What's my major? Can I get college credit for listening to lectures?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of gaining college credit for listening to lectures, specifically those from The Teaching Company, and the implications of such an approach on one's academic major. Participants share their experiences with various lecture series and engage in a dialogue about the nature of learning and assessment in higher education.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • The original poster describes listening to numerous college-level lectures and questions whether this could translate into college credit.
  • Some participants emphasize that listening to lectures alone is insufficient for earning credit, highlighting the importance of homework and tests.
  • There is a humorous exchange regarding the original poster's academic background and the validity of their claims about their degree.
  • One participant challenges another's assumptions about the original poster's major based on a reference to body temperature, suggesting a misunderstanding of the context.
  • Several participants inquire about the sources of the lectures, specifically mentioning The Teaching Company and The Modern Scholar.
  • Discussions about the average human body temperature lead to a debate about its accuracy and relevance to the original poster's claims.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on whether listening to lectures can equate to college credit. There are competing views on the necessity of additional coursework and assessments for academic recognition.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes references to specific lecture series and the nature of academic degrees, but lacks clarity on the criteria for credit recognition in various educational institutions.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in alternative learning methods, those exploring non-traditional paths to education, and students considering the value of lecture-based learning may find this discussion relevant.

tribdog
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Lately I've been using my mp3 player to listen to lectures given by college professors. Each course is divided into 12 to 48 lectures each one 30 to 60 minutes long. Which is about how long I sat in most of my college classes. I just wish I could have gone through college as fast as I'm going through these lectures. In the past couple of weeks I've finished 13 courses:
Joy of Thinking - The Beauty and Power of Classical Mathematical Ideas
Modern Physics for Non-Scientists
Particle Physics For Non Physicists - 24 Lectures
TTC - Understanding the Universe
TTC - Search for Intelligent Life in Space
TTC - Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution
TTC Science in the Twentieth Century A Social-Intellectual Survey
TMS - A History of Ancient Rome
TMS - Chandak Sengoopta - Darwin, Darwinism, and the Modern World
TMS - Classical Mythology The Romans
TMS - Timothy B. Shutt - Monsters, Gods and Heroes
TTC History of Science from 1700 to 1900
TTC Tools of Thinking

In the next couple of weeks I'll be taking:
Neolithic Europe
TTC - 256.7 - Life and Work of Mark Twain
Great Ideas of Psychology - 48 Lectures
TTC Comedy Through the Ages
TTC The Symphony
TTC - 730 - Symphonies of Beethoven
TTC - Chamber Music of Mozart
TTC - Classical Mythology
TTC - King Arthur and Chivalry
TTC - Great Masters - Tchaikovsky - His Life & Music
TTC Abraham Lincoln- In His Own Words
TTC - Shakespeare - Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies
TTC.Calculus Made Clear
20th Century American Fiction
TTC History of Science from Antiquity to 1700
TMS - 23 - Astronomy.- Earth, Sky and Planets
TTC - Introduction to Archeology
TTC - What's New in Astronomy - Video
TTC - Human Prehistory and the First Civilizations
TMS - Astronomy, Stars, Galaxies & the Universe
TTC - The Vikings

Know any colleges giving "I swear I listented to it" credits? And what's my major?

ps I had to add the course on Vikings so I can talk to Evo next christmas.
 
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Ummmm, lectures are the starter, homework [not to mention tests] is the fuel. You have only done the fun part.
 
lol, and that's all I'm going to do to. I've got my degree
 
You listen to it online? Are there a java tutorical by the way?
 
tribdog said:
lol, and that's all I'm going to do to. I've got my degree

I thought that you had said so once. What is it?
 
98.6 Farenheit
 
B.S. General Science (Pre-Med)
 
Tribdog said:
B.S.
Yeah, I would have expected as much.
 
where did you find these lectures? I got an mp3 player too, I'd like to listen to lectures. Did you buy them all?
 
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  • #10
tribdog said:
B.S. General Science (Pre-Med)
You should listen to what the original poster revealed before making such ignorant guesses.

tribdog said:
98.6 Farenheit

The fact that he would use the often quoted, but wrong, "average human body temperature" should have been a clue that tribdog is not majoring in Pre-Med.

The average human body temperature is 36.8 degrees Celsius (or 37 degrees if rounded off to 2 significant digits). Converting to Fahrenheit, that yields a temperature of 98.2 degrees. (ref: Mackowiak, P. A., Wasserman, S. S., and Levine, M. M. "A Critical Appraisal of 98.6 Degrees F, the Upper Limit of the Normal Body Temperature, and Other Legacies of Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich." Journal of the American Medical Association. 268, 12 (23-30 September 1992): 1578-80.)

I guess you could convert the rounded number of 37 degrees C to Fahrenheit and get about 99 degrees to 2 significant digits, but it would be a mistake to take a number accurate to only 2 significant digits and use 3 significant digits in your conversion. (ref: Cox, Paul. Glossary of Mathematical Mistakes. 1998. [Citation of: Dewdney, A. K., 200% of Nothing: An Eye Opening Tour Through the Twists and Turns of Math Abuse and Innumeracy. New York: Wiley, 1993.])

Unless, of course, tribdog was giving his true body temperature and it was merely coincidence that it happened to be 98.6 degrees (the average human's body temperature varies throughout the day). In fact, in a sampling of 148 healthy people, about 8% of the 700 temperature samples happened to be 98.6 degrees. (ref: "Fever: finding the right temp." Nursing 93. 23 (June 1993): 82. [Abstract Source: FirstSearch. H.W. Wilson. 1997.])

Or, then again, maybe I just have way too much time on my hands today. :redface:

Edit: Actually, body temperature seems to decrease with age. Following this trend, I expect my body temperature to eventually stabilize around 65 degrees Farhenheit after a hundred years or so.

Age: Temperature (°F)
0 - 3 month: 99.4
3 - 6 month: 99.5
6 month - 1 year: 99.7
1 - 3 year: 99.0
3 - 5 year: 98.6
5 - 9 year: 98.3
9 - 13 year: 98.0
> 13 year 97.8: - 99.1
 
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  • #11
By the way, are you listening to The Teaching Company lectures?

BobG said:
You should listen to what the original poster revealed before making such ignorant guesses.

The fact that he would use the often quoted, but wrong, "average human body temperature" should have been a clue that tribdog is not majoring in Pre-Med.

:rolleyes: But tribdog is the original poster..
 
  • #12
BobG said:
I expect my body temperature to eventually stabilize around 65 degrees Farhenheit after a hundred years or so.
That makes sense; it's the average underground temperature below the frost-line. :-p
 
  • #13
Jelfish said:
By the way, are you listening to The Teaching Company lectures?
:rolleyes: But tribdog is the original poster..
All the more reason he should have listened to him.
 
  • #15
BobG said:
You should listen to what the original poster revealed before making such ignorant guesses.
The fact that he would use the often quoted, but wrong, "average human body temperature" should have been a clue that tribdog is not majoring in Pre-Med.
The average human body temperature is 36.8 degrees Celsius (or 37 degrees if rounded off to 2 significant digits).
you should take your own advice. he didn't ask the the "average" he asked for mine specifically. mine happens to be 98.6.
 

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