Why our curriculum requirements are stupid, Part N

[eirias]

For a few months I have been involved in some back and forth about whether I have completed the course requirements for my degree, specifically the "breadth" requirements. It was determined a year or two ago that my math courses did not count -- despite the importance of probability to my intellectual growth and my research, despite the fact that the courses were clearly out of my *department*, never mind my area of psychology, anything dealing with math is not a "content course" and therefore can't count for squat other than "methodology." OK then. So in order to fulfill my last "content course" requirement, I took a course that was well out of my area of expertise a few semesters ago -- in fact I think I was the student to whom the content was the *least* relevant professionally. Fun course, and I'm glad I took it, but I've had a devil of a time trying to get the relevant department staff to use this course to mark me off as done with my requirements.

Just now I got an email from one of our department's current People Who Makes Curriculum Decisions. This person didn't think that particular course should count as "core" enough for this breadth requirement... and decided, instead, to double count something else I took. That course? Cognitive Development.

Ladies and gentlemen, I do research on learning. Right now I am studying learning in infants. The course was taught by someone in my area group. If this material "adds breadth" to my degree, and three calculus-based courses in mathematics don't, I'll eat my #(*#@ probability text.

But, well, I shouldn't complain, because I'm done, right? Riiiight.

Comments

[littlepurple.livejournal.com]

Its all just random politics, and depends on everyone's mood at the given moment. The devo people the year before had to add courses to the curriculum and change things around. Me, I was allowed to double AND TRIPLE count things....
Its all bs.
BS