Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

What are typical uni classes like in China? I realise that places vary, but in general.
For example, how many students per class?
HOw many hours per week are the classes?
How many different classes do you teach?

[jwbhomer]

I taught at two universities in China from 2003-6. Classes were generally two double periods of 50 minutes each, although one semester I had a class that met for three hours at one go, with two ten-minute breaks. Class sizes were anywhere from 25 to 100, although the norm was around 35-40. I taught 14 hours per week -- that's pretty standard -- divided into seven classes of two periods each. In addition, most universities require FTs to participate in an English Corner every now and then...pretty much a waste of two or three hours in the evening.

[tw]

From personal experience, a typical college/university class can be 45 or 50 minutes long. If you teach oral English, there could be anywhere from 20 students to almost 50. If you teach other subjects like American culture, be prepared for a lecture hall of over 100 students. I have taught from 14 hours a week to 20 hours a week, but I think 16-18 is quite the average.

[naturegirl321]

Tha'ts a lot of students. How do you handle so many?

[tw]

Two words: pair/group work.

[jwbhomer]

The classes of 35-40 weren't so bad, normal for China. What you have to do is learn to get off the podium at the front of the room and walk down into the classroom -- all the way to the back where the drones and miscreants are -- and deal with 35-40 INDIVIDUALS.
The classes of 100 or more were pretty nightmarish. Obviously they have to be pretty much lecture-style. There's not much opportunity for interaction. (Hell, I could hardly see the ones in the back.) My coping strategies included:
1) Not taking attendance and telling them I didn't care if they came or not. (But I often gave hand-in-the-same-day assignments so I had a pretty good idea of who was there and who wasn't.)
2) Not being afraid to lose my temper (hence face) with disruptive students, and throw them out of class. I was told this was unheard of in China. I think they lost more face than I did.
3) Being as entertaining as possible within reason. (No, I don't want to get drawn into the dancing white monkey debate.)
The following semester I refused to teach that class again.

[tuvia]

i think throwing students out of university classes would also be considered 'unheard of' in the u.s. as well.

[jwbhomer]

[quote="tuvia"]i think throwing students out of university classes would also be considered 'unheard of' in the u.s. as well.[/quote]
So what? China isn't the US. I simply made it clear to the "students" in question that they were not required to attend, and if they preferred to eat their breakfast or sleep they could go to the canteen or the dorm.

[kev7161]

I think throwing out of class would refer to the ones that are talking and carrying on and disrupting class. You know, like 4th graders like to do. I guess each teacher would be different for the sleepers or non-participants in group work.

I remember my college days and I certainly don't remember hecklers and such in sitting in the back of the classroom and I also remember the authority professors had when it came to missing classes or doing poorly on exams. There was the drop class option several weeks into the semester that would not affect your grade. I remember that even the college freshmen were now "young adults" and had to start behaving accordingly (in class at least). So, yeah, in the US professors rarely threw students out of class but then again, there was rarely a reason to do so!

[naturegirl321]

In my uni days, which were recently, for every three classes we missed our grade dropped one letter grade. Don't konw what it's like it China, but in Peru, they can miss 20 percent and still be able to take the final exams and it doestn' affect their grades at all.

[SheZook]

I've thrown sleepers out of HIGH SCHOOL classes! I know they work long hours and they're exhausted most of the time but as far as I'm concerned, sleeping in class is disrespecting me and setting a bad example for others. They aren't allowed to sleep in their other classes so why should they be allowed to sleep in mine?
The first time I did it, the student complained to the admin that he was "sick" and they questioned me about it. I explained my aforementioned view and I said if he really was sick, then he should be at the doctor or in bed - there was no point having him in the classroom if he wasn't learning anything - by having him there he risked infecting others (including his teachers) which may affect a whole class' performance grade and the school might have to pay teachers sick leave (which they do here). They quickly came around and supported me. I've been here a year now and no one sleeps in my classes anymore.
I also don't let them in the room if they are more than 5 minutes late unless they have a REALLY good excuse, can explain it properly in English and apologise for disrupting the class. The rest of the students and I have a good laugh when one of their classmates manages to invent a really good excuse and I rarely ever have the same student arriving late more than once.

[7969]

[u24tc]

[Leon Purvis]

I have worked for two universities in two provinces. I have never had a 45 minute class. They have all been two forty minute sessions back-to-back with a ten-minute break between.

Hecklers? Never. I get the talkers in the back of the class occasionally, and these are non-English majors. The English majors classes are very respectful and (unlike the experiences reported by a lot of FTs), once they get wound up and talking about a topic in English, it is difficult to get them to stop speaking. It takes half of a semester to get them to this point, though.

I tried to throw one student out of the class, but the FL department determined that the problem was caused by ME, not the student. The reason? The student was disruptive because I did not speak loudly enough during class. (There were two other occasions when I tried to eject a student, but this is the one that stands out in my memory).

40-50 students per class seems to be the norm, though I was doing a weekly gig at a middle school in which I was addressing a whole amphitheater of kids at a time. That was mostly story telling and then question-and answer afterward for forty minutes at a time-- FIVE TIMES in a row!

[naturegirl321]

So it seems like most uni classes meet twice a week for 2 hours at a time. So that if you have 14 hours, then you're teaching 7 different classes? Is that correct?

What about grading? If it's oral English, is it mostly done through presentations, re-telling stories, research, oral exams?