During our day trip this past Saturday, we got on the topic of our experiences as students. Martin, a boy from Germany, mentioned how at his university they are given two opportunities to re-take a test during their time of study if need be. He said he had re-taken one that he was extremely unprepared for/ didn’t properly anticipate.

 

After all, it was his first multiple choice exam.

 

 My jaw dropped. Martin took his first multiple choice exam in his second  year of university. I couldn’t tell you when my first multiple choice exam was it was so long ago and there have been an infinite amount since. In response to my shock at this statement, another German friend of mine responded, “In Germany, we take real tests.” I laughed at this statement but it honestly made me quite sad because it was true. If nothing else, the fact that schools there are willing to take the time to grade “real” tests, already expresses a deeper value in education than our system where educators simply use a machine to grade and critique a student’s “knowledge” of a topic. Already, I am more excited for my exams here as NONE of them are multiple choice. Especially in engineering, a subject so based on process, method, and problem solving (not just the solution), I would expect all exams to be this way. However, at home students appear inadequate as they go about an entire process correctly, aside from a calculating error, which causes them to get an entire multiple choice question wrong. I know the American educational system is constantly struggling to find a “fair” way to asses how students are learning, but the increasing of standardized testing, I believe, is only holding our system back.

 

I have engaged in a couple of other conversations that I have found interesting in regards to education at home and abroad.

 

A boy who I befriended, Deon, was chatting with me when I ran into him at the library. He asked me how I felt University of Auckland compared to my university at home in terms of education. I responded that it was hard to tell with the types of classes I’m taking/ my year of study/ just these few weeks. Then, he continued to say he asked because (at least in NZ), University of Auckland boasts the best, most prestigious reputation. Last year, he attended Auckland University of Technology, AUT, a “not-so-good” school as deemed by society here. I think of it like OU’s reputation vs. OSU’s reputation currently, perhaps? Anyways, he then went on to say that since transferring here he thinks that’s all crap. The faculty here is known for their intelligence and research yet they can’t necessarily lecture or teach. He doesn’t feel like he has received a higher quality of education since transferring. I found it sad and interesting that this is such a universal issue. This point he brought up is something I constantly think and rant about. So many universities pride themselves on their amazing professors and all they have done, yet don’t discuss their actual teaching abilities or how they interact with students in the classroom. Even so, society accepts these universities as the the “best” and most respectable learning institutions.  It was nice to here, first-hand, from someone who has transferred, that, often, the prestige and reputation built around universities is rather superficial, and does not always reflect the educational experience of the student body.

In addition, after chatting with some people in a project group of mine, I got invited to the facebook group for the school of mechanical engineering (as I am taking 2 ME courses here and another course that all engineering students need to take). It should/will be helpful, but it’s immediate effect was distraction. I have found that after being here 5 weeks I feel like I recognize more student faces here than at home. Anyways, this group is crazily open. Everything from shirt ideas, to complaints, to homework help is found here. I found multiple comments criticizing my Italian Dynamics professor. A meme was made which reads “MECHENG 222 cannot be taught without an accent” and other people who refer to it as ITALIAN 222. Now, I admittedly was annoyed with this woman, initially,  but between the facebook group and rude people in class, I have realized that she’s not that bad. The students need to be more accepting and get over it, in my opinion.

I mention these posted issues because what I found most interesting, is how they are handled. All expressed concerns are summed up by two members of the group, the elected representatives for second years in the school of mechanical engineering. I found it awesome that they have such a tight-knit and direct way of addressing issues. These two students attend meetings every few weeks with staff to discuss issues and concerns of the students. They type up the minutes and the staff responses and put them on this facebook page. The issue mentioned above was addressed with much apprehension. I think the staff is fully aware of the difficulty some lecturers cause students, but know, as do we, that it appears as discrimination. Also, on paper, I’m sure these lecturers are extremely qualified people. I think it’s wonderful that this university is full of so much international diversity; it’s actually one of my favorite parts of being here. I’ll admit, though, here and at home, having a professor you can’t understand (along with a difficult subject) will always be an extremely frustrating situation. Nevertheless, students need to be more accepting of professors, where they come from, and see their brilliance even through a thick accent.