EDHS 4810

Overview: This is a 2.5 hour course that meets once a week. The typical class consists of lecture, small group discussions, activities, videos, and guest speakers. There are two required textbooks (with about 2-3 chapters of reading due per week) that supplement what is discussed in class but are not necessary to read beforehand to fully engage in class. However, the quizzes pull from the material, and they definitely help support the short answer responses. I would recommend at least skimming them or reading the summaries and key terms at the end of the chapters.
Workload/assignments: There are weekly comment/question submissions (1-2 sentences) after each class and in class/ out of class activities (I think the number varies per semester -- ours was 6) that take no longer than 10 minutes to complete. There are 3 quizzes, which are open note and online. The quiz was open for about 3-5 days and we had 60 minutes to complete ~25 multiple choice and 3 short answers (350-500 words) once we started. For the 2nd and 3rd quizzes, we received the short answer questions a day or two in advance to formulate our responses.
30% of your grade is a personal project, which is a change you make in yourself over 8 weeks. It requires a weekly journal of 1-1.25 pages for each of the 8 weeks of the project that describe your thoughts/feelings/experiences for the week (not just list activities). It includes a 4-5 page reflection paper at the end. I think the options vary per semester, but ours were counseling, exercise and nutrition, mind/body wellness, or a custom project (must be approved). Each of these had different, specific requirements, but there is a lot of flexibility as it is designed to be personal to you. Tim did require us to submit the first half of our project in March, which was helpful to make sure we were keeping on track/ not falling behind. I definitely forgot to do some of my weekly entries immediately after each week and had to go back and try to remember what I did/how I felt/what I thought, which was time consuming and more difficult than if I had just done it that week. Even if you can't write the full 1 page reflection that week because you're too busy, I would recommend making bullet points or at least jotting down notes so that you can fill it in later.
There also was a connections experience in which you had to write 1.5-2 pages about 2 of 3 options. Ours were silence, reduce time on social media, and letter writing.
Lastly, there was a career assignment in which you had to meet with a counselor at career services and write 2 pages about your experience. There was a second option for people who have already done that, although I don't know the parameters because I just did the regular one.
Professor: Tim is a super sweet, gentle, and wise person. He encourages his students to reflect on/ challenge themselves but in a positive, open-minded way. Please note that his lectures are slow and he does take the entire 2.5 hours every single week.
Overall thoughts: This is an intriguing, self-reflective class in which I learned a lot about psychology, myself, and how to lead a better life. I would definitely recommend it, especially for fourth years. Also, if you do your work and participate in class, it is an easy A. My only criticism is I did not love a 2.5 hour class because eventually I got tired, unfocused, or bored.