Throughout Winter Quarter, the class I enjoyed the most was LCS. Although there are many reasons for this, my favorite features of this class are that it’s small, it involves outings to places of significance for the class, and it is geared both toward gaining a broad understanding of the aging process as well as how to apply such knowledge in the real world. I also like that there are no tests or memorization, and that we have the freedom to focus on our particular areas of interest through projects as well as through the lens through which we understand the class.
My favorite outing in the class so far have been the housing tour, mostly because of the sheer number of places we got to see. It was nice to be able to see different sorts of places in the same day so that our memories were fresh for comparison. It was also cool to see the attitudes of the residents at each place; generally, it was one of gratitude no matter the state of the residence.
In terms of improvements, I think that more could be done with the oral history project as well as the current events presentation. I think it would be interesting to make the oral history project two quarters long instead of one, so that it could become a more sizable project. If someone’s EP did not want to participate in that long a process, students could always have two different EPs! I also think that it would be interesting to make the current events into an individual research project, rather than a small group presentation. I know that classes are always what you put into them, but this didn’t really feel like a 6-unit class to me even though I felt that I was actively engaged. I think that not only would a research paper on a topic of our choice make the class a bit more challenging, but it would also allow us to become experts in a niche aspect of the aging process.
My favorite outing in the class so far have been the housing tour, mostly because of the sheer number of places we got to see. It was nice to be able to see different sorts of places in the same day so that our memories were fresh for comparison. It was also cool to see the attitudes of the residents at each place; generally, it was one of gratitude no matter the state of the residence.
In terms of improvements, I think that more could be done with the oral history project as well as the current events presentation. I think it would be interesting to make the oral history project two quarters long instead of one, so that it could become a more sizable project. If someone’s EP did not want to participate in that long a process, students could always have two different EPs! I also think that it would be interesting to make the current events into an individual research project, rather than a small group presentation. I know that classes are always what you put into them, but this didn’t really feel like a 6-unit class to me even though I felt that I was actively engaged. I think that not only would a research paper on a topic of our choice make the class a bit more challenging, but it would also allow us to become experts in a niche aspect of the aging process.