Study Hacks: "In 2006, professor Richard West of the University of Southern Maine, working with his student Stephanie Cushman, launched a study to find out more about student burnout. They hoped to answer two questions:
1. How many college students experience burnout?
2. Why do they burnout?"
7 comments:
I've tried several different strategies to avoid burning out every semester. Unfortunately, as the article points out, the odds are not in my favor. I try to schedule classes that aren't highly academically based, like Scenic Painting, into my schedule when I have a lot of classes that are heavy in content that requires me to take copious notes. I find that gauging classes by how much I have to take notes in class to do well is a good way to tell how all my classes will balance together. In addition to this, I try to schedule lighter classes in the mornings so I have time to warm up before heavy classes.
I feel like this study is incomplete. They talk about assignment overload but there is obviously more to it then that. What about inability to keep up with the required materials due to course layout. Or the relationship of the class to the student themselves. I personally have said more times in undergrad then not, 'screw it' to classes that (even if they were part of my major). I found myself saying, "forget it, it just doesn't interest me" because the teacher doesn't care, or the work has no bearing on what I want to do with my life, etc... Obviously you have to factor in attitude and the other factors (like outside influences)that are listed in the article. But still, While I agree with the numbers I feel that "Assignment Overload" is to vague. Would definitely be interested in more coming from these kind of studies.
I completely agree that assignment overload is the shortest road to burn out. Not matter how hard you try to stay ahead... sometimes it just can't happen. The professors are out to get us... they plan and scheme every week to stack our assignments. Ok... so they aren't but some days it feels like it. We just have plan to keep ahead and ask for extensions sooner rather than later.
I have fallen into the trap of stacking the wrong courses... that was a rough semester.
Timely article, especially the part about course scheduling. I agree with Naomi- the best way to avoid burnout when designing a schedule is not to look at how many classes you are taking (although obviously that matters) but what type of classes they are and what type of work they will produce. Also, judging how much work you think each class will produce and then looking at if you have days that are heavily overloaded with high work classes is a good way to insure that nothing blows up in your face.
Again another interesting article on college students and stress. College is not for everyone, it is generally hard and you need to be dedicated to it to make it worth your time and money. I haven't experienced burnout or too much stress yet. I found that the course load is just right and I could handle more, but I think i would go a little crazy if i had less work to do.
I don't know, I think 354 students doing a self-evaluation on burnout isn't going to produce scientifically sound results. I think the suggestions they provide are definitely worth pursuing but I'm missing out on the scientific aspect here. Yea, people shouldn't overload themselves when it comes to their workload but half of college experience is fleshing out your time-management skills.
I find it almost entertaining that this would be posted on the green page for student comment. It is asking for criticism, but oh well. The largest contributor to burnout is assignment overload, and yes crew is an assignment. What do they recommend you do to avoid being in this situation yourself, "...you need to be extremely vigilant about your course selection." Entertaining because we don't get to pick most of our courses, or how to schedule them. I guess that means that the faculty fails at properly assigning course loads and are directly responsible for their students and whether they burn out or not. Yes the ability to get extensions helps a little, so we can balance the load a little better, but not enough. I personally feel that our advisers should be held more accountable for out academic actions so they take a larger interest in it. If every time you got overloaded your adviser had to do your crew assignment while you caught up they would be pretty damn interested in keeping you on track.
Post a Comment