Table Of Contents
Assisting with time management
In China, although there is some variation between schools and between different types of courses, progressive assessment as it is practised here is rare. Hence the requirement to develop effective time management skills is rather less acute than it is here (cf. Smith & Smith 1999, p. 75).
It is not surprising, then, that, particularly in their first semester, students find that time management is an enormous problem (see the student comments in "Student experience" section above). Teaching staff, of course, are well aware of this. The question is - what, if anything, can be done to make this situation a little more manageable.
She: Oh, time management is a huge thing. That's the one thing international students identify to us all the time.
He: Well, but that's for locals as well; because, you know, you just work through your semester, and you can't do anything for the first 4 or 5 weeks - in any subject, really: nothing meaningful, so, you know, in weeks 5, 6, 7 you're gonna have a major assignment in everything, and then you've got to give them a few more weeks so there's another here, and an end of semester exam or something; so they'll always - almost always - hit these clusters, by definition…
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When in China, not much will ask you to write, assignments, not too formal.
Not formal. Not much assignments... Maybe just like when you before your graduation, you must write an assignment for graduation. But except that one, I don't think we have.
Just... pass exam... that's it. No assignment in China in the university.
Perhaps in China, just say, you got exam at the final of the semester and your results is exam results. But here it's mixture: first got assignment, report, and [then] final exam. So perhaps in China, I just study the last month and it's alright, I can pass, I get good mark; but here, no - you have to work during the whole semester.
Caroline came here having graduated in English language and literature, with Business and Economics as a second major. Assessment included both exams and classroom assignments (also attendance) for her English major, but for Business it was essentially exam-based.
She's comfortable with the assessment here by assignment and examination, as it is not too different from what she experienced in China. But whereas in China she had a clear idea of the assessment standards and requirements, she was less confident of that when she started here; hence, here her marks so far have been more variable, not necessarily proportionate to the amount of time and effort expended. Some assignments she is not happy with - thinks she did not do well, because she didn't have enough time. In the month before the exam, she found herself with 4 assignments to write, each 3,000 words - roughly one week for each assignment, in addition to lectures (she never skipped lectures) and tutorials and two or three spots of casual work as a caf waitress.