British universities are failing to provide students with enough lecture and tutorial time, according to David Willetts.
Maybe the Profs are busy… doing other stuff… Or maybe they’re just too worried about keeping their jobs and publishing ‘entrails of the gnat’ books… to lecture students (the putative primary purpose of professoring).
Speaking at a Higher Education Policy Institute conference in central London, Mr Willetts highlighted research that showed British students had fewer contact hours per week than their counterparts in France or Germany. The 2009 figures show that undergraduates at British universities have an average of 30 lecture or tutorial hours every week, compared with 42 hours in France and 36 hours in Germany. Mr Willetts said: “You put together contact hours and times of private study, and you do appear to find that hours of study for students in the UK appear to be below the average in other European countries.”
I’m just glad they didn’t compare them to US Professors. Then they’d really have something to complain about (not that US students would complain- they’re, by and large, satisfied with the least amount of work possible and if the Prof skips class or cuts it short they’re overjoyed).
Zwinglius Redivivus 