our students are immersed full time in each course for 4 weeks — and then move on to the next course.
This “block system” is immensely popular with our students because they learn more, and it eliminates the stress of taking 4–5 subjects and exams at once.
This system allows for lots of active and collaborative learning.
Between each 4-week course is an extended 3-day weekend with no classes or homework.
Cindi
January 8, 2010 @ 11:05 am
Although I have no testimony for any colleges, I can state that the high schools in our area have used the “block” system for about 1O years and as a parent of two high school students, I love the system. The system is a bit modified from the one you speak of in your post, however it does relieve a lot of stress on the students and parents as they only focus on two core subjects per semester. The classes are longer (90min) and the students are able to focus on a school years worth of material in 18weeks. It still has drawbacks but I do think that it accomplishes more and it get students better prepared for the reality of college schedules.
Glad I found this post as I have a daughter beginning college in a year, now we have another point of criteria to consider when choosing what will be best for her continued education.
Aaron Mansheim
January 8, 2010 @ 5:29 pm
I have personally enjoyed these two options similar to ADU’s single-course months.
Many universities hold summer-session courses of three hours by five days by three weeks.
CTY (http://cty.jhu.edu/summer/summer-programs.html) provides some secondary-school children with courses of seven supervised hours by five days by three weeks. Some parents get the children’s regular schools to translate that into 1/2 or 1 year’s credit, placement, or both.