kitchen table math, the sequel: Calculating the value of a class: Unsatisfactory Data Transfer Rate

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Calculating the value of a class: Unsatisfactory Data Transfer Rate

I am paying a bit more than $1.20/minute for one of my graduate school classes. How do I know this? I divided the tuition cost for the class by the number of minutes the class is nominally in session.

To date, on the $/minute metric, I've spent $864. Personal valuation of information received, to date? $125, max.

Well, I've made some friends and/or future colleagues. That's worth something.

On the other hand, it has really sharpened how I think about the airtime I take up in class. Before I open my mouth (which usually lasts at least a minute), I think, "Is this worth $1.20 of my classmates' money?"

On the gripping hand, there's the Ditz Boredom Index. My urge to talk is directly related to how dissatisfied I am with the rate of [information/data] transfer. I realize I am hogging the airtime....

Grumpity grump. But you know, in every training program there are the slog-through bits.

Hmmn, maybe I should write the syllabus I wish I the class had offered, including a more meaningful reading list.

1 comment:

Catherine Johnson said...

What course are you taking right now?

Assuming you learned of Kornell's work in that class, the value to me personally is well worth your $1.20/minute.

It would be worth my own $1.20/minute!