On studies (2)

So in the second Research Methods lecture someone told our professor that he could not find any of copy of the book on the “required reading” list in the library shelf because all had been checked out. I had a hard time looking for it too and realized that the library had seven copies of that book while there were some 50 students in my class, not to mention those doing similar programmes who might also need that book. Our lecturer's response to this problem was that he could not make photocopies for us due to copyright laws. He told us we really needed to compete with one another for the books and that looking for reading materials was part of our training!

Fortunately the book fight did not last long. After some panicking in the second week, I went to the library earlier to look for the books for the third week. Not every book on our reading lists was there but at least I managed to find some. And as the programme proceeded, book availability improved! I realized that it was just impossible to do all the reading on the lists of the three courses and one lecturer assured me that we did not actually have to read them all. So I reset my target to covering some reading materials of each the three courses every week, instead of unrealistically expecting myself to read all of them given the limited amount of time. I also realized that some reading items in fact had duplicating content so there could actually be some strategy to skip through. Another way to get around the book fight was to read eJournals instead of paper books. It did not only make access to academic materials easier but also saved me from carrying loads to and from the library every day!

Given the book fight at the beginning, one would think the whole class was really enthusiastic with doing all the reading required by the lecturers. Quite the contrary it did not seem to be the case. Well, at least not for the Research Methods class. When our lecturer asked on a later class how many had read the required articles for the discussion topic on that day, only a few raised their hands. Chitchats outside of the classroom confirmed that many of my colleagues were not withholding their hands out of shyness but had really not read the book chapters. That made me relieved… I am not suggesting that I don’t have to study if others don’t. In fact on a few occasions I felt irritated by those who did not do any reading yet then complained while walking out from the classroom that he or she did not understand anything in the lecture. (Sorry if this sentence offends anyone but since this is my personal blog I reserve my right to be candid here) However, learning that I was not in a peer group with everyone super studious did relieve me from unnecessary competitive pressure and enable me to study in a relaxed manner on my own pace.

  Upon the brilliant suggestion by one colleague, four of us formed a reading group which meets every Friday. A fifth member later joined. It was set up because we found it would be useful to divide reading among ourselves and exchange what we have learnt from different articles with one another as it was impossible for each of us to cover all the necessary materials for the class (not to mention “extra-curricular” reading). At first I hesitated a bit, worrying it might be inflexible. But the first meeting proved it was extremely rewarding and had exceeded my expectation. With colleagues from different countries - Korea, China, Pakistan and Mexico, chemistry was generated as each of us contributed not only what we had read but also what we had seen in our parts of the world.

Back to the question of whether my programme was “too relaxing”, I must firmly tell those who hold such suspicion that there is never a “too relaxing” learning opportunity. I buy the idea of what I’d call the adult mode of learning. Everyone is free to choose the style and pace of learning which best suits him/herself and is responsible for his/her own work. How much each person gets out of the university, I believe, is the choice of each individual and there is no point to pack grown-ups’ schedules with heaps of classes, tests and exams to ensure they “study” as schoolchildren do. Next time when someone asks me whether my study is busy, I will probably say, “Yes and no”.