{"id":36618,"date":"2020-12-08t17:31:19","date_gmt":"2020-12-08t22:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/?p=36618"},"modified":"2020-12-09t09:43:01","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09t14:43:01","slug":"making-the-most-of-in-class-reading-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/2020\/12\/making-the-most-of-in-class-reading-days\/","title":{"rendered":"making the most of in-class reading days"},"content":{"rendered":"
by derek bruff, cft director<\/em><\/p>\n <\/a>last week, the university approved<\/a> four \u201cin-class reading days\u201d for the spring 2021 semester: february 23-24 and april 7-8. these days in the undergraduate and graduate school schedules are meant to encourage students and instructors to practice self-care and avoid burnout during this exceptional academic year. in this blog post, i\u2019ll share some ideas for vanderbilt instructors for making the most of these in-class reading days. but first, i wanted to share a few thoughts on the rationale for the in-class reading days, as i understand it.<\/p>\n most of the traditional academic breaks, including fall and spring breaks, haven\u2019t been included in the 2020-21 schedule in order to reduce student travel as part of covid-19 precautions. however, the lack of academic breaks this fall has been cited by students as a challenge, with students asking for some kind of temporary reduction in workload for the spring to allow students to rest and renew. this was a theme of the student focus groups the 2022年世界杯中国小组赛积分 conducted this fall, and so i was glad to see this announcement from the provost.<\/p>\n we\u2019re familiar with the reading days that precede exams at vanderbilt, during which classes aren\u2019t held and students have time to review and prepare for finals. the new \u201cin-class\u201d reading days are different, since classes will be held as scheduled. cancelling classes wouldn\u2019t be practical, given the university’s obligation to provide a minimum number of days of instruction and the complications posed by adding class days at the end of the semester. class-free days would also likely lead to student travel, which would increase risk. note that neither pair of reading days is adjacent to a weekend, for the same reason.<\/p>\n