Students worry about wasted time and money and prefer humanities classes.
By Bleah B. Patterson
Drama sophomore Nancy Yanez thinks EDUC 1300, Learning Framework, which will be required for students beginning in the fall semester, will be a waste of time.
“They’re basically going to teach me how to be a college student,” she said. “You should be allowed to learn that in real life. It’s not a one-size-fits-all.”
When Yanez read articles in The Ranger about the core change, she thought it was a joke. She thought someone was suggesting something that couldn’t possibly be in the works.
The Alamo Colleges is awaiting approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to add the framework course to the core curriculum in place of three hours of humanities, a move proving repugnant to faculty and students.
“Humanities is my favorite,” she said. “I can’t imagine trading one of my philosophy or culture classes for a student development course.”
Her friend, drama sophomore Deresha Nollan, worries because she’s taking her second American Sign Language class, which will no longer be required for her degree plan if the change is implemented in the fall.
“It’ll be the second time they’ve done this,” she said in reference to a 2012 core change that eliminated science labs and kinesiology courses from the core.
“They told me I needed to take a P.E. course and I spent almost $200 on a class that I don’t need anymore.”
Students are allowed to complete a degree under the core curriculum in place when they started unless they change majors.
Liberal arts freshman Grace Taylor thinks the situation is reminiscent of dystopian societies like “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley.
“It’s like they’re trying to create American workers, robots, not American citizens,” Taylor said.
“They’re taking away our critical thinking and replacing them with habit training,” she said. “Adding classes like this is just a roadblock for students who are actually trying to take major-related classes. This is college, not high school. Honestly, it all feels too reminiscent of preschool.”