You’ve heard of MIT OpenCourseWare. The free Web site FinalsClub.org, which pays Harvard students to share lecture notes online, piggybacks on that open-content genre — with one twist. Harvard gets little power over what’s published.
The two-year-old startup derives its name from the Ivy League university’s final clubs. As The Boston Globe wrote Sunday in a lengthy article featuring FinalsClub.org, these are “insular all-male social clubs” known for stashing files of old lectures.
“And just like the Final Clubs’ files, the site serves as a crutch for students who haven’t bothered to attend class or take their own notes,” The Globe said.
Companies selling lecture notes are nothing new. The phenomenon sometimes lands them in court, as happened in the case of a University of Florida professor’s battle with Einstein’s Notes.
But the difference is that FinalsClub.org doesn’t charge. It’s a nonprofit organization. And it has managed to stay lawsuit-free largely by getting permission from professors before posting notes from their courses.
Star profs like Steven Pinker, the cognitive scientist, and Michael Sandel, the political philosopher, have granted their consent. But others have refused, The Globe reported, among them English professor Louis Menand and economist Greg Mankiw.
Mr. Mankiw told the newspaper that he didn’t want to help students skip class. Others worried about the notes’ accuracy.
Andrew Magliozzi, the Harvard alumnus who founded the site, professes goals far more lofty than creating a high-tech cram service. What he hopes to build is an interactive forum where students can collaborate on notes and ask professors questions and join discussions, according to The Globe.
“Basically, in a nutshell, I’d like to be a meta-membrane that sits on top of all colleges and unifies them, a meta-academic institution,” he said.
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14 Responses to Free Web Site Helps Harvard Students Cut Class
davi2665 - December 14, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Welcome to the Harvard Correspondence University, the country’s most expensive antiquated lecture note organization.
sunday_moring - December 14, 2009 at 6:29 pm
I don’t understand why do we encourage laziness?On the lofty goal of “a meta-membrane that sits on top of all colleges and unifies them, a meta-academic institution”, the question is, when a student takes his/her own notes (a critical learning process) and then looks up for a similar one (notes) from peers who’s supposed to be doing better… then, the meta-membrane would begin to make sense.The thing is, I’m afraid, FinalsClub.org alone is like a warrior with only one arm… Andrew Magliozzi, if you read this, please contact me, donli at knowledgenotebook dot com, not necessarily suggesting that I have the other one but we’ll see …
11272784 - December 14, 2009 at 7:08 pm
If this helps students succeed, I’m all for it. Regardless of whether a student consistently attended class, if they can learn the material and pass the test, they’re within the rules. And many students will use this to help them improve their own notes or get information they wouldn’t have otherwise.If a teacher is really concerned about attendance, design the course so that it’s required, or is a substantial part of the grade – but only if that’s a real, legitimate requirement relative to mastery of the content.
barb1866 - December 14, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Why did Harvard waste it’s time on other things when they have this going on widespread
stevebragaw - December 15, 2009 at 9:57 am
There’s a funny angle to this story you missed:http://bragaw.blog.sbc.edu/?p=2135Hopefully Harvard doesn’t sue him, as no doubt he’ll be represented by the law firm of Dewey, Cheatum, & Howe
smcdonald999 - December 15, 2009 at 11:02 am
The bigger question here is why are professors still using lectures and note-taking at all when a number of studies over the last decade have shown that the lecture format in its traditional form is not effective in getting conceptual material across. Although the format has some success in teaching problem solving, it leaves glaring holes in conceptual understanding. Why aren’t they following the lead of innovators like MIT to identify and adapt those methods of recitation, student interaction and content presentation that generate superior learning outcomes. Talk about lazy.
librarylvr - December 15, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Oh come on…if you don’t want to attend class, then take a distance ed course and make way for someone who truly wants to be part of the traditional classroom experience. That’s not to say innovative pedagogy shouldn’t be used in the latter setting, only that there are alternatives available for various learning styles. I don’t think finalsclub.org is anything new, just content delivered differently. Magliozzi’s model sounds like something a course management system already offers albeit at the class level. What I want to know is where’s the money coming from to pay students for their notes? Hmmmm…
optimysticynic - December 15, 2009 at 4:43 pm
to #6 smcdonald: My husband and I both attended Harvard (admittedly, some time ago.) Our son is now a senior at MIT. Three points: First, MIT is an ENGINEERING school so hands-on, student problem-solving makes immediate relevant sense in a way it does not for many disciplines at Harvard. Second: I hate to burst the bubble and heaven knows we think MIT is a fantastic institution, BUT there are many, many classes taught just as they are at Harvard: big lecture with 150+ students, TA-led recitation section of variable quality. Third: While it is perhaps true in general that lectures aren’t best practice in pedagogy, this is not true equally for all student subgroups. It is probably far less true of Harvard (and other similar student bodies) than it is for many others. Certainly, remembering the classes I took there, very few would have been amenable to group learning, etc.–the conceptual level was simply so abstract and so based on dense argument development (and so little on presentation of facts, which you were presumed to accumulate on your own time–that’s what reading was for), that the currently popular “engagement” methods would have lessened the quality of learning, not increased it.
kegill - December 15, 2009 at 6:38 pm
To OptiMystiCynic and LibraryLvr:Straight lecture classes could just as easily be delivered via podcast so required attendance seems a bit draconian, IMO. Moreover, for the student who processes information better via the eyes (reading) than the ears (listening), collaborative notes could very well prove the more rich learning experience. Just wait until all students have GoogleWave accounts and a fraction (see 1-9-90 rule) write and edit in real time.Here is some suggested reading re the implication that science is antithetical to alternatives to straight lecture classes and that somehow a straight lecture class rises to an exalted position of “traditional classroom experience”:** Oceanography – Senior Levelhttp://depts.washington.edu/cidrweb/resources/cooperativelearning.html** Organic Chemistry – Sophomore LevelA “lecture-less approach to teaching organic chemistry to a class of nearly 300 students”http://faculty.washington.edu/andrei2/http://new.pogil.org/personnel/straumanis.phpThe chemistry class is based on process oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) and /demonstrably/ improves student learning as measured by test scores and course drop-out rates:http://new.pogil.org/info/introduction.phpIt requires more preparation to create a meaningful classroom learning environment than to play the sage-on-a-stage, and it requires tenured university professors to devote time and attention (both scarce commodities) to teaching when most would rather be engaged in their favorite research. Finally, I’m trying unsuccessfully to refrain from making a comment about those who criticize using anonymous login names… own your own words, folks! Kathy E. GillUniversity of Washington
richardtaborgreene - December 15, 2009 at 7:51 pm
THE HISTORY:Lecturing is a PUBLISHING system not a system for teaching of any sort. One guy opens mouth, 200 take notes, all 200 travel to a different city and open mouths, 200 times 200 = 40,000 take notes, all 40,000 travel to a different city and open mouths, 200 times 40,000 = 8,000,000 take notes. It is a PUBLISHING system. Nothing to do with teaching whatsoever. It became useless when the Chinese invented move-able type printing a few hundreds years before Gutenberg. Books do the same job better, blogs plus videos do the same job even better.The ONLY use for lecturing is to make a short cut from Professor research results gotten yesterday to minds today—without the delay of formatting that any book or other published modality entails (video editing, etc.). What a CLASS is and should be is anything OTHER than such publishing, namely : invent events—mass workshops of students following workshop procedures from expert protocols whose team results combine into impressive overall event outcomes; other learning and research events (say 200 students phoning all 8000 experts in an area in the world in 3 days and writing 500 page books daily summarizing an entire new field in 3 days of intense work–phone research events as used at P&G); protocol observing and editing events; protocol inventing and testing events, etc.In other words what can 200 minds together do in an hour or two compared to sitting on bottoms and taking notes? However, research shows lifetime income a linear function of time in classes of any sort or quality, regardless of replute—so 2000 hours studying drivers education in PingaPonk Iowa impacts income as much as 2000 hours studying advanced this and that at MIT. (The research results noted here have been widely replicated and are rather robust so nay sayers will have to do more than just belly ache their disagreement or disbelief).
arrive2_net - December 15, 2009 at 9:33 pm
If the object of education is to master the material and this helps them master the material, then it seems like this is a legitimate adjunct to the class. Its an old saying that one of the good things about online education is that it competes with the classroom model and influences the way the classroom model is precieved. The FinalsClub.org, as described, simulates making the class asynchronous, so the student has greater flexibility in “attending” class. As I understand it, when universities first came into existence there were relatively few “textbooks”, just the great genius teaching what he knows. The student’s notes were the textbook. Maybe in those days, using preprinted textbooks would have been percieved as a form of cheating or laziness because in many classes the textbook or other reading is also a version of what’s in the lecture. Today, most “lectures” are supposed to take place after the student has done the required reading, so the lecture is supposed to help the student elaborate and develop a deeper understanding of the conceptualizations already in place from the reading, plus, of course, the lecture can add the more personal perspectives, research and insight of the professor. Its a funny thing that students struggle to get into Harvard, or some other college, pay a mint to get into the classes, then don’t go. Bernard SchusterArrive2.net
allens - December 16, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I have to say that, if a teacher isn’t engaging enough for students to want to come to class, that’s the teacher’s problem, not the student’s. And I’m speaking as someone who’s unlikely to be a student in the future (having my Ph.D.) and who has been and is likely to be a teacher/professor in the future.
coloradodan - December 17, 2009 at 11:34 am
A University’s ability to commodify and sell the intellectual property of their faculty is an important consideration for why to NOT allow unapproved posting of content on sites like FinalsClub.org (if opened up to those individuals not enrolled at the University). Because face it, they get the cash for tuition from students that want to take the course, regardless of how the content is presented. Hell, in my undergrad days I bought notes for classes from a notes seller sanctioned by the University and my wife was paid to take notes in classes she did well in. But intellectual property aside, students will always figure out the shortest path to meeting the basic requirements a professor puts on them to get the grade that the student is willing to work toward achieving. (Be that an A or an F). Few will not have the skills to quickly learn to game the system…fewer still are likely to attend a traditional 4 year undergrad degree program for the sole purpose of maximizing learning and retention. The vast majority are there to get’er done and get the transcript or degree. If you, as a professor provide no benefit to showing up to your class then, you aren’t in a position to complain about how your students are getting the content they need to pass the assessments that you provide them.
sunday_moring - December 18, 2009 at 4:20 pm
@smcdonald999:”a number of studies over the last decade have shown that the lecture format in its traditional form is not effective in getting conceptual material across.”I’m wondering if you could provide some links to such studies for one thing I’m interested in learning about them.@optimysticynic:Excellent points. I particularly like the keen observation of “It is probably far less true of Harvard (and other similar student bodies) than it is for many others.”, which I resisted to write in a similar tone while communicating with the Andrew Magliozzi on a similar note several days ago.I’m of the opinion that a good mix of traditional delivery platform including lectures with the newer ones that have more technology elements may prove to be most effective and cost effective as well. And for another, if all of us or the majority of us, do things simply with a computer without person-to-person interaction, we may one day all become zombies… who knows what else… No, I’m not afraid of technology, for I’m sort of a “part” of it…