"How I'd Like To Take Classes" Redux
July 9, 2002

A while ago, I wrote about a plan for school that involved taking one class a month, rather than five classes over four months. This plan, I argued, would enable students to concentrate on one subject, and actually learn the material - and complete courses at almost the same rate as the traditional semester system.

Recently, in a conversation with Laila, an intern working for Quarry in Memphis, I discovered that I'm not alone in this train of thought. Laila attends Colorado College, which operates on what they call the "Block Plan" - basically the exact system I had proposed.

Under the Block Plan, students take a single class in a three and a half week "Block", followed by a four-day "Block Break". They can even take half credits as a half-block, and end up with a couple weeks off. Students generally spend the morning (9:00 - 12:00) in class, though some (such as science classes and labs) stretch into the afternoon.

They've even come up with reasons I hadn't thought of. From their web site:

"The Block Plan offers the advantage of flexibility. Each class is assigned a room, reserved exclusively for its faculty and students, who are free to set their own meeting times and to use the room for informal study or discussions after class. Since competing obligations are few, time can be structured in whatever way is best suited to the material. No bells ring. Nothing arbitrarily intrudes after 50 minutes to cut off discussion. An archaeology class can be held at the site of a dig in southeastern Colorado for one block, followed by a second block for laboratory analysis. A biology class might have a week of classroom orientation, then go to the field for two weeks. An English class can spend one morning reading a Shakespeare play out loud and the next morning discussing it or getting together with an acting class to try a few scenes."

Imagine the freedom of being able to go on extended field trips (remember those from high school?) in University - the learning potential is incredible! Not to mention the fact that it would be a much more enjoyable experience for the students.

Colorado College isn't the only school doing this, either. Cornell College in Iowa works on a "One Course At A Time" system, similar to the Block Plan.

Student love it. Professors love it. Everbody's happy!

The next question, then, is: How do we get Waterloo to adopt this system?

Talk amongst yourselves.