It’s that time again: a new semester, during which Elizabethtown College students plan to keep on top of their homework situations. However, depending on what major and professors a student has, their syllabi can include a multitude of assignments during the first week of the semester. I was able to stay on top of the classwork. However, students were already pulling all-nighters, which are partly due to the heavy work load they are experiencing.

Personally, I do not believe it is fair for students to receive so much classwork and homework at the beginning of the semester; however, I think it can be necessary. If students are exposed to so much work at the beginning of the semester, then it will eventually become easier for them to transition into the class. If professors decided to go easy on students at the beginning of the semester, it may come as a shock to students when they are suddenly inundated by loads of work.

While I stand by this viewpoint, I also feel it would be nice if professors went easier on students during the first week, gradually increasing the amount of work as the weeks pass. During the summer, students are occupied with jobs and have become unaccustomed to the mental stress that school requires. Schoolwork is always stressful, but it is always difficult for students to get used to the amount of time they need to spend on their classwork.

For me, I believe that receiving so much work so early in the semester helped me develop a better understanding for the course material and what my professor wants from us in the class. As much as I don’t like it, getting the professor’s normal amount of work at the beginning of the semester facilitates the student’s transition into the class. Sometimes, one cannot adequately learn the course material without outside work accompanying it. Other times, a heavy workload can be off-putting to the student’s learning and enjoyment of the class, since that person would consequently be too busy stressing out over the course material to take it in.

I also feel that some professors do not need to require an excessive amount of work for the student to successfully learn the course material. While I understand that math and science classes need a constant flow of work for the student to absorb the concepts discussed in the classroom, some classes, such as history, do not necessarily have to inundate their students with work when a class discussion will do. Despite this, even classes that do not require that much work seem to swamp their students with unnecessary amounts of work during the first week, consequently intimidating the students and possibly resulting in them dropping the class.

Each student learns a different way. Some students need that extra stimulation provided by classwork during the initial week of the semester to really have the course material ingrained in their minds, while other students would prefer learning solely by class discussions and tests. Additionally, whether a student is attending college part time or full time, a student will have other stressors in his or her life, such as jobs and family matters. While professors cannot be expected to be completely sympathetic with the student, sometimes a certain stressful class cannot be avoided for a particular student if it is required for one’s major.

One efficient way of learning in the classroom that does not require a significant amount of work and stress for both the student and the professor alike is by movies. I have found this part of visual learning particularly helpful and enjoyable. True, sometimes movies hamper learning more than facilitate it, but on occasion, they reinforce the subject matter that the professor is trying to convey to the students, and it also offers an opportunity for insightful class discussions. I believe that visual learning can sometimes be more helpful to the student than book work and might mitigate the initial week’s work for more thorough student comprehension.

Depending on the type of  class, the ideal learning method for each student differs. So, while an abundant amount of classwork can sometimes prove to be more effective to the student’s overall learning, especially if the knowledge that a student gains from taking a class is required to move on to another major class, sometimes the more efficient method to successful learning is not with loads of schoolwork, but with moderate schoolwork that is complemented by videos and class discussion. That being said, sometimes it’s unnecessary for students to have to complete so much classwork during the first week of the semester. It will only hamper their abilities to learn efficiently and effectively. However, I ultimately believe that the amount of work the syllabi gives students during the first week will allow the students to have an easier transition into the classroom and will give them the most out of the class.