To ALL American students that studied abroad during the years of 2005 and 2009:
Dear Study Abroad Students,
I'm a researcher from UCSB and the Max Planck Institute in Germany. I'm conducting an experiment where I look at how American students use the Internet to navigate the emotional ups and downs of moving to a new country and I could use your help.
If you have 10 minutes, I hope you will click on the link below to
complete my survey. **If you'd like additional information on the
survey, or research goals please contact me at mikal@demogr.mpg.de.**
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=vLBI16cm4XbmQYYsiHuONA_3d_3d
Thanks a lot,
Jude P. Mikal
Max Planck
University of CA, Santa Barbara
Monday, November 30, 2009
Pre-departure orientation: You are exempted!
A note from Robert Carlin, Office of International Programs.
Dear Student:
Many of you are still waiting for final confirmations of your
placements for study abroad. We hope to have positive news in the
next few weeks. In the meantime, it is important that you take a
moment and complete our MANDATORY pre-departure orientation by November 16, 2009. ALL
SDSU students going abroad regardless of program (SDSU or otherwise). The test is not difficult but does require that you READ the materials outlined in online prompts. You cannot move forward on the exam until you answer the question correctly.
Click on this link to begin: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=HcyNy_2fg_2ba3GfTpjK7srwmQ_3d_3d
For those students taking the SDSU EDTEC 350 Going Global class, you will need to download a copy of your current registration from Webportal and bring it to the Ed. Abroad Office at the ISC to be exempt from taking this test. Nevertheless, you may find this quiz quite helpful in your preparations for study abroad so do feel free to participate.
Please note: Students who do not complete the online orientation by the due date below, will be prevented from receiving credit for their program abroad, a "HOLD" will be placed on their request for SDSU transcripts and will be prevented from registering here at SDSU the following semester.
Finally, to insure that you turn in all required documents to SDSU by November 30, 2009 please make sure to check both Page 1 and 2 of your study abroad checklists. You will find these and our "Accepted Students" section helpful in preparation for visa requirements, insurance requirements etc. http://www.isc.sdsu.edu/study_abroad/accepted.html
Dear Student:
Many of you are still waiting for final confirmations of your
placements for study abroad. We hope to have positive news in the
next few weeks. In the meantime, it is important that you take a
moment and complete our MANDATORY pre-departure orientation by November 16, 2009. ALL
SDSU students going abroad regardless of program (SDSU or otherwise). The test is not difficult but does require that you READ the materials outlined in online prompts. You cannot move forward on the exam until you answer the question correctly.
Click on this link to begin: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=HcyNy_2fg_2ba3GfTpjK7srwmQ_3d_3d
For those students taking the SDSU EDTEC 350 Going Global class, you will need to download a copy of your current registration from Webportal and bring it to the Ed. Abroad Office at the ISC to be exempt from taking this test. Nevertheless, you may find this quiz quite helpful in your preparations for study abroad so do feel free to participate.
Please note: Students who do not complete the online orientation by the due date below, will be prevented from receiving credit for their program abroad, a "HOLD" will be placed on their request for SDSU transcripts and will be prevented from registering here at SDSU the following semester.
Finally, to insure that you turn in all required documents to SDSU by November 30, 2009 please make sure to check both Page 1 and 2 of your study abroad checklists. You will find these and our "Accepted Students" section helpful in preparation for visa requirements, insurance requirements etc. http://www.isc.sdsu.edu/study_abroad/accepted.html
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
What have you learned so far?
Cameron asked--Is there anything we should be working on for this week besides chowing down on some turkey?
Yes, we do. Can everyone please post a short summary on what they learned so far from this class？
Next week, I'll go over the study-abroad handbook to fill in some holes. Angela will help me since she took the quizzes. Also, students who studied abroad will come to talk to us.
Have a great week!
Minjuan
Yes, we do. Can everyone please post a short summary on what they learned so far from this class？
Next week, I'll go over the study-abroad handbook to fill in some holes. Angela will help me since she took the quizzes. Also, students who studied abroad will come to talk to us.
Have a great week!
Minjuan
Post an Update on your Travel/Study Design
Happy thanksgiving!
Enjoy working at home. Please work at least one hour today, on your travel/study design (Due Dec.15). And then post an update:
How is it going?
What are the parts that need more work?
What resources did you find helpful?
And other free thoughts.
You may reply to this post or start a new post.
Thank you!
Minjuan
Enjoy working at home. Please work at least one hour today, on your travel/study design (Due Dec.15). And then post an update:
How is it going?
What are the parts that need more work?
What resources did you find helpful?
And other free thoughts.
You may reply to this post or start a new post.
Thank you!
Minjuan
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Academic Culture in Italy
From an Italian:
The Italian educational system consist of a “first” school (called elementary school, from 6-11 years old students), an “intermediate” school (3 more years), high school ( 5 years) and univerisity (college) school (years of study depending on the matters). Recently, the college system has been split into two steps for practically all the graduation courses, a basic 2 years courses, which provides general instruction in the field of interest, and 2 or 3 further years for specialization in a particular matter. If you want to have good marks, it’s demanding. I was told that, until not many years before, the level of competence for a graduation was like the one you may have with a phd in some other part of the world. Nowadays however, many say that the educational level is lowering. After the graduation, in particular for scientific matters, you should go further, many time abroad, and keep on studying, attend to phd etc etc.
1) Instructor-student relationship (lots of respect)?
In the college system (remember that here in Italy we say “university”, not college!) the professor has much respect and power on students. Somtimes, even they are supposed to, they don’t help very much the students, and they consider the teaching as a waste of time for them; in a word, they don’t like teaching, but they just have to. Anyway, it depends on the professor. In any case, the student has little influence on the professor and must pay a lot of respect.
2) connection between money and education (who pays for it)?
If your average marks is excellent (practically you have to mark the maximum score in each examination) you can avoid to pay the university taxes, that are expensive (let’s say about 1000 or 2000 euros per year, depending on the university and on the matter, but I’m not sure). You pay for text books etc. Usually you pay also for the accommodation. There is no campus life as you are used to know, except of very rare exception, because our universities are based inside the cities, so students have to rent a flat or a room in the same city. Some new universities are now built outside downtown, and may offer accommodation to the students (I think university Parma but only for scientific matters).. Students on some particular international program may use the few hostel of the university.
So, usually families pay for their son and daughter studies, and students look for little jobs.
3) teaching methods (lecture or group work or other ways)
The basic method is front lesson in a classroom. For scientific matters you have to attend many laboratories hours as well.
Examination may be oral, written or both (especially in scientific matters)
4) Rigor (is college demanding?)
I’ve already told you that marking good scores is demanding. If you don’t care, you may survive! Usually scientific matters are more demanding that other ones, but it’s up to you how hard you want to study.
5) University campus life
Practically no campus life. You live downtown in the city where you study.
6) Any suggestions you can give to U.S. students who are going to study in Italy.
Come and enjoy! Having a study experience abroad is very important to contribute to make you an all rounded man/woman.
The Italian educational system consist of a “first” school (called elementary school, from 6-11 years old students), an “intermediate” school (3 more years), high school ( 5 years) and univerisity (college) school (years of study depending on the matters). Recently, the college system has been split into two steps for practically all the graduation courses, a basic 2 years courses, which provides general instruction in the field of interest, and 2 or 3 further years for specialization in a particular matter. If you want to have good marks, it’s demanding. I was told that, until not many years before, the level of competence for a graduation was like the one you may have with a phd in some other part of the world. Nowadays however, many say that the educational level is lowering. After the graduation, in particular for scientific matters, you should go further, many time abroad, and keep on studying, attend to phd etc etc.
1) Instructor-student relationship (lots of respect)?
In the college system (remember that here in Italy we say “university”, not college!) the professor has much respect and power on students. Somtimes, even they are supposed to, they don’t help very much the students, and they consider the teaching as a waste of time for them; in a word, they don’t like teaching, but they just have to. Anyway, it depends on the professor. In any case, the student has little influence on the professor and must pay a lot of respect.
2) connection between money and education (who pays for it)?
If your average marks is excellent (practically you have to mark the maximum score in each examination) you can avoid to pay the university taxes, that are expensive (let’s say about 1000 or 2000 euros per year, depending on the university and on the matter, but I’m not sure). You pay for text books etc. Usually you pay also for the accommodation. There is no campus life as you are used to know, except of very rare exception, because our universities are based inside the cities, so students have to rent a flat or a room in the same city. Some new universities are now built outside downtown, and may offer accommodation to the students (I think university Parma but only for scientific matters).. Students on some particular international program may use the few hostel of the university.
So, usually families pay for their son and daughter studies, and students look for little jobs.
3) teaching methods (lecture or group work or other ways)
The basic method is front lesson in a classroom. For scientific matters you have to attend many laboratories hours as well.
Examination may be oral, written or both (especially in scientific matters)
4) Rigor (is college demanding?)
I’ve already told you that marking good scores is demanding. If you don’t care, you may survive! Usually scientific matters are more demanding that other ones, but it’s up to you how hard you want to study.
5) University campus life
Practically no campus life. You live downtown in the city where you study.
6) Any suggestions you can give to U.S. students who are going to study in Italy.
Come and enjoy! Having a study experience abroad is very important to contribute to make you an all rounded man/woman.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Academic culture in U.K.
Here is the personal story of one U.K. professor. Many thanks to him (Vic)!
Whilst teaching at Connecticut, a shock for me was that, after setting a test, a student came marching into my lecture room and banged down a mark transcript in front of me and said "I pay good money to get (bad) marks like this"! One of my American colleagues explained to me that this arose because many Americans paid for their degrees (unlike the UK, where the government mostly pays) and so money in education was a bigger issue. Also, they said, that Americans are not as reserved as English people, and tend to protest or say what they think (and expect higher levels of service). For me this was a shock, as in the UK there is not really a significant link between money and education.
* I guess most people observe that although the UK and USA share a common language, there were lots of subtle differences. In terms of academic environments these differences effected me as, when I first arrived in Connecticut University, some American staff took me aside and explained there were many pitfalls that English people can fall into. Some of the differences were innocent, with little consequence (apart from being mildly amusing), whereas others could be a mini disaster if used in a teaching room. The one I remember was that English people call the device used to clean a white (or black) board a rubber; I was warned not to use that word in a US classroom!
* On the positive side; I thought the relationship between academics and industry was much better in the USA. In the UK, companies tend to think Universities are too academic, too theoretical, too abstract, too removed from their immediate business. Academics think the opposite and view industry work as not being of high intellectual value and not worthy of them (maybe a bit of an exaggeration; but essentially their view). I know many of my colleagues say "If I wanted to earn a lot of money I would have gone into Industry; I came to work in University because I value other things more, such as ideas, intellectual freedom and the belief in the value of education etc". Another issue is that UK, academics are paid for 12 months, whereas in the USA, some academics seemed to be paid for less (10 months?), thus Americans are freer to work in Industry. Thus, in the UK there is a divide that keeps the two apart. The UK government is aware of this (and feel is bad for the UK) and is currently investing much effort and money in trying to bring Industry and Universities closer.
* Regarding University campus life; I was also surprised to find there were armed police patrolling the Connecticut campus (the notion of armed police, or guns, is alien in the UK). When I asked why they had guns, I was asked "would you like to patrol this campus late at night without guns (of course I would be happy, but their mind-set was different). Here Universities, are relatively gentle places. It puzzled me, because as far as I could see, all the students in the US were relatively nice. I also found the campus banks weird; in the UK, we have national banks but on the Connecticut campus, banks were localised (they had some kind of cooperative or mutual society thing ... Still don't understand what it was) which made my money matters more complicated (maybe that was just Connecticut!). Also, I found the Connecticut campus fairly lonely, especially late at night where people seemed to disappear. Often, I found myself on my own with no staff or students around. in the UK, the Universities feel a lot busier, especially in the evening. In some ways, I found that was similar to American towns which didn't seem to have have social hubs in their centre (shops and amenities being often located in "out of town Malls:, and centre being some empty or dangerous). In the UK, town centres are full of people, and very sociable (maybe that experience was particular to Connecticut). I remember asking a colleague, how do you meet people and they replied; "through work or through the church". That is very different to the UK where church doesn't play a significant role. Also, on UK campuses you will find bars (and strong students union). I think the age for drinking alcohol is the USA is different (its 18 here), and that changes the atmosphere on campus (to a small extent)
* Another interesting difference is that alumni seem to play an important role in USA Universities; funding Universities after they leave. They also seemed to have strange student societies that I never figured out (referred by names from the Greek alphabet!). In the UK, alumni is less evident but Universities here are now trying to capitalise on their alumni more
* The UK is very closely physiologically connected to the USA. Because of our shared history, roots and language, there is almost a spiritual connection between the USA and UK. There is a genuine warmth and friendship between the people of the USA and UK. There is a strong feeling in the UK we share a fundamental value set with the USA (democracy, and all that). Recent history (the USA coming to the aid of the UK in two world wars) and their struggles against what they perceived as a common danger (The "Iron Curtin") has created a deep bond. This is mirrored in both politics, economic and education, where there is a tendency for the UK to follow the fashions that arise in the USA. As I grew up I remember stories about the USA and China, so for me it was fascinating to visit both countries and discover a different reality to those childhood images. In science, the USA has long been a global leader, so in my side of academia, we are very influenced by the USA (use US textbooks, equipment etc). Although the UK is in Europe, it I said by many people it has more in common with the USA. Of course, unlike the USA (but similar to China) , the UK has a huge history that stretches back thousands of years. I am sure, having lived in both China and the USA, you would find the differences fascinating. Talking of psychology, I also noticed that American academics have a more positive "can do" attitude than their English counterparts. People here people tend to be conservative and cautious about new things (so if you ask an English person about a new idea, they often come up with a list of drawbacks, whereas in the US, they were very positive and encouraging); however, it is said that despite US and English people having different starting points, they both converge quickly to the same views.
* Size and density is another important issue. USA Universities are huge (30K students) compared to much smaller UK Universities (our University is 9K). I remember watching TV programme about this that presented a film that was shown to American soldiers coming to England in the last war. Their main point was that England was a very small country, the size of Iowa but with a fifth of all America (60 million people) cramped into it. So they showed English homes with neighbours right next to each other. To me, of course, this is normal, lots of people in small space, but I guess that's what makes it social here.
* Something that is essential to understanding the UK is that its a very hierarchical place. At the top we have the queen, and below that princes and princesses (and a myriad of connected people) etc. This hierarchy is different to the USA, where its more an issue of money or jobs. This "snobbery" extends into Universities with many academics thinking they are better than other people, and within the University certain people thinking the are clever than others .... an academic snobbery. Academics are not that well paid in the UK, but they think they have a high status (in intellectual terms). Related to this is the fact that the USA has a written constitution, Britain does not. Things are changing here as the realism of market economies takes hold but you will never understand UK society (and Universities) without understanding this structure.
* In term of academic working hours (and companies in general) the UK has much longer holidays than the USA. I was very shocked when working in the University of Connecticut; I was working on Good Friday and all my friends back in the UK were on holiday (so no email with them, adding to my lonely feeling!)
* Finally, in the UK, people like old things; oddly old house fetch more than new houses (many house are hundreds of years old). In academia old University buildings seem to be preferred to brand new one (but I guess that is a global thing, as it has to do with status of universities; older being better!). Maybe as I get older people will like me :-)
Personally I really like American and enjoyed life there (although I preferred the west to the east; I have close friend I have visited many times in Arizona; well he is now in Phoenix, but CEO of a company in Albuquerque). Actually, I may not be entirely an average UK view as my dad was born in America! Its a very long, but fascinating story of love, dreams, hardship, inheritance, betrayal and twists of fate etc but not really something that's related to academic culture, so not really relevant!!! It must be a fascinating (and enriching) life for you to experience such different academic cultures as the USA and China ! Hopefully, one day you will be able to experience English academic culture (Liping seems to like it here!)
I'll stop here as I think I may have veered off focus ! Anyway, as always, its lovely to hear from you. If you need any more information, let me know and I'll do my best to help.
Bye for now; enjoy your day,
Vic
Whilst teaching at Connecticut, a shock for me was that, after setting a test, a student came marching into my lecture room and banged down a mark transcript in front of me and said "I pay good money to get (bad) marks like this"! One of my American colleagues explained to me that this arose because many Americans paid for their degrees (unlike the UK, where the government mostly pays) and so money in education was a bigger issue. Also, they said, that Americans are not as reserved as English people, and tend to protest or say what they think (and expect higher levels of service). For me this was a shock, as in the UK there is not really a significant link between money and education.
* I guess most people observe that although the UK and USA share a common language, there were lots of subtle differences. In terms of academic environments these differences effected me as, when I first arrived in Connecticut University, some American staff took me aside and explained there were many pitfalls that English people can fall into. Some of the differences were innocent, with little consequence (apart from being mildly amusing), whereas others could be a mini disaster if used in a teaching room. The one I remember was that English people call the device used to clean a white (or black) board a rubber; I was warned not to use that word in a US classroom!
* On the positive side; I thought the relationship between academics and industry was much better in the USA. In the UK, companies tend to think Universities are too academic, too theoretical, too abstract, too removed from their immediate business. Academics think the opposite and view industry work as not being of high intellectual value and not worthy of them (maybe a bit of an exaggeration; but essentially their view). I know many of my colleagues say "If I wanted to earn a lot of money I would have gone into Industry; I came to work in University because I value other things more, such as ideas, intellectual freedom and the belief in the value of education etc". Another issue is that UK, academics are paid for 12 months, whereas in the USA, some academics seemed to be paid for less (10 months?), thus Americans are freer to work in Industry. Thus, in the UK there is a divide that keeps the two apart. The UK government is aware of this (and feel is bad for the UK) and is currently investing much effort and money in trying to bring Industry and Universities closer.
* Regarding University campus life; I was also surprised to find there were armed police patrolling the Connecticut campus (the notion of armed police, or guns, is alien in the UK). When I asked why they had guns, I was asked "would you like to patrol this campus late at night without guns (of course I would be happy, but their mind-set was different). Here Universities, are relatively gentle places. It puzzled me, because as far as I could see, all the students in the US were relatively nice. I also found the campus banks weird; in the UK, we have national banks but on the Connecticut campus, banks were localised (they had some kind of cooperative or mutual society thing ... Still don't understand what it was) which made my money matters more complicated (maybe that was just Connecticut!). Also, I found the Connecticut campus fairly lonely, especially late at night where people seemed to disappear. Often, I found myself on my own with no staff or students around. in the UK, the Universities feel a lot busier, especially in the evening. In some ways, I found that was similar to American towns which didn't seem to have have social hubs in their centre (shops and amenities being often located in "out of town Malls:, and centre being some empty or dangerous). In the UK, town centres are full of people, and very sociable (maybe that experience was particular to Connecticut). I remember asking a colleague, how do you meet people and they replied; "through work or through the church". That is very different to the UK where church doesn't play a significant role. Also, on UK campuses you will find bars (and strong students union). I think the age for drinking alcohol is the USA is different (its 18 here), and that changes the atmosphere on campus (to a small extent)
* Another interesting difference is that alumni seem to play an important role in USA Universities; funding Universities after they leave. They also seemed to have strange student societies that I never figured out (referred by names from the Greek alphabet!). In the UK, alumni is less evident but Universities here are now trying to capitalise on their alumni more
* The UK is very closely physiologically connected to the USA. Because of our shared history, roots and language, there is almost a spiritual connection between the USA and UK. There is a genuine warmth and friendship between the people of the USA and UK. There is a strong feeling in the UK we share a fundamental value set with the USA (democracy, and all that). Recent history (the USA coming to the aid of the UK in two world wars) and their struggles against what they perceived as a common danger (The "Iron Curtin") has created a deep bond. This is mirrored in both politics, economic and education, where there is a tendency for the UK to follow the fashions that arise in the USA. As I grew up I remember stories about the USA and China, so for me it was fascinating to visit both countries and discover a different reality to those childhood images. In science, the USA has long been a global leader, so in my side of academia, we are very influenced by the USA (use US textbooks, equipment etc). Although the UK is in Europe, it I said by many people it has more in common with the USA. Of course, unlike the USA (but similar to China) , the UK has a huge history that stretches back thousands of years. I am sure, having lived in both China and the USA, you would find the differences fascinating. Talking of psychology, I also noticed that American academics have a more positive "can do" attitude than their English counterparts. People here people tend to be conservative and cautious about new things (so if you ask an English person about a new idea, they often come up with a list of drawbacks, whereas in the US, they were very positive and encouraging); however, it is said that despite US and English people having different starting points, they both converge quickly to the same views.
* Size and density is another important issue. USA Universities are huge (30K students) compared to much smaller UK Universities (our University is 9K). I remember watching TV programme about this that presented a film that was shown to American soldiers coming to England in the last war. Their main point was that England was a very small country, the size of Iowa but with a fifth of all America (60 million people) cramped into it. So they showed English homes with neighbours right next to each other. To me, of course, this is normal, lots of people in small space, but I guess that's what makes it social here.
* Something that is essential to understanding the UK is that its a very hierarchical place. At the top we have the queen, and below that princes and princesses (and a myriad of connected people) etc. This hierarchy is different to the USA, where its more an issue of money or jobs. This "snobbery" extends into Universities with many academics thinking they are better than other people, and within the University certain people thinking the are clever than others .... an academic snobbery. Academics are not that well paid in the UK, but they think they have a high status (in intellectual terms). Related to this is the fact that the USA has a written constitution, Britain does not. Things are changing here as the realism of market economies takes hold but you will never understand UK society (and Universities) without understanding this structure.
* In term of academic working hours (and companies in general) the UK has much longer holidays than the USA. I was very shocked when working in the University of Connecticut; I was working on Good Friday and all my friends back in the UK were on holiday (so no email with them, adding to my lonely feeling!)
* Finally, in the UK, people like old things; oddly old house fetch more than new houses (many house are hundreds of years old). In academia old University buildings seem to be preferred to brand new one (but I guess that is a global thing, as it has to do with status of universities; older being better!). Maybe as I get older people will like me :-)
Personally I really like American and enjoyed life there (although I preferred the west to the east; I have close friend I have visited many times in Arizona; well he is now in Phoenix, but CEO of a company in Albuquerque). Actually, I may not be entirely an average UK view as my dad was born in America! Its a very long, but fascinating story of love, dreams, hardship, inheritance, betrayal and twists of fate etc but not really something that's related to academic culture, so not really relevant!!! It must be a fascinating (and enriching) life for you to experience such different academic cultures as the USA and China ! Hopefully, one day you will be able to experience English academic culture (Liping seems to like it here!)
I'll stop here as I think I may have veered off focus ! Anyway, as always, its lovely to hear from you. If you need any more information, let me know and I'll do my best to help.
Bye for now; enjoy your day,
Vic
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Palau Class Blog
http://belaubiib.blogspot.com/
Biiber is the national bird of Palau, colorful like a rainbow. Even though their net is very slow, they still love to blog. How slow their Internet is? It takes about 3minutes to connect, then 5 minutes to post a picture. Hard to leave Palau, but glad to be back to our high-speed internet.
Biiber is the national bird of Palau, colorful like a rainbow. Even though their net is very slow, they still love to blog. How slow their Internet is? It takes about 3minutes to connect, then 5 minutes to post a picture. Hard to leave Palau, but glad to be back to our high-speed internet.
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