Education; Duke Marine Lab

             

 For my first course, marine ecology, a typical day involved waking up at seven for breakfast, an hour lecture and then two and a half hours in the field. We’d have lunch, return to the field for about two hours and have a lecture for an hour before dinner at six. After diiner we had some free time, but were also expected to complete our scientific journaling each day. My second course, which I am currently in, is my independent study. This is a lot more self-motivated and involves completing my own work in the morning then spending the afternoons working with my advisor. 

                  Because I am studying at a university within the country I thought it would be interesting to ask a foreign student, Suzanne Ou, who attends Duke, questions about her country’s education in Singapore. I also asked a local student, Kathryn Loftus, her opinion on Dukes teaching style to look at Singapore’s, Duke’s, and Allegheny’s education.

                  Suzanne stated that ‘in [her] Asian culture, many families strongly emphasize the pursuit of higher education, mainly because many did not have access to it in their time. [Her] parents were fortunate enough to have had a college education, and made sure that [she] grew up recognizing the importance of not just the education but the access to it!” Singapore celebrated independence just over fifty years ago and in that time they have developed six national universities two of which are highly ranked within Asia and gain recognition for different disciplines on the world stage. Even with this, citizen still have “a general ‘grass is greener abroad’ mentality where degrees from private universities in the US and UK (which [their] education system is based on thanks to colonization) is more well regarded.” Students are expected to know their career goals before entering into a university so liberal arts is not a common concept.  Another interesting difference between US and Singapore higher education is the post-grad system or lack of. Professional degrees are six-year programs and there is no graduate school after a four-year degree. Additionally, universities there are much more affordable than private education in the US. “Government scholarships also cover school tuition in exchange for six years working in the civil service, such as in the Ministry of Education” which another student at duke from Singapore will be joining when he completes his education. Learning style is extremely structured leaving little time for additional study of anything outside the syllabus. It has been criticized for its lack of room for creativity.

                  I believe Duke and Allegheny have very similar education systems. Both are private liberal arts colleges with size being one of the bigger differences. Like Allegheny there is a multitude of courses you can fit in while still fulfilling your major requirements depending on your area of study. Katie stated that at Duke “there is a wide array of classes and subjects you are able to choose from when making a schedule” and having classes within varying subjects is required.  Extracurriculars are a major part of the Duke campus.  Most students are in either Greek life, Selective living groups (like our special interest houses), or are in clubs or club sports. This isn’t so much the case for the Marine Lab, which differs much from main campus. There are no extracurriculars here and course choices for the semester can be limited to two to three classes in each module. All the classes are hands on lab/field work based. Expectations and how students are evaluated are similar between the two schools. Although only four classes are required each semester it is not uncommon to see students taking more. Paper assignments or exams are a large portion of each courses grade. Students are held to high expectations both academically and socially.

One major difference I’ve learned about is Duke summer service program ‘Duke Engage’. Students apply and can go on one of many school-funded trips to different countries learning and doing service work. Through this and study abroad about 550 students travel each year (about a third of one class). To me this seems like a higher portion than Allegheny students.

                  When comparing these two liberal arts colleges to universities and education in Singapore I believe the biggest difference is the choices students have with their schooling.  Many undergraduates in the United States come in undeclared or they change their major a few times. Also, we have a list of specific classes needed to graduate but we have the ability to take electives that are interesting and can be outside the box of our area of intended study. Students don’t have to come to school right after completion of lower education, they have the luxury to take time if they want or wait to attend college when they’re older. There is freedom in how we partake in higher education.

I’m not sure how much my approach to learning will shift from being at the Marine Lab. The experiences I’ve gained here have been exciting and in a subject I’m passionate about. Returning to Allegheny might feel overwhelming at first because I’ll go back to taking four classes at once rather then one class intensely for three to four weeks. One of the largest impacts this semester has had on me so far is the enthusiasm and confidence I’ve gained in my ability to complete my senior research project.