Ohio State University-Main Campus Top Questions

I am currently taking Business for Calculus, Cultural Anthropology, Classical Mythology, and English. All of my classes are taught by very enthusiastic professors and go at a good, fast pace. There is not a lot of homework assigned but there is a good amount. In Classical Mythology and Calculus, there is a quiz every week. There is a lot of reading for Cultural Anthropology, typically one or two thirty page chapters and two additional readings.

I've run into 2 styles of classes at OSU: lecture based and discussion based. Some teachers like to lecture and accept questions along the way. If the subject is interesting these classes are okay, but they can be dull if the subject or the lecturer isn't exciting. Luckily they're usually pretty easy. A lot teachers expect class participation. Even if you have 50 kids in your class they want everyone to talk. Most people don't but the students that do usually get rewarded. Some teachers will force you to talk by calling on students others just let you take the reins and get out of it what you want. Professors are given pretty free range with teaching style and how they approach the subject. Even standardized classes will have some variation.

I've run into 2 styles of classes at OSU: lecture based and discussion based. Some teachers like to lecture and accept questions along the way. If the subject is interesting these classes are okay, but they can be dull if the subject or the lecturer isn't exciting. Luckily they're usually pretty easy. A lot teachers expect class participation. Even if you have 50 kids in your class they want everyone to talk. Most people don't but the students that do usually get rewarded. Some teachers will force you to talk by calling on students others just let you take the reins and get out of it what you want. Professors are given pretty free range with teaching style and how they approach the subject. Even standardized classes will have some variation.

Because I'm a graduate student, my classes are a little different than undergraduate classes. However, my classes during my undergrad were often either lecture style or discussion based. I was an education major during my undergrad, so even though I often experienced the same lecture-style classes that most other majors experience, my instructors and professors sometimes tried to teach our classes in best practice ways (group work, lecture with guided notes, other more interactive ways) in order to model for us what we should be doing in the classroom. My classes were always very focused on content, and I feel like I got a lot out of them.

Being an English major, my classes aren't typical of most students. Instead of text books, I have a lot of assigned reading from outside sources like literary magazines, analytical essays, chapters and sections taken out of books (one perk of being an English major you spend less on books). Overall, the class is a combination of reading and writing about what we've read. Class discussions are part of every class, but most often the teacher finds time to lecture during the beginning or middle of class to focus the discussion. Classes can be lively and time flies when the discussion is going well but if no one in the class says anything, the class can drag on forever. Most of the teachers I've had can't make a class talk on their own, they have to approach the material in a way so students feel inclined to discuss it. Some of my classes had powerpoints and it was hard to pay attention, so I always had to take notes. At Ohio State, your classes can be lively and you look forward to going to them or they can be dull, boring and you skip all the time, it really all matters on what you bring to the class.

A student discusses her major- actuarial science- and the loads of work that go into pursuing its degree.

A couple of Ohio State students spend their Thursday afternoon working on their "homework," which consisted of slaying zombies.

Ohio State is one of the few remaining schools that abides by the quarter system. However, that may soon change.

Students discuss having to dole out what's left of their bank accounts for textbooks.

A student shows what's stored inside her bookbag- and the items just keep on coming.

A student shows what he has stored inside his bookbag- not exactly what one would expect.