I am still flooded with doing lots of boring, administrative work... Only on Friday, I could start working through the 300+ emails that I had accumulated recently... Anyways, I am looking forward to start working on interesting things like my first lecture (3D Computer Graphics; starting in 3 weeks---oh my god!) and research!
Regarding my job, it seems to me that the biggest challenge will be to learn about how things are done in Australia. As Bruce put it: "You'd better learn about it---fast!". One thing that I have learned so far: my attitude is far to strict. If I continue like I am used to conducting research (strict, but fair), I will be probably killed by the students :-)
Let me start explaining this in more detail by a metaphor: the most popular sports in Australia is Australian rules football (I have never even heard of this before last week). It's basically Rugby with a couple of additional rules. A very crucial thing for it is how goals are scored:
If you miss the main goal, you still get a point for trying (see image on the right). This attitude is very important in Australia. Therefore, it is reflected in many things in my environment. I had the following conversation with a co-worker about assignments (this is basically a homework that students have 2 months to complete it).
Chris: What happens when assignments are handed in late? I assume that this means that the assignment counts as failed?
CW: No!!! This would be totally unfair! Only 5% are deducted each day that the assignment is handed in late.
Chris: ????????? So you can hand in your assignment one week late and still pass ????
CW: Of course!!
Chris: In my opinion, if a student is 1 week late (after having 8 weeks of working on the homework), his time-management is so bad... He does not deserve to pass.
CW: ?????? What are you talking about ????
I had a longer discussion with Bruce about it. He agreed with my coworker: nobody at the university would be able to understand my attitude. I would get into big trouble if I insist on strict deadlines.
I am really curious about what other surprises are awaiting me :-)
5 comments:
This definitely is a subject for intercultural research. The inert power of such a system is a motivation to continue trying even for those who do not belong to the top 5 % of an age-group. A reward for trying, albeit not quite hitting the mark is in stark contrast to some highly performance-oriented societies ('knapp daneben ist auch vorbei' ;))
On the downside, the problem of such a system could also be of motivational nature: the really talented people could slide into a tendency of underachievement if rewards are arranged very gradually and top achievements are not acknowledged in a way that sets them cleary apart from mediocre accomplishments ('trying').
Sounds like quite the opposite of Japan, right?
@pete:
i agree with your comments! In fact, after I had completed the blog post, I was contemplating to add the phrase "knapp vorbei ist auch daneben". It shows clearly the different cultures in Europe and Australia...
@maeh
isn't Japanese culture opposite of everything :-)
Hi Chris,
Does it mean teachers can start classes one or two hours late and still be considered good? You could try with your computer graphics classes :)
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Currently in 東京 (Tokyo).
hehe, good point :-)
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