A Bit of Academic Culture Shock

I used to poke fun at the American education system. Then I went to Ireland.

Now, Ireland is a great country and is booming, yet somehow it’s managing to do that with an academically joke of a university system. This sounds very harsh, and I don’t mean it to be. The facilities are great, the professors are knowledgable and the courses are interesting. It’s just that they’re practically not required. Most courses here meet for an hour once or twice a week, where you get lectured to while shown powerpoint slides. It is made clear to you at the beginning that all the slides are on the school’s network site, Moodle. Moodle hosts the slides, obviously, as well as assignments, readings, requirements, essays and, if they give you any, quizzes. That’s right, all quizzes are done online on your own time with no supervision. I even hear you can retake them for a higher score. There are in-class midterms and finals, but there is a full study week before each. Because of this, I will have 3 weeks off for Easter. They say that university here is more about the life experience than the academics. I’m learning already.