<p>I'm trying to plan my schedule using the ninja courses site and it gives me different schedules with the discussions at different times. are they mandatory? useful? What is the point of them? thanks</p>
<p>Sooner or later you will realize people skip lectures and only go to discussions…</p>
<p>Depends on the class, but usually they are more important than the lecture itself. If say you’re taking ugba 10, you’ll know that the section grade is 10% of your total grade which can be the difference between an A- and a B+.</p>
<p>Depends on the class, but usually participation in discussion (from what I’ve seen) is around 15-25% of your grade. Also, your GSI, who runs the discussion, usually has complete control over your grade. … I remember my history syllabus saying that GSIs had “guidelines” but didn’t need to follow them while doing grades.</p>
<p>It really depends on both the course and you.</p>
<p>As an engineering student, I personally find labs very important, lectures important, and discussions unimportant. This is because I learn better in lecture format and from the book. Also, in those classes, discussion sections aren’t linked to your grade. However, this could be different if you learn in a different manner from me, or your course has different expectations for discussion section.</p>
<p>Whatever you do, plan on attending all classes and sections!</p>
<p>sections, at least for the humanities i’ve taken, have made up a sizable chunk of my grade.</p>
<p>i’d suggest going to both lectures and discussions, but if one is trying to minimize their effort and time spent learning, then it’s probably better to skip lectures rather than discussions, considering GSI’s usually grade your stuff, whether it be essay assignments or essay tests, etc.</p>