[學習] 昆士蘭大學第一學期心得 My Experience of Studying at UQ: First Semester

上一篇大致介紹了學校和課程的概況，這次就分享一下一個學期下來的心得感想。像上圖大概是很多人對出國讀書的印象吧，總會期待能夠和來自世界各地的學生交流，也能夠有獨處的時間讓自己能成長～殊不知學習實在太忙碌，匆匆走過學校大草皮趕路的時候遠比躺著拿本書享受陽光的時刻多😂 而且商學院普遍以中國學生居多，常常下課時聽見中文比英文還容易，實在太有趣了！話雖如此，還是認識了許多不同的人、看到不同的事物，收獲量多，所以我歸納出三項我覺得值得分享的事物。

In the last post, I gave a brief introduction to UQ and the program I'm studying in. This time I'd like to share the experience of my first semester at UQ. The left picture above may be the image some people have for studying abroad. It is expected to communicate with students from all over the world as well as to have some quality time with ourselves and to gain some personal growth. However, the reality is more like the right picture above 😂  Students are so busy during the semester that we would rather rush through the great court than read a book or enjoy the sunshine. As for the multicultural friends, at business school, there are a lot of Chinese students and thus it's more likely to hear Chinese than English at the break between classes. It's still fun though that I've met so many different people and seen different things.

Below I'll share three things outstanding from my first semester of studying.

1. 學校環境非常的「自然」優美 The natural environment of UQ

 

這是學校的湖畔，湖面上與周圍草地有很多的水鳥、飛鳥棲息，牠們也不太怕人過著怡然的生活～當寶可夢還流行的時候，有一次開著AR螢幕裡出現一隻大蜥蜴簡直嚇壞我，真是特別的神奇寶貝啊ＸＤ 在校園裡漫步真的是一件很享受的事。

The pictures above were taken around the UQ lakes. There are a lot of birds and other creatures that are not afraid of human beings. When Pokemon Go was still a thing, I once saw a huge lizard on the screen that scared the heck out of me. Lol. What a special Pokemon! I enjoy taking a walk in the campus all the time.

除了自然環境，學校建築也是蠻有特色的，有些看起來很現代有科技感，也有澳洲傳統學校常見的「砂岩」建築，其實我覺得來布里斯本的遊客也可以考慮把UQ當成一個景點來走走，看看我們學生的學費花到哪裡去（誤）！

Besides the nature, the architecture is worth looking at too. Some buildings are modern, and some are made of sandstones which is a feature of many Australia's oldest tertiary education institutions. I would recommend tourists who travel to Brisbane to consider UQ as a attraction and to see how our tuition fees are spent.

UQ Art Museum

UQ Great Court

2. 包容多元文化 Cultural Diversity

澳洲本身就是個移民眾多的國家，現在學校裡更是有很多國際學生，所以學校對待不同文化背景學生的態度就顯得很重要，而UQ的確也做了許多努力。像是學校有個計畫叫做「Mates At UQ」，計劃裡有分成不同的組別：聊天交友、語言交換、出遊、用餐等等不同主題讓學生可以參加，更容易適應融入大學生活。學術方面則有很多免費課程可以讓學生精進英文聽說讀寫，圖書館也有協助學生解決在作業上寫作相關的問題。另外，校園裡也有空間讓不同宗教信仰的人能夠進行活動。

There are a lot of immigrants and international students in Australia. I reckon it's an important issue for uni to treat students from different cultural background right. I think UQ has made a lot of efforts in this aspect. For example, there is a program called "Mates At UQ" and there are a lot of sub-groups such as chat mates, language exchange mates and so on. This program is to help students fit into uni life. There are also various free courses to help students with academic English and assistance with assignment at libraries. On the other hand, there are many facilities to support people with different religions and traditions.

由此可見學校不但會幫助學生的學習方面，也提供了生活方面的協助。在開學前一週是新生訓練週，學校規劃了很多工作坊，像是租屋、文化介紹、學校設施環境介紹等等，讓學生可以更快適應新的生活。

As you can see, UQ not only helps students with studying but also living. During the orientation week, the uni holds many workshops such as accommodation, Aussie culture introduction, uni introduction, etc., to let students adjust better to uni life.

我遇到的老師也都很好，幾乎都會特別強調不要太擔心語言能力，反而希望學生努力嘗試表達、參與課堂互動。並且也許學的是旅遊的緣故，老師問問題時也常希望大家分享自己國家的例子，讓學習的廣度增加。

I also encountered many good teachers. They eased the anxiety of the international students who have English as a second language by encouraging students to engage in the class discussions. On the other hand, maybe it's because of my program (tourism management), teachers asked us to share examples from our home countries all the time.

至於同學相處方面，可能很多中國同學是先念語言班就認識彼此而且數量也比較多，所以比較會成群結隊，但是分組作業時還是有機會認識相處，而且大家都很友善。相對獨立的臺灣學生其實也不錯，厚臉皮點就有機會認識相對少數的其他國家的同學啦！記得新生訓練時，有不同學系的印尼學生主動來跟我說話，第一句話就是：「你應該不是中國人吧？」我有點訝異想說她怎麼分辨的，她說：「除了穿著打扮不太一樣，還有就是你一個人。」哈哈，雖然我至今還是不太理解到底是怎麼不一樣，但她說的實在太有趣，讓我印象深刻。

As for the classmates I met, there were plenty of Chinese students who had known each other from Bridging English Program so they had been friends already. However, they were still friendly and we've become friends by doing group assignments together. Actually it wasn't a bad thing to be alone at the beginning of the uni. It made me to get to know people from other countries as well.

3. 課程壓力重但不難 Pressure of studying

這裏學期長度幾乎比台灣少了一個月，所以課程很緊湊，開學一個月就要期中考，但老師們一再強調考試並不難，是想了解我們的理解程度。考試後不但有檢討試題，也會讓學生提出對上課的想法意見，讓老師可以調整日後上課的方式與方向以更貼近學生學習的需求。

Semesters here are one month shorter than the ones in Taiwan so studying is more intense that the period of midterm exam is only one month after a semester starts. Nevertheless, the lecturers said that they were not going to make it hard on us. They only wanted to know how well we understand the things covered at class. Afterwards, they reviewed the questions with the students and asked for our feedback regarding their teaching so that they could adjust the ways they teach to suit the needs of the students.

 

一個課程分為大堂的課和類似輔導課性質兩種，我的系學生人數很多，所以大堂的課其實比較難和老師互動，通常都是固定幾個同學會回答老師問題，而輔導課時一班只有大約20人，老師也會設計許多活動讓每個學生參與互動。我蠻喜歡這樣的課程設計，可以兼顧知識性與主動學習的機會。團體作業的機會也很多，所以能夠學習和不同的人溝通合作。

There are two parts of one course: lecture and tutorial. In the lecture, it's harder to interact with lecturers since there were over 200 students there, but in the tutorial, there were more chances and activities for use to engage in. I like this kind of course design (In Taiwan we usually only have lectures.). In this way, knowledges can be delivered during the lectures, and activities of engagement can take place in the tutorials. There were group assignments as well so that students had the chance to learn to work with different people.

還有，雖然是授課型碩士，但非常強調批判思考的能力，所以不論是作業報告，或是考試，都讓學生學習找資料、閱讀學術文章、提出自己的見解，還要培養申論的能力。一開始會感覺困難，但老師會提供很多協助，像是會先學生繳交報告大綱再給予建議，讓學生在寫正式報告時比較有頭緒。

Last but not least, although I'm taking a coursework master program, it still emphasises on the ability to critical thinking. Therefore, students have to do a lot of research and reading for assignments. Students also have to come up with their own opinions and ideas. At first it is hard to do so, but lecturers are there to help. For example, after we handed in our report outline, they gave us advice on what we should pay attention when we develop the complete report.

其實還有很多可以分享的，有興趣的話可以提出一起討論分享喔：）

Feel free to share your thoughts too :)