Bad Meetings and Worse Classes

    Though the world of pointless business meetings is something foreign to me, pointless classes are one which lays heavy on the mind. There seems to be a problem, especially in the Humanities, of classes which are often discussion, or activity-based. 

    The effort put in by professors to make their classes discussion and activity-based is to combat low engagement, which is a valid concern. However, I often come back from many of my classes finding it difficult to articulate exactly what it was I learned. These classes tended to emphasize the unique individual experiences of each student and aimed to draw these out, so we could learn from other people's experiences. 

    This is a valid way to learn, but this can be done on my own time over dinner, in the lounge, on the internet for no cost! The rising cost of tuition should be matched by rising quality of information conveyed in university classrooms, but often it is not. Too often we hear, "What do you guys think about issue X? How have your experiences been with X?" when it should introduce the class to expert findings and opinions on it. Otherwise, students can discuss their experiences and limited knowledge on this without the need for an instructor.