<p>I’m surprised so many call PE fluffy. I showed up and tried really hard, even though I was already a pretty good athlete. One of my final tests for Aerobics class was to run a mile and then see how long it took to get a heart rate below 100 bpm. As a bicycle racer,I was done in under six minutes. I also took skiing, bowling, indoor soccer and racquetball. </p>
<p>The one on my transcript that would seem to be the fluffiest was a course called “The Fairy Tale.” Yep, Grimm Brothers and others. It turned out to be fairly academic and I wrote a 15 page paper on sexual imagery in a coming-of-age tale.</p>
<p>Like Hunt, my personal easiest was Logic, a required course for Philosophy majors who mostly struggled with it, but I had already taken a computer design course with much more involved logic and Boolean Algebra.</p>
<p>Well, I haven’t even completed one semester yet, but so far the most useless class I have is “Introduction to Education Technology.” Because obviously most students that made it through high school still can’t use Microsoft Word and the Internet. 3 credit hours of fluff. I’m pretty sure it could be a one credit hour class, and even at that, it would still be undeniably fluffy.</p>
<p>“I’m surprised so many call PE fluffy” - For my PE classes, there was zero homework, no quizzes or tests, and no checks of endurance/skill. They were truly just “show up” classes. I can’t even recall if they were graded. But we needed PE to graduate. </p>
<p>However, PE may require a greater time commitment than its credit value would otherwise indicate (though all of it is in-class). Perhaps the most extreme cases would courses like PE 11 and 12 at Berkeley, which are 0.5 unit courses (implying 1.5 hours of week total time commitment), nominally listed at 2 hours of laboratory per week in the catalog, but much greater in practice.</p>
<p>Art appreciation, it was called Aesthetics at my school, was easy and interesting. The instructor started the course with the question, “What makes American Gothic a great painting?”
Intro to Geology was also interesting but challenging, despite the nickname Rocks for Jocks.</p>
<p>Was God an astronaut? Did space travelers establish ancient civilization? Were the Mound Builders of North America descendants of the lost tribes of Israel? Are Aztec and Inca pyramids related to those of dynastic Egypt?</p>
<p>I said YES to all of those questions!! Sign me up! It was a great anthropology class, the focus being on long distance contact and diffusion between alien people and cultures, why contact is fancifully perceived, how it in fact occurs, and what evidence survives.I had hoped for a bit more Chariots of the Gods,but still a great fun elective for an engineering student…26 years later the class is still being taught…need to talk the DD into taking it. :)</p>
<p>Introduction to Wines at the Cornell Hotel School. Maybe more fuzzy than fluffy though.</p>
<p>The gut courses for Arts and Sciences were supposed to be Rocks for Jocks (Geology 101-- which I took and it was actually fascinating traipsing through the gorges around Ithaca) and Astronomy 101 taught by the inimitable ageless Yervant Terzian. </p>
<p>Not necessarily me, but my teacher last year told us about a class she took called “Relaxation.” All you had to do was lie down for the whole class, and the teacher would place his hand on you to make sure you were doing it right.</p>
<p>I also took Human Sexuality which I wouldn’t classify as fluffy but it was different than most of the other classes. I think I had to go to a strip club or some other type of similar establishment. Also porn. Yes. Really. </p>
<p>Logic through the Philosophy department was also one of my easiest classes but there was a ton of homework in doing proofs so I wouldn’t call it fluffy. A lot of people just couldn’t get it. I tend to have a very logical mind though. </p>
<p>I thought of another kind of fluffy class I took. I can’t remember the name of it but it was from the Educational Psych department and it was required as a prerequisite for my major. It was focused on introspection and we had to keep a journal of some very specific topics which I can’t recall at all now! It was really about getting to know and understand yourself. </p>
<p>I can also say that Tools & Materials class for OTs was one of THE most useful courses I’ve ever had. I learned how to use a band saw and a drill press and do all kinds of woodworking. I also learned how to do ceramic tile craft items which has translated into doing ceramic tile floors. I do a ton of home improvement projects on my own thanks to that class!</p>
<p>Wish I’d taken that Tools and Materials class. . .could be saving some $</p>
<p>I took a a class called “Introduction to the Automobile.” Lab was optional, so I didn’t attend. Got a B. We were taught how cars worked, parts of the engine, basic troubleshooting, how to change tires/oil, etc. I think there was even a lesson on how to WASH a car! A lot of jocks in that class. I think my sis recommended this class as an easy way to meet guys and get a 2-credit A at he same time. Didn’t work for me either way. Thanks, sis.<br>
Another “easy” class my sister recommended was “Physics and Society.” Basically, the history of physics. Also with an optional lab, which I never attended. Got a B in that one, too. (I’m seeing a pattern here about 30 years too late. . .) That prof memorized the names of all 200+ students in the class. He took photos of everyone in groups of 10-20, and after a week or so he started randomly calling on people. Kinda scary, but amazing that he did this with every class, every semester. </p>
<p>Considering how many people do not know how to change a flat tire (even not knowing that there instructions in the owner’s manual), perhaps the lesson on changing a flat time may be a useful part of that class.</p>
<p>I know how to change a flat tire. (Learned it from my dad… it’s better learned by demo than a manual). In most cases I would still opt to call AAA. </p>
<p>DS did once come home with a flat, and together we changed it to compact spare. (DH has an awesome jack for the garage. I like it better than the little ones in cars). I strongly advised that we crack he lugnuts loose BEFORE jacking up the car. He scoffed at my advise, so he learned the lesson the hard way. </p>
<p>We actually learned to change tires in our middle school shop class–and everyone, boys and girls, had to take the class.
I do know HOW to change a tire. I just don’t want to I’ve had a good number of flats over the years, and never changed one myself. There was always dad or H, AAA, highway patrol, neighbor, etc., or driving slowly on low tire to a shop to get it done.</p>
<p>We learned how to change the tires and check the oil (and refill if needed) in driver’s ed. I hadn’t heard of girls even being allowed to take shop back in the 70’s-though my son’s middle school in the early 2000’s required both boys and girls to take shop AND cooking/sewing. I thought that’s how it should have always been. But no car care in them.</p>
I’ve had a good number of flats over the years, and never changed one myself. There was always dad or H, AAA, highway patrol, neighbor, etc., or driving slowly on low tire to a shop to get it done.</p>