Greetings from USA Hi Matt, Could you do a comparison between top US and UK universities. I have asked this questions of professors in the US and they find it difficult to answer. In any subject (say chemistry) a good student from either countries will be highly technically competent. But, do you think the cultural difference will affect the way the student thinks, speaks, writes, collaborates …, etc. and, therefore affect the kind of chemistry they do? 🙂
It's a good question. I'm not that well placed to produce a whole video on the subject. I have taught a lot of American students in Oxford, however. Perhaps the most obvious difference is that in the US you have several minors and one or two major subjects. By contrast, in the UK, students typically just have a single major and nothing else. So in the UK, students are more used to concentrating their skills and attention much earlier than is typical of the US. Also, relatedly, UK high school qualifications are much more detailed and specific than the US high school diploma. This is not to say that American students struggle at Oxford, far from it. Although, one cultural disposition that I have noticed amongst my American students is an unwillingness to contribute original insights to an academic debate. In Britain, we assume that no one has the right answer to any interesting questions, and therefore everyone has a right, indeed a duty, to suggest solutions to intellectual problems. American students, similar to other international students, are more likely to look for the "right answer", and defer to the professors on what they think. We typically have to encourage American students more than British students to speak for themselves.
Greetings from USA
Hi Matt,
Could you do a comparison between top US and UK universities.
I have asked this questions of professors in the US and they find it difficult to answer.
In any subject (say chemistry) a good student from either countries will be
highly technically competent.
But, do you think the cultural difference will affect the way the student thinks, speaks, writes, collaborates …, etc. and, therefore affect the kind of chemistry they do?
🙂
It's a good question. I'm not that well placed to produce a whole video on the subject.
I have taught a lot of American students in Oxford, however. Perhaps the most obvious difference is that in the US you have several minors and one or two major subjects. By contrast, in the UK, students typically just have a single major and nothing else. So in the UK, students are more used to concentrating their skills and attention much earlier than is typical of the US. Also, relatedly, UK high school qualifications are much more detailed and specific than the US high school diploma.
This is not to say that American students struggle at Oxford, far from it.
Although, one cultural disposition that I have noticed amongst my American students is an unwillingness to contribute original insights to an academic debate.
In Britain, we assume that no one has the right answer to any interesting questions, and therefore everyone has a right, indeed a duty, to suggest solutions to intellectual problems.
American students, similar to other international students, are more likely to look for the "right answer", and defer to the professors on what they think. We typically have to encourage American students more than British students to speak for themselves.
That gurl just described the Grinch... I wouldn't want my college to look like the grinch😢