In the Spring of 2014, English 1003 and 1004 students held a symposium on the role of the humanities in their university educations. The majority of the students were in STEM fields or in business, but not all of them. They exchanged information on their educational goals and objectives, and then they went out and interviewed other students, then collaborated on group presentations reporting the results of their research. All of the groups reported a broad spectrum of responses to their questions about the importance of humanities and general education requirements. Continue reading
Being Chinese at UConn
On the importance of critical thinking
Martin Luther King once said: “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” I learned how to think intensively but not critically when I was still a student in China. After three-year study in the United States, I found out that critical thinking was extremely important for a student due to the fact that every coin has two sides. Education should not be just memorization in order to get pass the exams. On the other hand, one does need a common sense or basic knowledge to learn the new material or create something new, which means learning is actually based on one’s memory. Memorization is helpful for a person in terms of understanding or creating new things, but critical thinking is the key to really see things with an open mind and come up with an even better thought that might contribute to the whole society. Continue reading
Notes on UConn culture: The Study Lounge
McMahon, the residence hall I live in, has North Tower and South Tower. There are seven floors in each tower and each floor has one study lounge. Including the lounge which is located on the main floor, there are 15 lounges total in McMahon. Also, McMahon has a famous learning community: Global House. This learning community contributes to the diversity of the people who live here. 30 percent of students are the exchange students from all over the world like Australia, Singapore and European countries. 20 percent of students are international students who will stay here for 4 years and most of them are Chinese. There are 40~50 percent of student are local students from Connecticut and another 10 percent of students come from other parts of America. Because this diversity of people who have different study habits lives here, the study lounge becomes a small community. Continue reading
Notes on UConn culture: What happens on the weekend
For college students, schoolwork is definitely the most important part in their daily life. Obviously on school days, most students share the same behaviors like going to class, having meals and staying in library. But on weekends, things change significantly. It is a time when all students have fun as well as show their personality. As one of the UConn students, I find myself really interested in what students around me usually do at weekend. So in my fieldwork project, I decided to focus on all kinds of students’ behaviors during weekends. Continue reading
Student Journals on Language and Adjustment
1. The First Impression of Uconn and The Voices in My Life
I still clearly remember that special moment when I first arrived at Uconn-I was roaming about the campus and looking for my dormitory, worryingly with three heavy suitcases. The sky was getting dark but I still felt lost and had no idea about where to go. Fortunately, I suddenly heard a warm voice behind me, asking softly “Hi you look like getting lost and what can I help?” Continue reading