”The teaching and learning is very practical and focused on student participation here in Denmark and that is very interesting. The students’ work on projects that are really close to those in real life while we are more theoretical in China” explains Xia Wang, while her colleague Ellen Liu adds that ”Working in a group is another way of studying. We can see that both the Danish students and teachers enjoy it while in China we work more individually”.
Xia Wang and Ellen Liu have followed the Constructing Architect education for a week, both in Holstebro and Horsens. The reason for their visit is that in September the Constructing Architect education is to start up at Sichuan University. Xia Wang teaches architecture and Ellen Liu English, so Ellen Liu has focused on language teaching during her stay Denmark, while Xia Wang has focused on ‘on-line’ teaching.
Impressed by evaluation
The two Chinese lectors were impressed by the evaluations they saw – where students’ presented their project twice. First of all for the teachers who gave formative feedback and then during an examination with external examiners. As Xia Wang saw it “assessment and evaluation in Denmark is highly developed – at first it is in the form of an exercise and then it is a real examination. When their projects are so work-related it is easy to transfer the system to a real job”
Second Life – more than a computer game.
As well as following teaching in the classrooms the two lectors were also introduced to teaching on-line. Over the last few years ‘Second Life’ has developed so much within the world of education and has become a really good tool for ‘on-line’ teaching. “We’ve planned that Xia Wang will introduce the program in China, so Chinese and Danish students and teachers can use it to communicate” tells Laurids Green, Head of Education at the School of Technology and Business. Xia Wang ´thinks that communicating through Second Life is interesting and very attractive. ” At first I thought that it was just a computer game, but it is excellent when used in long-distance teaching as students can quickly get help direct from a Danish teacher “says Xia Wang.
Chinese work force in Danish companies
VIA has entered into collaborative agreements in many parts of Sichuan province – the most extensive with being with the University of Sichuan. When asked why VIA is so actively involved in China, Laurids Green quickly replies - ”that our Profession bachelor University College is based on our supplying a workforce to the business sector. Many Danish companies are setting up in China, so when Chinese students take an education in collaboration with VIA, they get an insight into western ways of working and that can be a real advantage when looking for a job afterwards. Of course we are also developing internationally ourselves. Over the next few years we plan to build up a campus and extend the whole range of VIA’s educations at Sichuan University”.