Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Reading Week - Good or Bad?

This week it is the so-called mid-semester "Reading Week" in NCI. Many other Colleges also have a Reading Week, though I'm not sure that all do. It was introduced here a few years ago and usually takes place in week 7 or 8. It also coincides with the October Bank Holiday and St Patrick's Day in March - in reality the Reading Week is four instead of five days.

Image source: Youth Utility.
Is the Reading Week "nothing but a poorly disguised trip home for a visit to Mum’s tumble drier" as described by student Eleanor Doughty in The Independent article "Reading week: What is it good for?" published last year?

In my classes I of course advise my students to use the Reading Week to catch up on the first six weeks, work on assignments and projects due later in the semester, and to study. How much of this is done I don't know, but I do know that when I ask students when they come back how much work they've done, the answer is usually very little to none. 

Around this time last year I wrote a post about Semester Fatique, which was read by 755 people (much higher than the average most posts get). For me it is nice to get a break from classes, though I am still at work. For students it is good to get a break from classes as our semesters are very long - probably too long. The Reading Week does offer the opportunity to catch up and study, but even if it just provides a break so that students can return a little refreshed and ready for the rest of the semester, it is probably still a good thing to have in the Academic Calendar.

2 comments:

  1. I'm not sure how I'd survive without it and my students tell me the same!

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  2. You will be surprised the work that does get done during reading week, personally for me in Mtb and Htm, I used it to work on the project and also on assignments

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