I will admit that while this particular display of adolescent defiance or mere lethargy was satisfying, I woke up around lunchtime with an unsettling anxiety. I couldn’t help but think that my professor had spoken of something so crucial to my understanding of contract theory that, without it, my understanding of Hobbes or Locke would be grossly inadequate for the midterm or final.
Running circles in my own frustration, I came to — what I would learn only later — a false, short-lived solace. Surely, I thought with stunning naivete, Blackboard would have the answer.
But to my frustration, Blackboard was almost as useless as I was. Just a brief list of questions to consider and a Princeton-customized Second Life (which, might I say, is outstandingly bizarre).
However hard I looked, I failed to find any recording of the missed lecture and was forced to seek someone else’s mediocre lecture notes and the certainty of my impending academic doom.
Honestly, I understand that Princeton students are supposed to attend lectures, but the “you snooze, you lose” principle seems, if not unfair, at least antiquated.
Currently, some Princeton classes, most notably those in the social sciences, will post lecture slides. Others, like integrated science courses, post lecture videos, and such efforts seem incredibly helpful when reviewing for papers and exams. I think that it is time for Princeton, perhaps on a uniform basis, to record lectures and make them accessible to students.
I rest this proposal upon a single principle, small yet basic: What enhances our education is good for Princeton. Fundamentally, I am convinced that placing lecture recordings on Blackboard (or a similar utility) will enhance our general learning experiences.
My confidence in the value of lecture recordings, which perhaps some might contest, rests on basic logic that would suggest that the source is always better than the conduit. Lectures or their recordings are always, without question or exception, superior to the lecture notes they produce. They represent access to an unfiltered resource, which could aid the study process as much as — if not more so — than the lecture slides certain professors upload to Blackboard already.
Perhaps I might find my lecture notes incomplete and desire to focus on a particular facet of the curriculum that was bothering me. Where better to go than a lecture recording?
Recording lectures would also have a few notable fringe benefits, like allowing me to audit a class that conflicted with my schedule. While inferior to a genuine class experience, lecture recordings could at least provide me with an option more favorable than the current alternative, which amounts to nothing less than tough noogies.
I will admit that this type of reform could enable laziness and subsequently lower lecture attendance.
Yet I think we can all agree that there is no substitute for attending a live lecture. The very act of sitting down with a notebook lends itself to an interaction between professor and student — which, while indirect, remains substantial nonetheless. In a lecture hall, there aren’t annoying roommates with loud music or other opportunities for distraction. Yes, many of us zone off during lectures, but lack of focus would be far more prevalent and detrimental in bed or on a futon. The question remains, which would we choose: attending lecture or watching it in bed?
Though I am certain that some people would make the wrong decision, the independence we deserve as students entitles us to make mistakes. Such is the risk of liberalizing any system, but ultimately it is one that will enhance our learning experiences.
Though I doubt that our professors would ever have to speak to empty auditoriums — no matter how drastically technology affects pedagogy — concerns of attendance might be mitigated if these recordings were made available two weeks after the lecture date or at least the week before a midterm or a final.
I would hedge my bets that if Princeton could establish some method of offering lecture recordings, our academic experiences would be far more reflective of student needs and interests. Ultimately, there is no reason short of complicity in the status quo, empty wallets or fear of technology to prevent Princeton from preparing our academic system for the 21st century — from allowing learning to take advantage of technology.
Until then, I will humbly resign myself to seeking As over a few more Zzzz’s and an infuriating case of the Mondays.
Peter Zakin is a freshman from New York, N.Y. He can be reached at pzakin@princeton.edu.
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