2008 Woodie Awards
Prerequisites: Are they really required?
Ashley Tate, News Reporter
Issue date: 11/27/07 Section: News
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Either the system is working the students, or the students are swinging with ease through the academic credit system.
Some students at Youngstown State University take upper division courses while they complete the prerequisites for those higher level courses at the same time. A student with fingers crossed for sweeping through courses to graduate on time may look at this "working of the system" as better bang for your buck, worth the American value of higher education.
YSU sophomore Lauren Kocher said prerequisite courses can obstruct timely graduation.
"I think it delays getting your degree, but it helps out in the long run because you know more about the classes you take," she said.
But when simultaneously taking courses and their prerequisites, these double doses may be fatal for earning good grades.
Sophomore David Boyer was supposed to complete news reporting before he took feature writing, but he is taking both classes at the same time.
Boyer said he didn't know that he needed news reporting to take feature writing, something his adviser didn't tell him.
"It definitely would've helped if I took the class before. Basically I just sign up for classes on the sheet and wing it. There's no order for anything."
Although Boyer said he's passing both classes, he would've been "better off" taking the prerequisite first.
A transfer student from Southeast Missouri State University, Boyer said he wasn't trying to "get around the system" by taking the classes at the same time. Feature writing sounded "cool" to him. Prerequisites are required courses that prepare you for the next course, Sherry Linkon, co-director of the Center for Working Class Studies and English academic adviser, said.
"I don't think you should just take something because it sounds cool," Boyer said.
Prerequisites give students the required skills and knowledge to advance to take the next course, she said.
But the YSU registration system isn't able to tell if a student has taken a required class or not.
Some students at Youngstown State University take upper division courses while they complete the prerequisites for those higher level courses at the same time. A student with fingers crossed for sweeping through courses to graduate on time may look at this "working of the system" as better bang for your buck, worth the American value of higher education.
YSU sophomore Lauren Kocher said prerequisite courses can obstruct timely graduation.
"I think it delays getting your degree, but it helps out in the long run because you know more about the classes you take," she said.
But when simultaneously taking courses and their prerequisites, these double doses may be fatal for earning good grades.
Sophomore David Boyer was supposed to complete news reporting before he took feature writing, but he is taking both classes at the same time.
Boyer said he didn't know that he needed news reporting to take feature writing, something his adviser didn't tell him.
"It definitely would've helped if I took the class before. Basically I just sign up for classes on the sheet and wing it. There's no order for anything."
Although Boyer said he's passing both classes, he would've been "better off" taking the prerequisite first.
A transfer student from Southeast Missouri State University, Boyer said he wasn't trying to "get around the system" by taking the classes at the same time. Feature writing sounded "cool" to him. Prerequisites are required courses that prepare you for the next course, Sherry Linkon, co-director of the Center for Working Class Studies and English academic adviser, said.
"I don't think you should just take something because it sounds cool," Boyer said.
Prerequisites give students the required skills and knowledge to advance to take the next course, she said.
But the YSU registration system isn't able to tell if a student has taken a required class or not.
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