Every Wednesday, North Scott students are forced to go to a class for fifteen minutes and listen to a teacher talk about topics we’ve been learning about since grade school. Is Seminar really necessary for high school students? Or is Seminar a waste of time?
I created a survey for students to fill out and give them a chance to explain why or why not they like/dislike Seminar and ways to make it more enjoyable for them. Overall, 127 students filled out this survey. 30.7% of them were Freshmen, 22.8 % Sophomores,18.1% Juniors, and 28.3% Seniors.
82% of the students who filled out the survey said that they do not like Seminar and it’s not enjoyable for them.
When asked why or why not they look forward to Seminar, most of the replies were something along the lines of, “It’s boring, and I don’t learn anything in it.” “It honestly feels like a waste of time.” “Majority of the time, it’s pointless.” “It’s just boring, and I hate the lessons.” almost every student’s reply was that Seminar was boring and it didn’t benefit them in any way.
However, there were replies arguing that they enjoyed Seminar:
“Because it allows you to take time to reflect on yourself.”
“I can get out of class for a while.”
“It gives kids a better body, helps them get ready for stuff they need to look up to in life, and gives them more information on what they might want to do in the future.”
Some of these respondents seem to enjoy Seminar because they like to have a break from class where they can talk about self-reflection and life lessons.
When asked what changes students wanted to see, lot of the replies explained that they needed more time to talk with each other instead of going over a PowerPoint for the whole class. Other replies explained that they should make new lessons because unless you’re a freshman, the lessons are almost the exact same every year, and it gets boring to listen to. Students said that the videos we watch in Seminar are too kid-like and don’t really apply to our age. The last thing I noticed a lot of students said was that we have Seminar every Wednesday when that isn’t needed and they should change it to every month instead.
Overall, many of the students who filled out this form stated that they did not feel as if Seminar benefited them and they would rather have the curriculum changed to something suited for High School students.
I fully agree, seminar is soooo boring and honestly in my opinion, we don't need it as frequently as we have it.