Education classes gain insight on Asian cultures
By Jason Hochstatter
IV Leader Staff
Students in Jill Urban-Bollis’s Educational Psychology
class presented in-depth reports on countries and cultures in Southeast Asia on
March 28 and 30 as a part of the ongoing International Education program at
IVCC.
Countries that were chosen included the Philippines,
Singapore, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.
“They were to develop a paper or scrapbook and present info
via powerpoint,” said instructor Urban-Bollis. “In addition to learning about
the country, such as the flag, map, population and language, they were also
asked to focus on the education system. Plus, they were asked to find a piece of
literature and a game from the region.”
The students were not limited to these things, and one group
even brought food and music from their country.
“The knowledge I gained on the customs, culture and
education, etc. was all new to me,” said one student who presented. “ I did not
know that much about the country until this project, so it was very eye-opening
for me.”
Another student added, “I think that overall this project is
a great way to broaden our thoughts on education and how it is run. I gained
more insight on how to work and collaborate with the group members in a more
productive way.”
The Southeast Asia region was chosen by the International
Education program, which offers a summer class for instructors each year.
The instructors then incorporate that area into their
curriculum and try to help students learn something about areas of the world
that they may not know very much about.
Political science instructor Amanda Bigelow said the region
was chosen by the International Education Steering Committee when they put
forward a five-year plan for the program.
Previous regions included the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa
and Latin America, she said.
Next year, the focus will be on Eastern Europe.
“On May 3, we will be having our celebration of South and
Southeast Asia which will include food, music and educational programs from the
region,” Bigelow added.