Alright you knew it was coming, it's time to talk Aussie Education. After all, this is the reason I am on this great adventure and the desire to "learn under a different system" was most likely one of the key selling points on my application to study abroad. So here goes, a list of differences I have encountered between my Canadian and Australian university experiences.
#5. Courses = Subjects/Units/Classes (here a 'course' is the equivalent to our 'degree' an important distinction I learned back when I was trying to choose classes) and a full course load consists of 4 subjects, unlike the 5 that we take per semester back home.
#6. Professors = Lecturers (this is logical as not all people that lecture are profs so I don't know what we're thinking in Canada). But the kicker is that they switch all of the time! I have had at least 4 lecturers for each of my subjects with the exception of Learning in Outdoor Ed. This is weird but also beneficial because you get lecturers with particular knowledge and interest in the topic that they are teaching within the subject.
#7. Marks are give out as pass (50-64%) credit (65-74%) distinction or 'D' (75-84%) and high distinction or 'H.D.' (85-100%). Note: I have found they are harsher in their marking here.
#8. Most Australian students commute. Students usually go to the uni that is closest to their parent's home and then take transit into school on the days that they have class. This is unlike in Canada where I have found more students choose to study away from home and live in proximity of their chosen school (at least in my experience). I have found that this has had an impact on the number of Australian friends I have (surprisingly low) as most are only in the city for classes and don't stick around much longer for anything social.
So there is my summary of Aussie academics as I finish up my last week of classes. My first final exam is on June 21st, wish me luck!
#1. It is called 'uni' not 'university'
#2. There is no ACTUAL time allotted in between classes, when a class says that it goes from 10am-11am, this does not mean 10am-10:50am, you must therefore leave early and most often arrive late if you were naive enough to schedule classes back to back. I have been informed that there is an UNOFFICIAL grace period in which a lecturers should end 5 minutes before the hour and start 5 minutes after the hour but this has not been rigorously followed in my experience.
#3. The internet stinks, I cannot access it in all of my lecture halls (which may be a good thing) and it is often funky in the library (which is ALWAYS a bad thing). FIO USyd IT!!
#4. They have cool fold down benches for some of the old lecture theatres! It took me a solid week before I figured out where all the banging before and after class was coming from!
#3. The internet stinks, I cannot access it in all of my lecture halls (which may be a good thing) and it is often funky in the library (which is ALWAYS a bad thing). FIO USyd IT!!
#4. They have cool fold down benches for some of the old lecture theatres! It took me a solid week before I figured out where all the banging before and after class was coming from!
#5. Courses = Subjects/Units/Classes (here a 'course' is the equivalent to our 'degree' an important distinction I learned back when I was trying to choose classes) and a full course load consists of 4 subjects, unlike the 5 that we take per semester back home.
#6. Professors = Lecturers (this is logical as not all people that lecture are profs so I don't know what we're thinking in Canada). But the kicker is that they switch all of the time! I have had at least 4 lecturers for each of my subjects with the exception of Learning in Outdoor Ed. This is weird but also beneficial because you get lecturers with particular knowledge and interest in the topic that they are teaching within the subject.
#7. Marks are give out as pass (50-64%) credit (65-74%) distinction or 'D' (75-84%) and high distinction or 'H.D.' (85-100%). Note: I have found they are harsher in their marking here.
#8. Most Australian students commute. Students usually go to the uni that is closest to their parent's home and then take transit into school on the days that they have class. This is unlike in Canada where I have found more students choose to study away from home and live in proximity of their chosen school (at least in my experience). I have found that this has had an impact on the number of Australian friends I have (surprisingly low) as most are only in the city for classes and don't stick around much longer for anything social.
So there is my summary of Aussie academics as I finish up my last week of classes. My first final exam is on June 21st, wish me luck!
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