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Decision on studying at university was made a few years ago, due to family background. My parents were all university students and got fairly good jobs after graduation, being doctor and manager. When I was in my childhood, I heard them chatting about how wonderful their life at university was and how they cherished that period. That was my first impression about university: rich variety of exciting events, which made me yearn for. Later, as I grew up, parents began to talk about more serious stuffs about university. As we have learnt in the first class, “University comes from the word “Universitas’ which means ‘a community of teachers and scholars’” (Jon, 1983). The concept widens its meaning in contemporary society. University is not just a community for teachers and scholars who are highly intellectual but also for students eager to learn knowledge. Unlike vocational schools focusing on developing one specific skill, university provides a more comprehensive variety of majors. Students could choose whatever they would be interested in and listen to any professor’s lecture, which is of great help to me because I have interests in several subjects, like intercultural communication, psychology, sociology, etc. Besides, as my parents always say, “Getting a university degree has advantages over other kinds of institution in career finding and a good job equals high social status.” It is true in today’s society. People tend to believe students graduating from university are more skilled and capable. Thus, students may differ in workplace and types of work after graduation and end with different social status. For example, A and B were from the same high school. A chooses to enter a university, while B went to a vocational school instead. When they graduated, A became a manager and B became a maintainer. A got to know more upper-class people and became a member of them. However, B only had access to lower-class people due to job nature and became one of the lower-class. The reason I chose CQ University was that approximately half of the CQ University’s students are international students (CQ University 2013), as the professor said in the class. I chose my major as intercultural communication. As an IC student, it would be better to emerge in a cross-cultural environment. With all these international students, it would be easier to apply the theories we learn to them, which, in turn, improve our understanding of the theories. Application of Content: Other than description about university and about the course, we mainly focus on two issues: individualist (Australian) teaching, and the difference between report and essay. According to Hofstede (2001), Australia, with a score of 90 on this dimension, is a highly individualistic culture. This differs from China which is a collective culture. Back in China when we were studying, teacher used to give every piece of information in great detail. And teacher teaches more than knowledge, sometimes even including personal philosophy. That is due to the collective society where teacher, as the head of students, plays the role of father (We Chinese also have a similar saying that Eldest brother is like the father). Thus, teacher provides every great detailed piece of information to make sure students are clear about the course. The teacher feels it his or her responsibility to give all knowledge. However, in Australia, a highly individualistic culture, teacher has no other role other than someone who teaches the course. One characteristics of individualistic society is to look after oneself. Therefore, the teacher assumes that students would consider for themselves and ask whenever they feel confused. If they do not ask questions, that means they are clear about what the teacher is teaching. However, Chinese students used to wait for teacher to explain everything, resulting in slow progression of Chinese students. Individualism and collectivism can be a reason to explain this kind of difference. Apart from individualism and collectivism we discussed in the class, teacher also gives us some idea about report and essay. There are maximum 11 parts of reports: letter of transmittal, title page, table of contents, list of abbreviation and glossary, executive summary/abstract, introduction, body, conclusion, recommendation, reference list, and appendix. Some are essential and some are optional. When studying back in China when we do not have a systematic class telling us each parts of report, there are usually 5 parts of report. We usually take title page as the first page of PowerPoint, followed by table of contents. Abbreviation and glossary, as well as summary/abstract are seldom shown in the PowerPoint. The next part is introduction, body, and conclusion. Compared with the 11 parts, Chinese standard is a little bit different. Table of content is usually a necessity of report to clearly demonstrate the report before start. I think maybe the reason has something to do with collectivism/individualism. In collective culture, people tend to show everything to others. Past Learning Practices Has Changed/Evolved Learning experience at CQ University is a different experience from that in China. I feel like a fish out of water at first. But after adjusting to study here, I find it helps me improve my past learning practices. There are two major changes due to the learning environment that changed from collective culture to individualistic culture. As said in the previous question, when studying in China, teacher provides all kinds of information related to the courses. However, Chinese people, maybe because of history, tend to lack the sense of logic, and therefore Chinese teachers usually hit around the bush or talk about whatever they come across instead of focusing directly on one point. That made us confused during class and wonder about the main idea. Besides, Chinese teachers tend to teach courses with difficult contents and they do not know how to simplify the difficult knowledge. And Chinese students, who are seldom willing to ask a question, suffer the whole class for whole semester. On the contrary, at CQ University, I learned to ask questions and had the courage to stop teacher during his teaching in class. Also, at CQ University, teachers tend to use as simple words as possible to make concepts clear. Thus, I could clarify all the questions in class and after class, I would have time to read some extended materials instead of referring to other books for the same content that had already been discussed in class. This is unlike the learning practices from past. Another change of my learning practices is that I allocate my time more reasonably. When I was in China, I used to learn for almost 14+ hours per day to rank among the first in my class. Although I spent more than half a day on studying, my efficient study time was only a quarter of all, less than 4 hours. But now at CQ University, since I could spend my time as I want. I spend 4 hours a day for efficient learning and the other 10 hours for social activities, entertainment, etc. And I feel better than the period when I spent 14+ hours on studying. Learning in a collective society and individual society is quite different. After having experienced both, I prefer my learning practices now at CQ University. Reference: CQ University (2013), ‘Principles of University Learning’, 15 March, EDED11449 lecture handout, CQU, New South Wales Geert, H. (2001) ‘Culture’s consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations,’ 2nd edn, SAGE Publications, California. Jon, J. (1983) ‘University: a full evening of theatre in ten parts’, Dramatic Publishing, Illinois. |
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