Skipping Class

[victorwoot]

So what's the deal with missing classes? For courses where quizzes are worth some percentage of the course mark, how can one afford to miss class? (yet I hear of people on the forums doing this) Are there not surprise quizzes in university or something?

[justletmein]

Generally there are no surprise quizzes, it is not high school. I have rarely heard of a university course where the quizzes, tests, exams, deadlines etc are not explicitly laid out in the course outline.

People skip class most often when the class notes are available elsewhere (i.e. online or for purchase) and when the teacher does not add all that much.

You will quickly realize that in some cases, you can be much more productive studying the notes on your own then having a professor read them to you while you sit in class distracted by your cell phone or your friends.

[victorwoot]

Great, thanks for the reply. Are there students who sell lecture notes (if there not available from the prof?)

[rmorelan]

Justletmein is right - I going to almost no classes as I find them less productive than studying during that time. Basically I can read faster than they can talk

Everyone has a different style, and courses vary of course. Still for your standard course I have had much better success with not going.

[med88]

What it really comes down to is your own studying habits and the means by which you learn most effecitvely. My suggestion is that you go to class the first week and figure out if it works for you. No one can really tell you if a class is worth going to or not because it really just has to do with your own learning habits.

[mizzlarabee]

Yes, people do sell lecture and study notes but buyer beware! My first couple of years I would skip some classes but I realized that even if the professor didn't really add anything I felt that still listening to someone talk about a subject was really beneficial to my learning but, like med88 pointed out, it all depends on what works for you.

[mbene085]

In first year, I was paranoid and never missed a single lecture, even if I was sick.

In my fourth year, there were courses during which I showed up for maybe 3 or 4 lectures, max, and still nailed every test and exam.

I just got better at recognizing which professors weren't giving any useful extra information that wasn't on the powerpoint slides, and figured out what studying system worked for me (and it didn't involve hearing the lecture or taking unnecessary notes). That, and first year really doesn't resemble the upper years at all.

So while, at first, the idea of skipping class was downright appalling, I definitely changed my stance on that issue. But I also know a lot of people who skipped classes and got thoroughly f*cked on exams. So...you'll really have to figure out what works for you given the structure of your program and your personal studying style.

[lostintime]

You should show up to ALL labs though. There are sometimes surprise quizzes in labs and tutorials just to keep you on your toes. But they'll let you know in the course outline if there are going to be surprise quizzes.

[seeking1]

To make the most of your classes, look up your prof with previous students of that class and ratemyprofessors.com. At least you can know if you're getting top quality teaching for your dollar.

[gsamra]

I dont know if u know about this, but profs have things called i-clickers
where u answer mc questions that he/she posts at the front. U simply respond to the questions and the results of the class show up. U r not marked for this, but u get bonus marks, so this could be an incentive to go to classes. I find i-clickers helpful, and sometimes the same mc questions will
be on exams, so its a win-win