<p>What do we do in discussion sections? and how does it differ from lectures? new freshman here.</p>
<p>is this a specialized section just so we can ask questions etc... ?</p>
<p>We discuss about anything you want related to the course…?</p>
<p>They function like mini-lectures sometimes, like Q&A sometimes, and like recap lectures at others. There’s no one way to run them, and it depends entirely on the course and the arrangement the GSIs have with the professor.</p>
<p>Basically, though, it’s an hour of a small class version of lecture. You’re much more able to ask questions and get a more student-directed lesson than you can get in lecture, and you’ll want to get to know your GSI well. They’re the ones actually grading any material you submit.</p>
<p>It’s where you do the most learning.</p>
<p>^ supposedly. Unless your GSI just completely blows. Which can quite often happen.</p>
<p>^ Agreed. GSI makes an enormous difference. My GSI in Math 1B was god-awful and made it a complete waste of time. For 53 he was awesome and made all the concepts hit home. Your GSI/Discusion section can make the difference between you hating and loving a course.</p>
<p>You screw around.</p>
<p>Oogle the GSI for an hour</p>
<p>only if she’s hot. i would go to my section if i had a hot gsi. :)</p>
<p>Review lecture material; go over homework problems; do additional practice</p>
<p>I would sometimes look forward to section just to see how terrible my GSI would dress that day. For some reason, he thought it was a good idea to “pop” every single one of his collars in this weird way. It looked like he had spent 10 minutes folding the collar so it would stand straight up. He also had a great neck beard.</p>
<p>He studied a year in England, that may have put the thought in his head.</p>
<p>On the topic of section usefulness:</p>
<p>The only worthwhile time I have spent in section is when the GSI discussed the format of a midterm, final or paper. Otherwise, my time was spent listening to stale information the GSI had simply regurgitated from lecture of the readings. So, I am forced to show up to receive my “participation” credit and every once in a while answer one of his obvious, if not condescending, questions.</p>
<p>I am a political science/rhetoric major, so I don’t expect my experiences to match the majority of the users on this board (which, from the vast majority of threads, I assume is some awful science).</p>
<p>ummm… they actually have participation credit at cal? i thought i was done with that in high school…</p>
<p>They also have GSIs who think prompting the class with silly questions from the reading is the best way of teaching.</p>
<p>Like this:</p>
<p>And in this reading Amartya Sen believes ______ equality is best when comparing the equality of societies. Fill in the blank.</p>
<p>On a cold response from the class, the GSI will make a boring joke about how the class hadn’t read.</p>
<p>So… what happens if you don’t take discussion?
Does it matter a lot?
I mean, would you recommend discuss sections? and for which classes would you recommend?</p>
<p>You can’t not take discussion sections. Your enrollment in discussion sections is as, if not more, important than your actual enrollment in lecture.</p>
<p>hamburgler: participation credits really depend on what classes you are taking. like for math, i had a gsi who would give out extra points on quizzes for volunteering to do problems, but otherwise, you could miss out if you really wanted to on days that we didn’t have a quiz. for other classes, attendance is actually taken so that a real discussion can actually take place (usually about a book or some thing read).
Really depends on how anal your gsi is.</p>
<p>Not all classes have discussion sections. In fact, most don’t. Those that do have them make them mandatory, however, and it’s actually the discussion section, not the lecture, that is most important. For example, if the discussion sections are full, you can’t register for the class. Your GSI has an insane amount of control over your grade (exams aside – though they also grade them sometimes).</p>
<p>Participation/attendance still counts in a number of courses – even the big lectures. Sometimes it’s measured by your actual attendance (pass around a sign-in sheet, your section is small enough for the GSI to know, etc.), sometimes it’s measured by participation in short writing assignments (1 paragraph on why such-and-such-thing-we-discussed-last-lecture, etc.).</p>