Have you ever sat through a class that you just hated? Most of us have. In fact, quite a few Grand

View students voiced their opinions through an online survey on the topic that was sent out via email recently.

Depending on your major, the results of the most hated/failed classes survey might be exactly what you would expect.

Out of the 63 responses from the survey, there were 64 classes identified by students as ones they hated or failed. The most commonly hated areas of study were math, psychology and Core Seminar II. The most failed areas were math and psychology once again. What can be said nationally about these programs? Well, it turns out, according to USA Today, “calculus, algebra, statistics, and psychology are all in the top ten most hated college courses.”

It is not surprising that math is not popular across the United States. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, results conducted from international math assessments show the U.S. is ranked 38th out of 71 countries.

Hart, said these statistics can be somewhat misleading to those looking for a trend.

“That test focuses more on applications of mathematics, and the U.S. curriculum doesn’t have as much of that as some other countries, and that’s one issue,” Hart said.

Several student survey answers indicated that students do not understand why they are taking the course or how the course applies to their major. This might suggest that Grand View University could focus more on applying math skills rather than mainly how to perform them.

As for Core Seminar II, John Lyden, the Liberal Arts Core Director,

offered some perspective.

“One of the other goals of the class, and I think a huge goal in society today, … is the ability to talk about difference respectfully,” Lyden said.

Diversity has been a huge focus the past couple years at Grand View, with open discussion forums and diversity meetings seemingly every week.

Lyden offered advice for students to make Core Seminar II more enjoyable. “There are diverse topics, and once the instructors are assigned to the classes, as soon as possible that I know the topics they’re focusing on, we add that to the course schedule,” Lyden said. “So when students are developing their schedule, they’re able to see that. If it’s a topic that you really don’t want to take, then you don’t have to.”

To save yourself some trouble, Lyden recommended checking out all the Core Seminar possibilities before choosing which classes to register for. Lyden also recommended that students open themselves to the possibilities of the course.

Nothing in life is without flaws. Most things come with several options, and it’s worthwhile to explore them.
It’s easy to blame the material or the professor, but what can you do to make the most of your tuition dollars?