University Life
Unsurprisingly, university life varies from the United States as opposed to here in Australia.I'll give a run down of basic terminology differences between the two countries to make things slightly less confusing to read. (USA = AUS)
Course = Unit
Credit Hour = Unit Point
Major = Course (although major is also used, but slightly differently. Similar to an "emphasis".)
College of " " = Faculty
Faculty = Academic Staff (Lecturers, Unit chairs, ect.)
The academic ranks are also set up entirely different. The title "professor" is earned at a higher level in Australian universities as opposed to American universities. "Professor" can be used for anyone teaching a class in America (other than a Teaching Assistant or Graduate student) but that is not the case in Australia. Be mindful when addressing your lecturers! In Australia, it's best to address them by their first name and drop formalities unless otherwise stated. Now we may continue!
In the US, classes meet two to three times a week. This is either 50 minutes long each time for three times a week, twice a week for an hour and 15 minutes, or up to twice a week for 2 hours and 45 minutes for studio classes. This does not include a separate "lab" class, which is often used for courses in the sciences. This class is often not required to be taken alongside the regular lecture, but it is usually necessary in order to receive the desired amount of credit towards your degree. Credit hours or credit points are what dictates how many classes you will take during the duration of your degree. You need to take a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester in order to be considered full time, with a maximum of 18 hours. You can apply for overload which will allow you to take additional hours. Classes can be worth anywhere from 2 to 4 credit hours. Sometimes you will find a very strange course that is worth 1. But the average is often 3. The classes that meet for longer and require a more intensive work load will give you 4. This means the average classes taken at one time is 5, but can be between 3-6. This will slightly vary between individual universities, but that's roughly how the system works. Classes are set up and run by their professors/faculty, and reviewed by the head of the department. They can change what happens in the class as they see fit. For example, if there's not enough time to do some of the projects in the class or to take an exam (including the final examination of the semester) they can chose not to do those things. There are often many papers and projects as well as exams that are required of you to complete alongside attending the lectures several times a week. This model can often feel a lot more intensive than the way Australian university is run.
Thus far in Australia, I've learned that all classes will only meet once a week. A class or lecture will only meet for 50 minutes. There is a separate but required "seminar" which often meets for 2 hours that functions similar to a lab for each class. The only classes that don't have a seminar are titled "practicals" which meet for 3 hours once a week. The time slots for each class also go for the full hour, 2 hours, or 3 hours according to the schedule, but in practice and policy they each let out 10 minutes early. Each class is referred to as a "unit" and you earn "unit points" towards your degree. A full time load is 3 units with a maximum of 4. You can also do overload here and take 5 units if necessary. The vast majority of classes are worth 1 unit point, with a few of the upper level classes being worth 2. This particular unit system is utilising trimesters rather than semesters. As stated before, this will vary between universities.
Individual classes are run by "unit chairs" who set up what is supposed to be covered in the unit and basically direct the whole process. The people who lecture and run the seminars are most likely not the unit chair, but in some cases they will be the same person.
You're expected to do more self directed studying with this layout, but I find that in reality it's around the same amount of work or less. There's less projects overall in the classes because they're slightly shorter. There is still the concept of a final exam, but it's taken a lot more seriously. There is a couple weeks at the end of the semester dedicated exclusively to exam period. There's a schedule set up for every class that tells you the time and location of your specific exam. Before an exam begins, you're given a 10 minute reading period where you're not allowed to do anything but read the materials for your exam, and then you are allowed to begin your exam for the allotted time slot. It sounds a lot more intimidating than the way most finals go down in America. You go to class based off of the final exam schedule (usually the same time as your class meets or an hour earlier or later depending on the schedule for that year), you sit down in your usual seat, pull out your number two pencil and take the exam the same way as you would any other examination for that year. Or if you're an arts student, you show up to class and do absolutely nothing at all except chat with your friends and collect your final art piece that you turned in the week prior. It's much more laid back than the way Australian exams sound. I'll get to see it for myself in a few months!
Studying is an important part of any university students life regardless of location. The libraries in Australia are jam packed nearly all the time with people working or studying. I've even found myself hanging out at Deakin's a few times now. In America, I've found that the libraries at university are mostly vacant nearly all the time. The only instance I've heard of people going to the library is to study for a final exam. I've only gone in twice because it was a convenient place to work on a group project for an Anthropology class. Either the libraries are a lot more welcoming here or the self directed studying is a legitimate part of Uni life. Perhaps both
Those are the main differences I've noticed thus far. Most of the other things I've seen are probably exclusive to Deakin, although I've seen Swinburne and RMIT have some similar events. Thanks for reading!
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