2014 Summer School has 101 courses, and the teachers’ team includes prestigious professors, associate professors from other 23 countries and top scholars from China. Reporters have realized that the foreign teachers appearing in the campus has become a beautiful scene in UIBE.
Bertha Du-babcock: Just Say What U Want To Say
This was the second time that the associate professor Bertha Du-babcock from City University of Hong Kong had taught trans-cultural business intercourse in the Summer School. Mrs.Bertha could not stand the high temperature in Beijing but the heated atmosphere in class gratified her. When it came to the teaching feelings in China, she said that unlike being afraid of speaking in public and making mistakes before, students are much braver to discuss questions in English now. For Mrs.Bertha who bore in Taiwan, English is her second language. Having studied trans-cultural business intercourse for many years, Mrs.Bertha said, “Language is the tool to communicate. It is very critical for the students whose first language is not English to break the bound of grammar, to be brave to speak English, and to be not afraid of mistakes. Practice makes perfect.”
Besides the great progresses in communicating, students’ presentations and achievements through group-working have impressed all now instead of lacking research skill before. Mrs.Bertha was pleased to say Chinese students have huge potential and great progresses.
In addition, Mrs.Bertha also pointed that students still need to equip themselves with solid foundation of knowledge in this instant noodle age that focuses on speed.
Dr Joep Hofhuis: The Future of UIBE will be Better
Professor Dr Joep Hofhuis from University of Amsterdam concentrated on trans-cultural intercourse. Referring to the question whether the teaching methods in Netherland can be adopted in China, he said students in China are as intelligent and diligent as those of Netherland, and also face the same challenges. The main difference is that students in Netherland are more intended to speak in class such as asking some questions about the provided materials. He mentioned that the interaction between students and teachers is fairly essential in western teaching system, which is beneficial for learning process and developing critical thinking. Class should be a safe environment, in which open discussions even mistakes are allowed. Learning itself is a process of trying new things, making self-examination and reflection, and then attaining knowledge.
Mr.Joep spoke highly of the International Summer School and praised the insight of UIBE. We can learn profound lessons from the experts and scholars all over the world. Most of the international universities pay a huge amount of money on research and focus on scientific frontier to make contributions to their society. Seeking balance between teaching and high-quality academic research has become the important factor to be a competitive world-wide university for UIBE.
Mr.Joep said there is no university like UIBE in Amsterdam. Local students live in every position in the city or commute among different counties. By comparison, there are first-class equipment and a lot of places for studying, living, and leisure in UIBE. Nowadays, many projects have been under construction in campus. He believe the future of UIBE will be better.