class room environment

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I was wondering what the classroom environment/curriculum was like in optometry schools. Is it straight one way lecturing by the prof, or is it more interactive as in discussions, required class participation, presentations, seminar like group sessions, small group, active learning exercises etc? I am actually in law school right now and feel kind of uncomfortable with all the interaction and public speaking i have to do in front of 20 to 100 students. That coupled by my dislike of the study content is making seriously thinking of switching to optometry which is one the few things that I have always wanted to do. (I know I've kind of put myself into a whole but its better now than later to know what I really want to do) I really enjoy interacting one-one (and the prospect of counselling patients) or in small groups like 5-6 people but after that it kind of gets uncomfortable for me. I prefer the straight lecture methods. I guess I am rather shy and not fond of speaking in large crowds. Can someone who is currently in optometry or has some experience please give me some feedback. Thanks, I really need to make some serious decisions and so some information will be greatly appreciated. The two school that I am mostly interested in is Berkeley and Suny but any relevent feedback is welcome.
(sorry in advance for posting on this section of the forum as well as the preoptometry section)
Thanks Again.

 

[docwatson]

I was wondering what the classroom environment/curriculum was like in optometry schools. Is it straight one way lecturing by the prof, or is it more interactive as in discussions, required class participation, presentations, seminar like group sessions, small group, active learning exercises etc? I am actually in law school right now and feel kind of uncomfortable with all the interaction and public speaking i have to do in front of 20 to 100 students. That coupled by my dislike of the study content is making seriously thinking of switching to optometry which is one the few things that I have always wanted to do. (I know I've kind of put myself into a whole but its better now than later to know what I really want to do) I really enjoy interacting one-one (and the prospect of counselling patients) or in small groups like 5-6 people but after that it kind of gets uncomfortable for me. I prefer the straight lecture methods. I guess I am rather shy and not fond of speaking in large crowds. Can someone who is currently in optometry or has some experience please give me some feedback. Thanks, I really need to make some serious decisions and so some information will be greatly appreciated. The two school that I am mostly interested in is Berkeley and Suny but any relevent feedback is welcome.
(sorry in advance for posting on this section of the forum as well as the preoptometry section)
Thanks Again.

I have a few questions if you don't mind... Please indulge me... 😉

• What is with all the student lecturing? I didn't think law school was like this. Do all law schools do this?
• What year are you in law school?
• Why are you interested in optometry? I'd like to know your interest even though it doesn't have anything to do with your question (my school was the traditional teaching method)
• What do you know about the current issues facing OD graduates and the future of the profession?

 

[daysend85]

Is it straight one way lecturing by the prof, or is it more interactive as in discussions, required class participation, presentations, seminar like group sessions, small group, active learning exercises etc?

At PCO, we get all of those depending on the class. Large class size (around 160). The only exception would be required class participation. Most of the classes are not mandatory. ALL labs and small group discussions (up to 40 people or so) are mandatory participation.