What I looked forward to most when I was coming to Miami was that I could pick the types of classes I took. I was so excited to pick my major and only have to focus on classes that were actually interesting to me. Boy was I wrong. Each major has a bunch of classes that each student is required to take, but on top of those classes and electives, we also have Miami Plan classes. For those who don’t know, the Miami Plan is a fancy way of saying gen-eds that all students are required to take before they graduate.
At Miami, we are required to take twelve of these gen-ed classes. These courses include: English composition, creative arts, humanities, social science, math, two global perspectives, intercultural perspectives, three forms of science, experiential learning, and advanced writing. Some of these classes are fun and interesting and a good break to have if a student’s schedule is packed with major courses. However, most of the Miami Plan classes are much harder than they seem. The classes I’m referring to take a ton of work and a lot of it is busy work and memorization.
On the first day of every class, the professors ask if you’re in the class for your major or if you’re there to fulfill the Miami Plan requirement. For many Miami Plan classes, the whole room will say that’s why they’re there. Knowing this, I don’t understand how professors can make these classes so difficult. We are required to take these classes that may not correlate to our majors or our interests in any way. That being said, these classes should be solely so we are learning more than just what is in our major field. These classes are to help us be more well rounded students, that does not mean we need to be assessed so strictly.
This semester, I’m taking a Miami Plan class that has me going crazy. I’m taking 18 credit hours this semester and out of the 18, this one Miami plan class is hands down the hardest class I’m in. I spend hours every single day studying for this class and I have been struggling since day one. If I can succeed in a 400 level major class, then I should be able to at least do decently in a 100 level Miami Plan class.
I think the solution to this problem with the Miami Plan classes is to get rid of the exams and quizzes. Being assessed through quizzes and exams all the time just stresses students out, it doesn’t make anyone interested in the class. I think the way to assess students in Miami Plan classes is to write a paper or do a project relating the information to real life or the student’s major. The goal of Miami Plan is to make us better, well rounded students; getting an A on an exam doesn’t do that for us, but being able to apply learned to a real life situation will.
