Students in a lecture hall
For most students, lecture notes become essential when there is a mid-semester exam or end-of-semester exam coming up.
That is the time we cram 10 to 13 weeks of lecture notes within 6 hours ahead of the exam.
However, one of the ongoing conversations about lecture notes is not the fact that most students seldom read them, it is about the fact that year after year, they seem to be the same though the world is changing.
Sometimes backed by assumptions rather than any clear empirical evidence a lot of people quickly take lecturers to the cleaners for regurgitating “old” knowledge for students.
The beating stick in Ghana has been the so-called research allowance lecturers are paid to carry out research in their respective fields.
Also, the fact that a lot of graduates do not fit in well in their chosen industries means all the blame is put on lecturers whose job it was to educate the graduates and prepare them for the world of work.
This conversation could go on and involve the entire educational system and the relationship between industry and academia, however, it often comes down to how dated is a lecturer’s lecture note?
In academic writing, most universities do not allow their student researchers to cite sources that are more than 10 years.
As an exercise to tease out assumptions and in a very 21st century way explore issues of propaganda, Ghanaian lecturer, Dr. Kobby Mensah reflected the criticisms of academia and the widely accepted religious principle about the ancient words in the Bible that remain ever true.
His tweet undoubtedly got reactions from people.
Those who say some lecturers have been using the same notes for the past 10 years I don’t understand. The verses in the bible are how many years old and no revision, yet you believe and don’t query its relevance ????♂️???? ????
— Dr. Kobby Mensah (@thePOE_T) August 22, 2021
Well, it seems nobody won this argument. However, do you really think lecturers have not been updating their lecture notes for more than 10 years?
The verses in the bible were not funded by book and research allowance but divinity.
— Kofi Amoah ???????? (@GKofiAmoah) August 22, 2021
I disagree with you on this one Doc. Knowledge and research are dynamic and its directly linked with current happenings globally. Technology, finance, trade & commerce etc are not the same when l was doing my 1st degree at the UG Business School.
— Ben Adjei (@mingyterror) August 22, 2021
Loaded question. Will never be answered by its deserving audience. Knowledge has not expanded beyond the fundamentals taught at universities to equip the youth for placements in the job market and for research work. What may be the same for an older generation, is new to another.
— Shmuel Ja’Mba Abm (@Shimmy153) August 23, 2021
Guys this was a great exercise. Most people got the humorous side, knowing that I didn’t really mean what the text portrayed. I also used it to demonstrate what we mean by propaganda. It carried lots of assumptions. People think they can detect propaganda but it can be complex.
— Dr. Kobby Mensah (@thePOE_T) August 23, 2021