How Do I Select a Study Abroad in Asia Program?

There are times when you are studying in college when you need a change of pace. This can be for any number of reasons. Perhaps you have studied only in North American schools where subjects are taught in a particular way, and you desire to experience your educational focus from a different perspective. You might be wondering how you can set your resume out ahead of other college graduates. You may just want to explore the world and go to school at the same time. No matter what the reason, you will find a wealth of opportunities to explore study abroad Asia programs online.

There are many ways to study abroad in Asia. You could select a year-long study abroad China program, or a shorter semester abroad Japan program. In either example, a quality educational liaison will help you enroll in a university located in China, Japan, Singapore, Thailand or other Asian countries. Classes for foreign exchange students participating in a study abroad Asia program are occasionally offered in English, with intensive language studies in the host country language available if you choose to partake.

The courses that you take overseas as part of a study abroad China or Japan program, because they are university credits, should transfer to your current college or university. It does make sense to check with your home university academic guidance counselor to ensure that credits earned in a study Abroad Asia program will apply to your degree program back home.

Good study abroad China programs will also ensure that you are comfortable and safe while studying away from home. You will want to seek out a program that offers guaranteed housing in your host country. It is also helpful if there is some kind of introductory period when you first arrive in the host country, so that the program advisors can offer tips and help you make the successful transition to living and studying in a different culture. For your safety, day and night emergency help should be available to not only you but also your parents and the advisors of your foreign exchange program while you are in country.

Financing a trip on a Study Abroad Asia program is not all that difficult. You may find that you can use student aid from your home university to help pay for the foreign study experience.

It is always wise to talk to students who have gone on the semester abroad Japan program, or other Asian destination program, that you might be considering. Alumni of the Asian study program should be able to share their experiences and offer good advice about the program and how it helped them after they returned home.

Anne is director, student services and programs, for study abroad Asia. Their study abroad China program led to her experience growing in these studies, such as the semester abroad Japan program.

Online Education - A Haven For Cheating?

Online degrees and distance learning are increasing in popularity. Easier accessibility for a growing range of subjects, as well as recent government calls for a push in e-learning, highlight the fact that more and more students will be studying from home in the future and partaking in this more economical and ecological method of higher education. But does being away from the watchful eye of tutors and teachers mean that there is an increased risk of cheating among students? And what are the measures to stop it?

In their article, Probing for Plagiarism in the Virtual Classroom, Lindsey Hamlin and William Ryan discuss the notion of plagiarism, passing off another persons work as one's own, in the context of online education. They describe how e-learning doesn't seem to make plagiarism any more tempting or easier for students to carry out in comparison to traditional learning, and suggest that this is an age old problem of education generally that can be stopped by any respective institution implementing the correct measures. They also offer details of anti-plagiarism software specifically for online education institutions.

Neil Rowe continued this discussion in his article, Cheating in Online Student Assessment, by offering his argument that other forms of online cheating need to be monitored aside from plagiarism. The notion of students being able to receive answers before completing online exams is Rowe's first worry. With students not being tested simultaneously, Rowe identifies that a method to prevent this would be for institutions to write enough random questions to ensure a suitable ratio between number of questions and number of students, in order to minimize the chances that two students will receive the same questions.

Rowe also highlights the chances that students, if unhappy with their performance during an online test, may be able to start again (after conference with external sources) by claiming that they are experiencing connection problems and have lost their answers. Similarly, he also expresses his biggest worry as relating to whom exactly is answering the questions during an online test and the possibility that bright students may complete the tests of less capable students, or at least be called upon for help.

Rowe cites G. J. Cizek for countermeasures against online education cheating. Cizek suggests promoting and teaching the value of honesty above simply employing measures to stop cheating when it happens. One such idea: 'Students could be asked to read and sign a policy statement like an honor code or integrity policy at the beginning of the course', seems an effective starting point, alongside minimizing the temptation for students to cheat by giving them overly easy or overly difficult exams.

Sarah Maple writes about adult education and home learning.

Professors - Using Student-Driven Learning Methods - Active Learning

Student-driven learning methods are based on the concept of active learning. So that you better understand that term, picture a continuum. If at one end you put active learning, what might you put at the opposite extreme--passive learning?--or is that a state that does not exist? Do lectures, video presentations, and guest speakers engender passive learning? After 15 minutes or so for most learners, does the mind typically become occupied with other thoughts? The research would indicate that it does.

For the purposes of this article, I'll define active learning as an approach selected by a professor in which the teaching and learning environment is designed for the learner to be actively engaged in the acquisition and processing of knowledge and information. In an active learning environment, students are doing much of the work, at their own pace, to achieve their individual learning objectives.

Richard Hake (1998), a professor of physics at Indiana University, prefers a synonymous term: interactive engagement. He says that such learning involves methods "designed in part to promote conceptual understanding through interactive engagement of students in heads-on (always) and hands-on (usually) activities which yield immediate feedback through discussion with peers and/or instructors" (p. 65).

Although different theorists and practitioners give different definitions of this approach, those definitions commonly include having students draw on prior knowledge to make mental connections at ever-higher levels of learning. Whatever sources you consult on the topic, and whatever differences you find among them, keep your individual conceptualization of active learning in mind as you learn more about the strategies that work.

As a professor, you have accepted the challenge of accountability for the student learning that occurs as a result of your teaching. Student learning is paramount. Every decision we make about how we teach and what we teach is made with the ultimate goal of fostering learning in students. Therefore, when you strategically choose to use student-driven methods, you are deciding that, to reach the ultimate goal of student learning, (1) students will be directing the learning along a continuum that fits their abilities; (2) the primary focus will be on a unique collection of students; and (3) students will be doing the majority of the work in the classroom and classroom-related activities. Your work comes before class when you are designing and preparing the learning experiences (and believe me when I say that it's a great deal of work to prepare for active learning experiences for students).

The operative word in the phrase active learning is the second one: learning. According to Angelo and Cross (1993), "Learning can and often does take place without the benefit of teaching--and sometimes even in spite of it--but there is no such thing as effective teaching in the absence of learning. Teaching without learning is just talking." I couldn't agree more. As a professor in the age of accountability, you must make the extraordinary effort it often takes to ensure that students are actually learning what you are trying to teach.

Counterintuitively, sometimes it is easier to convince professors of this than it is to convince students. But convince them we must, because students must now also acknowledge that they accept at least as much responsibility for their learning as we have. In a compelling article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (June 4, 1999), Mark Benvennto offers the following, in response to a student had written on an evaluation, i.e., "Get up to the f---ing board -- that's what we pay you for!"

Although many students may not want to hear it, for most of them, interactive learning is the same thing as taking your medicine. You may not like it, but it is good for you. You will learn more by being engaged in a class rather than just listening to a lecture. You will learn more by teaching your classmates, and asking them and the professor questions, than by just listening and answering others' questions. You will learn more working in a group than working alone. You will learn more if you use your mind than if you come to class simply to be entertained.(p. B9)

We need to upgrade students' perceptions of their responsibilities as learners. When we are strategic teachers and they are strategic learners, the teaching/learning experience is incomparable in its efficacy.

Teaching exclusively as you have been taught may be comfortable for you, but it is often not very effective with today's students--nor is it preferable given what is now known about the brain and learning. Wherever you are in your teaching career, you can enhance your success by developing a teaching style that regularly employs some student-directed teaching/learning methods. You will need to experiment, analyze and reflect on your efforts. You will also need to have regular discussions with colleagues experienced in these methods.

To begin, consider ways to promote learning both inside the classroom when the students are right there with you and outside the classroom (when the students are far away). The primary student-directed teaching/learning methods for use inside the classroom include open discussion, learning, role-playing, case studies, and student presentations. Methods for outside the classroom include experiential learning, fieldwork and focused study time. Each of these areas are explored in multiple articles, books, and other resources.

Strategic professors know that using a variety of teaching and learning methods is critical to students' learning and success. Pay attention to the ideas in this article and others available from Meggin McIntosh. In addition, you can learn much more about teaching and reaching the many different types of students who are in today's college classroom by reading the book *Teaching College in an Age of Accountability* (Allyn & Bacon). The book was written by Richard Lyons & Meggin McIntosh (the author of this article).

To learn more ideas that you can use as a faculty member, be sure to check out http://www.TopTenProductivityTips.com and http://www.meggin.com

(c) 2008 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., "The Ph.D. of Productivity"(tm). Through her company, Emphasis on Excellence, Inc., Meggin McIntosh changes what people know, feel, dream, and do. Sound interesting? It is!