Blog entry 2: Teaching and rules at a high level...
…or my first culture shock on my Erasmus journey so far. What am I talking about? - The system at my partner university. However, I can say right away that it's not as bad as it seems at first glance, and it could be much worse for me. The first weeks at the university were a bit unusual for me, but that's what the semester abroad is for. Gathering experiences also means going through situations that you are not used to.
At THWS in Würzburg, I study media management in the bachelor’s degree program and therefore, here in Leuven at UCLL, I take courses in the Faculty of Management. In addition, there are the faculties of Health, Social Work, Teacher Education, and Technology. My lectures take place at Campus Proximus, which is located a bit outside of Leuven but is very modern and equipped with the newest technology.
But now let's get back to the culture shock and the differences in lectures at UCLL compared to those at THWS. In general, the university has a very school-like character. This means very small groups in lectures (12-40 students) and therefore more classrooms than huge lecture halls.
In addition to the smaller courses, there are also very strict rules for me personally. Starting with mandatory attendance in almost all courses, to a "sanctions catalogue" in the exam briefings, which lists how many points will be deducted from the grade for each violation of the regulations. Sure, we have that too at THWS, but we're not quite as strict. And when we talk about mandatory attendance, we're also talking about attendance lists that are passed through the rows in every lecture. There, everyone must prove by signature that they were attending, and besides listening to the class, waited for two hours for the subsequent meal in the cafeteria (well, that's just student life, I can't deny it). What I find almost funny about this is that we have two "jokers" available in one of the courses, which we can redeem during the semester if we can't attend a lecture. Whether that really counts as merciful, I'm not quite sure yet. In some lectures, a kind of participation grade is also given, which can have a positive or negative effect on the grade at the end of the semester. So be prepared to ask and answer questions in class, even if you haven't raised your hand. Jokers, participation grades, active participation – I think you now have an idea of what I mean by a school-like character. Very unusual, but less annoying is that classes are often taught with the door open. I honestly haven't figured out what that's all about yet, maybe I'll solve that in one of my next posts here. However, in one of the lectures, "the open door" is only tolerated for 10 minutes. This means that there is a rule that the door remains open for the first 10 minutes of the lecture. Latecomers within the first 10 minutes of the lecture are still accepted. After that time, the door is closed. So, if you're rushing into the university building more or less sweating because your bus was delayed again (this is not an excuse, but happens frequently due to many strikes), I wish you luck that you'll make it. If you encounter a closed door, it means either congratulations or bad luck!
“You have drawn the short straw and may wait until the break and only grace the lecture with your presence during the second half.“
Luckily, I have always been on time so far, so I haven't had to wait until after the break to attend the lecture. The counterpart to the high-level rules, however, is the high-level teaching, which really pays off. All the courses I'm taking are super interesting, the content is exceptionally well-prepared, and the assignments that have to be submitted during the semester are very meaningful and even enjoyable. Despite having completed all my courses at THWS since I added my Erasmus semester to the regular study period, I'm still learning many new things here, even though almost all lectures are held in the first year of study. My absolute highlight, however, is the high practical relevance and therefore the very cool and instructive guest lectures right at the beginning. Just last week, we had a guest lecture on TikTok marketing and another one on optimal consumer insights identification. Both guest lecturers presented convincing cases and thus brought us a step closer to practice. In general, the practical relevance is very well implemented here. Not only do we have a lot of teaching staff from the “real job world”, but the projects and exam performances also deal with relevant "real-life topics and companies".
With all my first impressions of the university system, I can of course only speak for all media management students who take the same courses as me at UCLL, because that's my starting point. For me, the content that I can take away from the teaching at UCLL clearly outweighs the drawbacks such as jokers, participation grades, and the occasional unlucky draws. And hey, I've also heard that some people actually like how things are handled here because they usually belong to the philistines who never show up in lectures. Therefore, I think everyone can handle the situation in a way that suits them.
All lovers of wordplay can now prick up their ears, while the rest may want to tune out or - more fittingly - close their eyes. From now on, I will always say goodbye with ...
... Tschöwen from Löwen.
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