Hello!
It is April, and school is indeed over! As I sit here eating chocolate and procrastinating my last paper (the usual), it seems odd that I haven't even mentioned school in the last three months, but I think now is the perfect time to mention my studies...and celebrate their end!
I have been attending the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) for the past three months. We started in early January, and classes were officially over the 1st of April. The school system is much different over here, so it's taken a lot of getting used to. And then just when I thought I had things figured out - it's over. I took a total of 30 credits here, which will transfer to 18 credits at Linfield (that's considered a full load, which is what I usually take at Linfield). I took six random classes that I probably would not have had time to take at Linny. I was enrolled in the following classes...
1) Psychology, Society and Human Values - This class met for a total of two hours a week on Mondays from 11-1. I really enjoyed this class, and had a fantastic professor. We had one midterm essay, one group project, and one final research paper, and those three assessments combined will make up my entire grade for the class.
2) Social Psychology - In my next life, I think I want to be a psychologist (or a lawyer), and since my schedule at Linfield is pretty much planned for me with education classes, I only had time to take one psychology class there. So, what better time than in Ireland to take two psychology classes? This class also met for a total of two hours a week - on Thursdays from 8-10 AM. This was my earliest class, and sometimes quite a struggle to get up early and walk through the wind and rain to make it to class by 8, but I only skipped once. Pretty good I think. Once again, I really enjoyed this class, and had two fantastic professors (they tag-teamed our class). We had two research papers and one final multiple choice exam, and combined, those three assessments will make up our entire grade for the class.
3) The History of Modern America - This class was sort of my easy class, as I know a few things already about the history of modern America. However, I did think it would be interesting to learn about America from a non-American perspective. Although our professor was fairly boring and asked far too many rhetorical questions, the content was interesting. This class met twice a week for one hour a day - Monday and Tuesday 2-3, and then met every other week for a one hour tutorial - Thursday 3-4. Our assessments for this class are limited: one mid-term research paper and one final research essay.
4) Imagining Modern Ireland - This class was also very interesting, and I had wonderful professors. Three professors taught the three different sections of Irish history. I think I learned the most in this class simply because I knew very little about the history of Ireland before I came here. My favorite part was learning about the literary movement in Ireland. We met once a week on Wednesdays from 11-1. Our entire grade is determined by our final exam on May 5th. Yikes!
5) Children and Young People in Irish Society - This class was my letdown class. The class description looked SO good in our course book, and I had all these ambitious notions about how much the class could teach this future teacher about the place of children and young people in today's society...but the class was nothing like the description. It was two straight hours of lecture and monotone student presentations every Thursday from 11-1. Our assessment for this class is comprised of my presentation on 'the effects of domestic violence on educational attainment,' one mid-term research paper, and one final research paper.
6) Service Learning - Literacy Project for US Visiting Students - This class was great, and our professor was simply phenomenal. We focused on literacy in schools, how children acquire literacy, and the importance of literacy in today's world. To pass the class, we were also required to attend a local homework club once a week. We met for class on Tuesdays from 9-11 and Thursdays from 10-11, and then I attended a homework at a local school on Wednesdays from 2:30 - 4:00. My experience at the homework club was rough at first, although after I met William and he showed me his Michael Jackson dancing, I began to enjoy homework club a bit more. Our assessment was one final in-class essay, a portfolio of our journal entries and various other projects, and attendance. Oddly enough, this is the only class in which I received any credit for actually showing up. Perhaps this is why Irish students attend, on average, less than 50% of their classes?!
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my classes here. I have had the opportunity to take classes I was not able to take at Linfield, and have enjoyed learning the new content, and also simply observing the European education system. The education system at NUIG is very different from Linfield's (and I would venture most American colleges') style. Most notably, the assessment style is different. Linfield has lots of formative assessments that combine to make up your final grade for a class. Here, three, two, or even just one paper or exam make up your entire grade.
In addition, I only received credit in one class for actually showing up. It seems odd to me that Irish students would skip so many classes, but really I can understand why they claim it's unnecessary to attend class if you don't get credit for coming, and you have papers instead of exams. Often, the teachers give you the essay topics at the beginning of the course, and most essays are research based. Thus, even if you come to class, you still have to go to the library to research your essay topic, so most students just attend class on the few days their particular topic of choice will be discussed, and then simply don't come to the majority of the other classes. NUIG professors actually like American students because they come to class and are more focused on their academic lives than most Irish students.
The final huge difference that I noticed between here and home is that professors often don't give you any feedback on assignments or grades until they assign your final grade. I have written nine papers, given two presentations, and taken one exam, and have not received a single grade yet. Most likely, I won't received any feedback on most of these papers or assignments until I receive my final grade this summer. This doesn't really make sense to me because this doesn't give the student any chance to improve their work as the term progresses, but I guess it's just a different style.
Nonetheless, it's been quite an enjoyable semester academically and otherwise, and despite my exceptional ability to procrastinate, I only have one paper and one exam left to go!! I can see the finish line. I just need to finish the paper by this weekend, and then I can begin the next round of travels - Belfast and Northern Ireland next week, and then Spain and Portugal for two weeks at the end of April!! Can't wait. Time to trade this rain in for some sun!!
