Many of the Hong Kong students who enrolled in a summer school at the University of Oxford displayed poor time management and a fear of making mistakes. Photo:University of Oxford/Facebook
HK students rated poorly at Oxford Summer College
EJ Insight » Hong KongToday, 14:38
Poor in time management, nervous and afraid to make mistakes — these were the impressions left by Hong Kong students at the recent Oxford Summer College (OSC), Sky Post reported Monday.
The 27 Hong Kong students at the OSC made up nearly a quarter of the program’s annual quota of 120 students from all over the world.
OSC director James Gold said the two-week intensive summer course is designed to prepare students to enter top universities through teaching modules covering university-level knowledge.
Gold said parents of Hong Kong students are aggressive, and he expects the number of applications from Hong Kong to increase in the future.
However, the weaknesses of the students from Hong Kong were quickly exposed.
Gold found that Hong Kong students tended to wake up late and would even skip breakfast.
The summer school operates on a rather intense schedule, with six to eight hours of classes each day and lights out at 10:30 p.m.
Gold noticed a group of law students from Hong Kong searching the internet for information related to an assignment until 1 a.m.
He said this was a typical example of not managing time well, as the additional work was unnecessary, although the students were being diligent.
Gold said the reason students would rather spend time digging up information online was because they are not creative and are afraid to make mistakes.
He hoped students would understand that the result of working 10 hours is not necessary double that of working five hours and that learning efficiency is related to people’s motivation and curiosity.
The OSC offers 10 different subjects from which students must select, and the two most popular choices were law and medicine.
Gold said some students failed to relate their personal interests to the subjects they were applying for, thus lowering their chances of admission.
Half of the OSC program is based on the curriculum of Oxford University and Cambridge University, while the other is focused on sharpening students’ skills in preparing for university admission, such as undergoing interviews, taking examinations and writing personal statements.
– Contact us at english@hkej.com
EL/AC/FL
http://www.ejinsight.com/20151005-hk-students-rated-poorly-oxford-summer-college/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=20151005-hk-students-rated-poorly-oxford-summer-college
