Quality

How can one measure the quality of higher education? I think Dr. Sexson put it very well when he said we should only evaluate our classes twenty years later. Twenty years from now, will you remember that 100-something-person lecture in which the professor literally read PowerPoint slides to you? A Quality education is something that sticks with you through the years and makes an impact on your life. Sadly classes that do just that can be hard to come by these days.

I have found my honors seminars to be some of the most memorable and impactful classes I've taken. Perhaps this is because of extraordinary faculty. Most likely, It's because I have become an active participant in the learning process. Active discussion has helped me form and solidify my own beliefs and opinions on a variety of subjects. Also, listening to others' thoughts has helped with an exchange of ideas, opening my mind to other points of view. Also, only in a few of the courses I have taken have I been encouraged to write down my own thoughts. Again, Dr. Sexson put it well when he stated, "How do you know what you think until you see what you say?" Through the writing process, I have been able to formulate my thoughts in a coherent, logical manner, further solidifying my beliefs and opinions.

Unfortunately, lessons learned in these types of classes can be difficult to quantify with a grade. Higher education has become such an objective, streamlined process that many of the experiences that I've had in my honors classes have been phased out. One cannot state on their diploma or resume that they considered some classes of higher quality than others. After all, once you graduate, all classes are essentially created equal. Perhaps if we looked at higher education as an unquantifiable process, we would be better off.