Lecture Hours are Too Long
Students are human, not machines. Lectures in general
definition are large classes whereby a lecturer teaches information and
knowledge regarding a particular subject. Lectures in students’ definition are
pretty much the same, only with the addition of countless complaints that
lecture hours are just too long. There are many reasons why lecture hours are
long, a few significant ones including wide subject syllabi, graduate quality
control, and also irregular timetable arrangement.
Subjects
to be taught in lectures may vary, but in overall any subject would contain a
large syllabus in which the lecturers have to complete. For example in simple
chemistry, the syllabus contains an extremely large range from stoichiometry all
the way to thermodynamics. Such a wide scope of teachings may require a large
amount of time to cover, thus explaining the long lecture hours.
Secondly,
the long lecture hours are also meant to increase the quality of graduates.
Longer lecture hours allow lecturers to conduct classes at a slower pace,
making it easier for students to catch and understand the lecturer’s teachings.
Longer hours also provide ample time for more examples, revisions and
assignments, which enable students to understand the subject much more
thoroughly.
Lastly,
the long hours allocated for lectures are also caused by timetable arrangement policies
which are not well thought out. If lecture hour were to be long, then
correspondingly the time for breaks and rest must also be extended. This is
because students’ attention spans have a limit. If lectures go on continuously
for too long, students will start to feel tired and exhausted. In such cases,
the later lectures in a day would prove unproductive as students are unable to
pay attention in class anymore. Thus timetable planning is crucial and must be
done in a systematic way where lecture hours are not too long, as well as
balanced with the amount of time allocated for breaks.
In
conclusion, it is fairly inevitable for lecture hours to be considerably long,
due to the necessity of time to complete subject syllabi, as well as to
maintain the overall quality of education. However, the problem of long lecture
hours causing the fatigue of students can be improved, by implementing
better-planned time allocation policies.
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