At the Stroke of Midnight, Class Begins

When Kim Chambers saw the start time of a psychology class at listed as 12 a.m., she thought it was a typo.

But Introduction to Psychology was, in fact, starting at midnight, as part of a new slate of courses for the spring semester called the "."

Three classes are scheduled to start at 12 a.m. and run until 2:55 a.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Instructors hope to capture those would-be students who work second shifts or are night owls.

Chambers thought she was one of those people.

“I don’t do well in the morning,” she said during a recent class.

But she said that after experiencing the late-night classroom for half a semester, she is uncertain if it really is an optimal time for her.

The Randallstown resident works at Franklin Square Hospital and gets off at 9 p.m. She is typically up well past midnight, so she thought she would try taking the class as an experiment.

But learning late at night on a college campus and working late at night in one’s own home are different, she said.

Instructor Joy Goodie said teaching the class has been an experiment. As it turned out, only four people registered.

Goodie makes the class discussion-oriented and also has the students stand up in front of the room to present reviews on the material.

“We’re figuring out what’s working and what’s not working,” she said.

The college is also going to add classes in the fall at another experimental time--very early. In the Early Bird Institute, classes start at 6:25 a.m.

Chambers said she isn't sure about taking early morning classes but added that her professor makes the material worth paying attention to no matter the time.

"She definitely makes it interesting," she said. "You're not going to just sit there and fall asleep."

Students at the Insomniac Institute use the classrooms at the new campus library because the parking lot is close to the building entrance, making it safer at a late hour.  A security guard is also in the building through the duration of the class and walks students and staff outside of the building.