24 December 2014

Gentlefolk,

SEASONS GREETINGS, EVERYONE!

Although the shopping malls are full of Xmas decorations and music, Xmas Day is a normal workday in China. Actually, the university told us that we can have the day off if we re-schedule classes, but its difficult to arrange that at this late stage in the semester.

Being of European heritage, we always celebrated on Xmas Eve with family in Australia. Instead, tonight we'll go to a concert being organised by the International Students.

Hopefully we'll get to skype with Jennifer (Adelaide) & Andrew (Melbourne) & families, and also my sisters in Canberra.

What's my schedule for tomorrow, Xmas Day?  Bet it's different from yours.  I'll be up at sparrow's fart to teach my usual Thursday morning class from 8 - 9.50am.  Then off to the dentist (ugh!).  A Chinese professor has invited Vera & me to his home for dinner tomorrow night - will be nice to spend time in a family atmosphere.

I've been meaning to do a post on students and their study workload, so here goes.

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Why do Chinese students perform so well when they study in Australia and other foreign countries?

I don’t think they are smarter than Western kids, but what sets them apart is their amazing work ethic.  China, with its huge population, is a very competitive society. And competition starts early. 

From a young age, from primary school, kids spend a lot of time studying. It gets tougher in Middle School, and the three years of High School leading up to the National College Entrance Exam get a bit crazy. In Shandong Province it is normal for students to study from 7am to 10pm, or later, leading up to the Gao Kao.

They get a shock when they start College and might “only” have 30 contact hours a week. They sometimes complain of not knowing how to fill in their free time!

Class timetable

The China University of Petroleum has split each working day into 5 classes - each class comprises 2 lessons of 50 minutes - as follows:

Class 1 & 2:  8 – 8.50am and 9 – 9.50am

Class 3 & 4:  10.10 – 11am and 11.10 – 12 noon

(There is a two-hour break from 12 – 2pm. A nap after eating lunch is common)

Class 5 & 6:  2 – 2.50pm and 3 – 3.50pm

Class 7 & 8:  4.10 – 5pm and 5.10 – 6pm

Class 9 & 10:  7 – 7.50pm and 8 – 8.50pm.

A siren sounds at the beginning of each lesson and again after 50 minutes.  The 10 minute break between lessons is used to go to the bathroom, make calls, stretch, etc. 

I have a student list for each class and always begin each class with a roll call.  When a student misses a class, usually due to illness, they will give me an official note afterwards.

Final marks at the end of the semester are based on 30% ‘daily performance’ (ie their attendance and contribution in class) and 70% final exam.  So regular attendance and participation in class activities is taken seriously.

Lecturers are expected to teach for the full 50 minutes of each lesson. 

One of my colleagues told me that at the beginning of the semester he finished a couple of classes 10 minutes early.  Each class has a designated leader called ‘monitor’.  The class monitor approached my colleague and requested that he teach them for the full 50 minutes – the students preferred learning to getting early-marks! 

The students are polite in their interactions with teachers.  If I ask them a question, they stand up to reply.  At first I thought that was a bit formal and told them that I didn’t expect them to stand.  But they prefer to stand – a habit they have grown up with – so after a while I just let it happen.

American-style descriptors are used to describe which year a student is in.  A first year student is called a Freshman, as second year student is called a Sophomore, a third year student is called a Junior, and a fourth year student is called a Senior. 

Student workloads

To get a better appreciation of the pressures the students are under, I asked some of my students for details of their workloads. 

Table 1: Weekly class schedule for English Major 1301,  2^nd Year students

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
8 – 9.50am	Writing English	Oral English	Listening English	Translation	-
10.10 – 12noon	Physical Education	Western Culture	Reading English	Inter-cultural communications	Reading English
2 – 3.50pm	Marxism	Communication	Writing English	Communication	-
4.10 – 6pm	-	-	Marxism	Elective	Elective
7 – 8.50pm	Elective	Elective	-	-	-

The students are encouraged to take one or two elective (optional ) classes on top of their compulsory classes.  They can choose from a wide range of subjects, including: Oil & gas in China; Nuclear power; Career planning; International relations; Chinese history;  Military history; Psychology; Marketing; etc.

English major students must study a second language, starting in the 2^nd semester of their Sophomore year (ie next semester for this class).  French and German are popular.

English Major class 1301.

Table 2: Weekly schedule for Double Majors International Trade & English, 2^nd year students

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
8–9.50 am	Economics	Math	Math	English listening	English Oral	elective
10.10-12	Math	English writing	English writing	Math	Marketing	elective
2-3.50pm	Marxism	PE	English reading	English reading	International  trade	English reading
4.10-6pm	-	Western culture	Marxism	English listening	English Oral	-
7-8.50pm	Marketing	Economics	International trade	English reading	Accounting	-

The Double Majors have the heaviest workload of all students.  These students are doing a double-degree.  On graduating they will receive qualifications in their ‘main major’ (accounting, or computing, or chemical engineering, or geology, etc) as well as in English.  These students typically have around 25 classes a week – ie around 50 ‘contact hours’ with lecturers per week.

Some of the students in the combined Culture class English Major 1302 and Double Majors 1303 + 1304.  Vera bought me a pair of fake glasses to look "more professorial" - do they work?

English Majors have 13 or 14 compulsory classes a week, while International Trade Majors usually have around 15 or 16 a week.  Engineering majors (Petroleum Engineering, Chemical Engineering, etc) typically have around 20 classes a week, including laboratory time.

Of course, the students have homework and study on top of the direct ‘contact hours’.  If a student has 15 classes a week, that means 30 contact hours.  If you assume at least one self-study hour for every contact hour (1:1) then that student is looking at a 60 hour week, which is a very busy week indeed. 

Actually, from my observation they don't get much homework; some tell me that they usually only do an hour (sometimes two) a day of self-study.  After sitting through 6 or 8 hours of lectures a day I doubt I'd be capable of doing much self-study!

No wonder many students complain of being tired and stressed.  When I see their workload it surprises me that they cope as well as they do.

I asked a couple of friends who have kids at university in Australia.  Arts, law, finance, and economics courses seem to have around 12 – 14 contact hours per week (lectures and tutorials).  Science and engineering have around 20 contact hours a week, plus laboratory time.

On that basis, Chinese university students have at least twice as many contact hours as their Australian counterparts.

A young American teacher I met in Dongying compared College in the US and China, but I'll leave her comments for another post as this one is getting too long already.

My teaching schedule

This semester my teaching schedule is 7 classes per week, from Week 2 (commencing 15 September 2014) to Week 18 (commencing 5 January 2015); 5 classes of Western Culture (total of 206 students) and 2 classes of Oral English (total of 62 students).

In October and December I also taught groups from the Great Wall and Xi Bu Drilling Companies (an additional three classes per week). 

Table 3: Alex’s weekly teaching schedule, September 2014 – January 2015

Time/day	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Friday
8 – 9.50am				EM1303 Culture
10.10 – 12 noon		EM1301 Culture
2 – 3.50pm			Drilling Oral		Drilling Oral
4.10 – 6pm	Drilling Oral	EM1302 + DM Culture	NM199 Oral English		NM63 Culture
7 – 8.50pm	NM64 Oral English	NM198 Culture

Notes:

EM = English Major; DM = Double Major; NM = Non Major (these students are taking this subject as an ‘elective’.)

This semester most of my classes are sophomores (second year students).  The ‘13’ signifies that they started university in September 2013, and these students are now in their second year. 

The Non English Major classes are a mixed bag.  These students are mainly majoring in engineering subjects.  They are a mix of second, third year and fourth year students.  They take Oral English and Western Culture as ‘elective courses’.

University degrees

All undergraduate degrees here are four year degrees; Master’s degrees are an additional 3 years for science majors and 2 years for others. 

The fourth undergraduate year is a ‘light’ year.  In the first semester 4^th year students usually only have 3 or 4 classes a week.  The second semester (ie just before they graduate) is devoted to writing a thesis.  To graduate all 4^th year students have to submit and defend a thesis, on a topic agreed with their principal lecturer. 

Fourth year students are expected to devote much of their time to job-hunting.  Most will either find jobs (to commence when they graduate at the end of the academic year) or will decide on future study options, either at home or abroad, and will apply for relevant scholarships during the year.

Comment

The Chinese educational system is rigorous.  The students don’t have much time for extra-curricular activities, such as hobbies and sports.  Of course getting a good education is important, but there needs to be balance.  University should be a time to develop the ‘whole person’, not just a particular skill.  

There are often suggestions in the media that the system should change, but China is so competitive, and the pressures to succeed so great, that meaningful change will be difficult to achieve.

You can understand, now, why Chinese students in Australia do so well – the strong study ethic which they develop during school and college!

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Best wishes to you all for Xmas and for 2015.

Keep well, and keep smiling.

Vera and Alex Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn/english/

Wednesday, 24 December 2014