Sometimes classes are boring: really boring. Sometimes you thought you were signing up for a class that was going to really interest you. It was going to cover a topic that you know enough about to be excited about learning more and when you show up for that first day of class you’re the only one with a smile on your face. Then you get the syllabus. After half of an hour talking about the schools policy on tardiness and reading ahead to the actual content you’ve started to become worried about the course.
If you’re anything like me you have the highest of hopes for every class you take. Despite all of the signs warning you to drop the course you persevere because you just know that you’re going to learn something valuable from the course. Guess what: you can make that boring class valuable. All you have to do is design your own course. Luckily this isn’t as hard as it sounds. In fact, if you tried to get into the course because the topic already interested you I’m willing to bet a little research won’t be too hard at all.
Guess what you get to start with: the syllabus. Yes, yes… I know… it’s no good. But that’s only by itself. From the humble syllabus you will build your master course to learn a great deal about the topics you were originally interested in. Check and see what you’re supposed to read for next week. Is it a chapter? A book? An article? What is it about? Once you’ve got that down look at the resources that text used (the bibliography and/or works cited). Anything sound interesting? Good. Check it out via the internet. Read an abstract, a synopsis, a sample chapter or anything else you can access. If it sounds interesting: read it. For bonus points bring up your extra reading in class, engage your fellow students in the now deepened topic, and help your instructor improve the class.