Hello friends,
I just had a few minutes to do some extra calculations. This is what I came up with. I spend about 21 hours a week in class in the School of Education. So I figure that we have about 16 weeks of total class from August 27 until mid-December. So I will spend about 336 hours in class this semester for my 18 credit hours. Now with a quick calculation I have figured that I am spending about $23.81 per hour (based on $8,000 per semester of tuition) when I am in class. Just for fun I further extrapolated what we spend as a class per hour (about 55 of us), which means when all of us are in one room together for one hour, we spend about $1,309.52 give or take a few pennies. So a three hour class period garners the University about $3,928.57. Or lets say we watch two hours of video, we effectively just spent $2,619.05. Interesting when you add it all up. I wonder how much it costs to buy one of those videos?
To those of you who are out of state, your tuition is almost exactly double. So you pay about $47 per hour in the classroom. Not too bad when you think about what you get, right?
So next time you feel a little uncomfortable asking a question in class... do the math, you have probably already paid for the answer.
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6 comments:
The videos are free, or were purchased previously so they don't factor into this year's costs for the university. Just for kicks, calculate the amount of electricity we are consuming (in BTUs) each class period and then figure out the cost of this electricity per day (given the costs of energy set by DTE). That would a great number to know.
Dave,
I never knew you had so many (mathematical) talents! Let me say just two very brief remarks regarding your post:
1) Thank GOD I'm in-state.
2) 336 hours is A LOT of time in the SOE. I'm really glad you're in the MAC to make the hours pass more swiftly.
See you BRIGHT and EARLY on Tuesday for our bi-weekly ride to Romulus! Maybe we should institute a weekly AM video ... just to document the insanity that is 6 AM.
Dave,
Thank you for bringing up the realization that it’s costing all of us an arm and a leg to get our degrees. However, it’s probably costing us out-of-staters our entire bodies ☺
Your blog just reminds me of how valuable and important the time we do get with our students is, whether their paying out of their own pockets or not. I’m sure we could do a similar calculation for the high school students and the amount of money it costs taxpayers to pay for their education and our salaries (as nominal as they are). I bet if we configured in all the costs, we would appreciate every minute we have with our students considering we can relate given our experiences in MAC classes. Let’s just say for arguments sake that regardless of the numerical dollar amount each student’s education incurs, lets just make every minute count while their in our classroom.
Keep on posting insightful blogs and I’ll be sure to a least read them and possibly comment. However, I think it’s only fair that I try and comment on other MACer’s blogs.
Daver,
I like this concept.
I agree with Shilow that we have to keep in mind that our students are giving up parts of their lives to be with us and their parents are giving up parts of their money. While we can sit and talk about what a gift it is to be a teacher or about how we can touch the future, we also have to remember that it is a huge responsibility. Both financially and physically.
Here is a further suggested math problem: what portion of the average 18 year olds waking life has been spent inside a school.
God bless,
Mark
This is all very provocative in the way that the cold, hard numbers can often be. Given the work that you're all engaged in, I think that the question Mark poses offers a powerful reminder of (for example) how easy it is to get the wrong idea when kids look a little glassy-eyed/bored in our classes...they're spending a LOT of time sitting in desks. Of course, this also tends to make them very appreciative of teachers who make the extra effort to connect with them and to engage their creativity and their senses.
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