Blog #4 Lecture Halls & Labyrinths
I am officially halfway through the academic portion of the semester! There will be a study and exam week after classes finish. You may be wondering how the classes and academics differ from MLC. I highlight the main similarities or differences in classroom culture, course structure, teaching style, and course workload.
Classroom Culture
Here at the University of Limerick (UL), classes are filled with your typical 18-22 year-olds who like to get distracted or doze off in class. I think that’s pretty typical for any college student. 🙂 Just like at MLC, students are expected to attend every class period held and actively listen to the professor. In the first few weeks of school, they are very considerate of students walking in late because they could not find the classroom. It is a big campus with over 18,000 students and over 1,000 faculty and staff. MLC’s student body is around 700 students—that’s basically the international student population at UL! The main building, composed of 5 sub buildings, is the most confusing building I have ever seen. It is practically a maze. With so many hallways and corners, and doors. You’ve got to be extra careful to read the minimal signage as you venture into the unknown. Thankfully, I have one class in the building, and it is literally 50ft inside the main entrance.
Course Structure
The courses and individual classes are, in a way, similar, but there are some minimal differences. The classes are structured on different schedules from MLC. At MLC, class times are fairly consistent and regular throughout the week. For example, one might have a class that meets 3 times a week—Monday, Wednesday, Friday—and at the same time and duration each of those days. At UL, it’s broken down differently. Every course has a two-hour lecture. These two hours may be back-to-back or split at 2 different times in the week. For example, for my education course, I have a one-hour lecture on Wednesdays and 9 am, and the other is on Friday at 3 pm. In addition to the lectures for each course, most also have a lab period or tutorial. These labs and tutorials are designed to give students a chance to interact with and ask questions about the material from the lectures. Every student in the course attends the same lecture, most likely in theater seating. Students are divided into groups of about 20-30 for labs and tutorials. Traditional UL students are assigned one of the multiple labs and tutorials to attend each week at the same time. Me? I got to pick which one I wanted for the whole semester because I had to put my schedule together on my own. Traditional students are handed their schedule already put together.
The semester is 12 weeks of classes, plus an additional 3 weeks for studying and taking the exams. This is a much different structure than MLC. MLC has 16 weeks of classes and 1 week to take exams. This does make sense because of the drastic difference in the student body populations.
Teaching Style
The teaching style at UL is fairly similar to MLC. Most professors put up a slide show and talk through it as students take notes and write down key points. One of my professors uses no PowerPoint, but instead just talks to the students. I’m still trying to figure this one out. The labs and tutorials are the discussion portion of the course. At MLC, the lecture and discussions are not separated but intertwined as one.
Although I have not quite experienced this yet, I have been told that it is typical for students to address their professor on a first-name basis once initial introductions have been made. Professors are very eager to learn all their students’ names. It is also normal for a student to just speak during a pause in the lesson if they have a question. They are not expected to raise their hand. I still raise my hand to answer questions—it’s a habit.
Workload & Study Habits
Weekly assignments vary based on each class. For example, my history course has two papers. One is due in Week 8 and the other in Week 12. Those are the only assignments. My education course, however, has weekly journal entries. These are not submitted each week, but students are expected to keep the journal up-to-date. Other classes may have weekly readings or smaller projects every other week. For example, in my digital media course, we just had a small project where we were tasked to capture and edit a few photos on the theme of time—two of mine are shown below. I don’t have a set homework schedule, as it varies week to week, and my weekends might be filled with travel adventures. Some courses more heavily lean towards being independent study-led, and others have more guided instruction. Honestly, it just depends on the professor and the course content.
Overall, I cannot really say UL’s academics are more similar or more different from MLC. It truly depends on your courses and professors. My education course feels very familiar to MLC, and I believe it’s mostly because of the content, but also the professor’s teaching style. My Irish history course feels nothing like MLC, and I’m still learning to navigate it.
Song to check out! → “The Rattlin’ Bog” by Seamus Kennedy