What are some of the most noticeable differences in academics and classroom etiquette between UConn and your home university? How have you adjusted to these differences?

  Many people have dreamed about US as their wonderland to receive higher education from. That’s why we all strived for the exchange qualification to experience something completely differs from our homeland. Studying in UConn allows me to gain more diverse perspectives of how different universities utilize their resources to assist students with learning and future development as a person.  From what I perceived, US universities work very distinctively to where I’m from.

First of all, the academic structure at UConn is very unique. Many classes are taught in various forms such as. It can be a 30 people class, which enables more discussion panel in between students and professor. It can also be in a massive lecture room, where students are focusing mainly on the professor’s presentation. Sometimes the professor may need some charm or humor to grab their attentions, considering how distracting a massive classroom can be. Secondly, the length of each semester varies from my home university. This allows professors to have more interactive communications with students, and students can also dictate the class progress thus contribute directly to the class. In this way, students are able to consolidate what they have learned and extended to another level, if possible. 

Whilst reminiscing what I have been missing back in my home institution, the first thing that I pop up in my mind was the food around my university. Every day after classes, I was able to get a green tea flavor ice cream cone from the union house as compensation of a long day study.  Of course, there are many other academic fields where my home university is very distinctive to UConn. For example, the course structure here is weighted more towards to the final examination(around 60-70% contributed to the final score), which means students will fight hard for the assignment/attendance marks in order to alleviate the pressure on the final exam afterwards. And when it comes to finals, students will cram exceptionally harder so they don’t screw up exams in the prestigious Royal Exhibition Building. But generally, students are quite loosen in between the assignment breaks and first couple weeks of semester. In here, the courses are normally taught in a 300+ lecture rooms plus one 20 people tutorial session per week. Since the length of semester is much shorter, so the education is more of one-way and contents are taught in much faster-paced style. 

Comparing to two styles of teaching, I understand the necessity to adjust new learning environments. So I try being more proactive in the class and feel courageous to share my ideas and thoughts to the rest of the class. Also I involve a few practical courses, which forces to jump out of the comfort zone and present myself in front of people. This experience will never be obtained if I didn’t choose to study aboard.

Exchanging in US enables me to experience something very extraordinarily different to my own country. But at the same time, the objective of prioritizing students’ personal developments is aligned from both of the universities.  I’m privileged and glad to have this opportunity to learn more from other cultures, and will continue to explore the next adventure ahead of me.  

Written by:  Nicky Li