"Hey Dr Liew!
How have you been doing? Its going to be 3 weeks since I first touched down in Melbourne. School started on 26 Feb, and already, I've got assignments coming in!
We started practical sessions yesterday for Microbiology and, its been going fine! We're studying the microbe Streptococcus pyogenes and we're each given an isolate of it, taken from the Northern Territory of Australia. Practicals here are more interactive, in a sense that we each get to do our own experiment, following the guidelines given to us. I've got 60 students in my practical class, and we're all separated into groups of 10, each having our own "teacher" per bench. So, its been cool! I get to ask a lot more questions and do a lot more stuff my own. The next practical, we're going to do a lot of PCR on our isolate, glad I did it before! The practical rooms are really neat and well furnished as well! We've got automated taps and soap dispensers, cool stuff!
Aside from that, the lecturers here have been really nice and approachable. They don't make you feel scared to approach. One thing really different from Singapore is the way they teach. Its more application, like you said. Everything is about asking questions. The lecturers expect you to keep asking questions, and keep on thinking about the stuff they taught. Its like when you ask them something, they'll ask something back at you to make you analyse. They call it critical/analytical thinking! Pretty hard stuff for me to master. But I've been trying to get a hang of it.
Tutorial questions they give can NEVER be found anywhere on the web or textbooks or notes! Its all thinking questions, you have to infer from literature found in tons of journals they recommend, and with that, for your questions, you must put proper referencing. Its a whole new thing to me, but I guess, its more effective learning this way. I'm forced to think out of the box for the answer, instead of regurgitating (I'm VERY GOOD at that), so it forces me to apply what I learn. Its been pretty tough, but I'm sure once I get the hang of it, I'll be able to cope.
Oh well, enough said! Just thought I'd enlighten you on how I'm coping with the education system here! Wrote quite a lot, sorry for being so long-winded! But I can never stress how different the academic system is here! Last but not least, I think I'll enjoy it here.. =)
Love, Janice"
