Laboratory Works

 Lab. Work 1

1.      You’ll hear five speakers talking about problems they or their relatives face while studying. Fill in the chart with the information given in the recording. Be especially precise with the column “Your solution to the problem”; here, you’re supposed to give your personal advice to avoid or ease the problems mentioned by the speakers.

Speaker	Problem	Signs of the Problem	Your Solution to the Problem
1	examination	It is all very well to test about facts, but we also need to assess the ability to learn: this type of exam or learning license (that tests this ability) would be more useful for students, employers and society in general. It shows which candidates are good at, say, engineering, but it also shows actually which can think as an engineer.	I suppose that combining traditional ways of assessment like oral exams and written papers and this new type of exam: learning license will be the best way to examine both theoretical knowledge and basic practical skills.
2	father’s persistence and concerns about his daughter’s study	tired face, sleepless nights etc. She is studying for 3 levels preparing for medical school. She works nights and weekends to prepare for her exams.	Personally I am sure that sometimes parents can too hard on their children as they try to influence every step they make, every word they say. When the time to enter the university comes they are nearly to lose their nerves trying to influence our choices as much as they can. They become blind when seeing our exhausted faces and listless behavior. So I think that have to rely on our personal choices and believe in us without persistent control. If we do prepare for our study or exams, they will notice the signs of this with no doubts, And all that they are to do: is to motivate and support us, children.
3	The person is too hard on himself trying to enter the university (exhaustion during the preparation for entrance exams)	He lost his weight, he has big black rings under his eyes. He sleeps for 3 or 4 hours a day. He didn’t sleep at all during the last 3 or 4 days.	That’s no doubt that entrance exams are the most troublesome time in the life of every students as they are time and power consuming. Still I think that the potential student has to learn how to cope with the physical and emotional misbalance while learning something. For example he or she should eat more vegetables and fruits, sleep well for more than 7 hours. The person has to spend hours outside enjoying fresh air as our brains lack oxygen.
4	The lack of confidence while writing the exam.	He never thought of himself like a highflyer, he never excepted such high results.	There is an overwhelming statistic that shows that many students who pass their exams are not sure of their future results as they lack confidence. Still many scientists are sure that not knowing your own powers stimulate your unconscious thinking. So I suppose that sometimes it can be helpful to feel unconfident. Nevertheless, if the person loses all his sureness and certainty it may lead to the disastrous results. The best way to overcome this is to stay cool, collect yourself and be ready for any kinds of results.
5	Using technology while conducting exams.	The results would be able to get much faster, 40% of all exams will be conducting electronically in a couple of years, online tests and registration will follow.	We live in a globalized, interactive world which is all about changes. That’s why digital learners are to witness a great numbers of challenges concerning educational systems, esp. the way we conduct exams. Still exams conducted electronically can cause different problems: firstly the results can be wrong in cases if something happens with the device, secondly any digital device lacks an ability to assess creativity. So I think that only electronic registration can be used in schools or universities as a new challenge.

2.      Have you ever experienced problems while studying?  What were these problems like? How did you cope with them?

A new tempo of life: I tried to organize my timetable properly. The lack of time: I have to reduce the some things that are pleasant and important for me. I just make the things habitual and try to accept everything as it is in real life.

3.      What are other difficulties that contemporary university students face while studying? When do the problems usually occur? Are there special stresses that cause them? Do you agree that the quality learning is “the travel of hardships”? Give account of about 100 words on the questions mentioned.

While time spent at college is a fond memory and a happy experience for most, college life is not without its rough patches and problems. While each persons problems are unique to their current circumstances, I know that there are a few problems that almost all college students deal with at least once during their time at school. If you are on your way

1. Study.

Problem: College is challenging.

For many it requires a much larger effort than high school did, and unlike most high schools, college packs about two years of classes into one.  At times it seems impossibe for students to stay on top of it all.

2. Money Problem: Tuition costs are rising at alarmingly high rates. Couple that with eating out, shopping trips, gas for the car, and the price of textbooks, and you have a college student's worst nightmare. College students drop out of school each year because they cannot afford it. Others are forced to juggle full schedules with full time jobs to make ends meet. It is becoming increasingly harder for students to graduate debt-free.

3. Homesickness

Whether they admit it or not, most students will at one point get homesick. This is especially common for students who go to a school that is more than 3 hours from their home. Homesickness also affects freshman as it is presumably their first year away from home, and most freshman are not allowed to have a car during their first year at university.

4. Depression

Problem: Most every problem on here has seemed quite dismal. These problems raise the stress levels of students. Some find relief in partying, and others (even some who party) find themselves getting depressed from their problems.

5. Sickness / Health Conditions

With heighetened levels of stress and lack of sleep, health problems can occur. Living in close quarters in dorms also posespotential health risks and increases a student's chances of contracting some sort of virus or other sickness.

6. Friends / Roommates

Friends and roommates are usually good for a good time. However, they can get on each others nerves at times. Because these students are living together in close quarters and seeing each other each day, this is just not a good thing

Solution: Students mustremember to take some time out for themselves. If possible, students should get away from campus for a little while and go to a coffee shop, or a mall and just take some time to gather theirthoughts and be themselves. If conflicts do arise, it is best to get others (such as an RA or other friends) involved so that the spirit of community, unity, and peace at the college can continue to be upheld.

Lab. Work 2

Listen to a talk given by a university advisor to a group of students and answer the following questions:

1.    What is the standard grading system in the USA?   Academic grading in the United States most commonly takes on the form of five letter grades. Historically, the grades were A, B, C, D, and F—A being the highest and F, denoting failure, the lowest.

2.    What are the ‘special grades’ that the speaker mentions in the recording? They are satisfactory (S) and unsatisfactory (U) grades. It is not taken for all the courses at the university, as the majority prefer the standard letter grades.

3. Comment on the standard grading system in your country? In Russia we have a 5-grade system. The pupils get marks – 5 is exc, 4-good, 3-satisfactory, 2 – unsatisfactory. In fact there is such a mark as 1 – but it is not used very often.

4. Do schools and colleges practice non-standard grading systems? What are they? Yes, they do. Just as in the British and American colleges we have credit – non credit for some types of courses, but it is not the case with a secondary school.

4.      Give examples of other grading systems throughout the world? Which of them do you think are efficient for the students’ academic assessment?

Denmark

In 2007, Denmark replaced its age-old 13-scale grading system with a simpler, 7-step-scale system. They did this to begin to conform to a European standard called the ECTS scale, but also because, hey, 13 possible grades makes for a lot more work for teachers. Here’s how the old 13-scale used to work:

13 – given for the exceptionally independent and excellent performance.

11 – given for the independent and excellent performance

10 – given for the excellent but not particularly independent performance

9 – given for the good performance, a little above average

8 – given for the average performance

7 – given for the mediocre performance, slightly below average

6 – given for the just acceptable performance

5 – given for the hesitant and not satisfactory performance

03 – given for the very hesitant, very insufficient and unsatisfactory performance

00 – given for the completely unacceptable performance

Those gaps you see between 00 & 03, 03 & 5 and 11 & 13 help signify variations between those grades. Anything under a 6 is a failing grade, while a 13 is rarely given. 00 is just about impossible to achieve, reserved for truly incompetent performance. At exams, 00 is given to students attending, but who cannot answer a single question. According to this post, “one of the reasons why the 13 scale was replaced with the 7 scale was because of the grade 13. 13s are only given to the students that have gone above and beyond the stated curriculum. To gain it you needed to know more than what was taught in class. It required truly independent study. As none other EU countries used grades above perfect understanding of the curriculum, 13 were untranslatable to other grading systems.”

Ukraine

In the Ukraine, they’ve gone in the opposite direction. Whereas they used to use a simple Russian 5-step grading system, in 2000, they introduced the 12-step grading system which goes like this:

12 - given only for significant achievements or exceptionally creative work

11 - the equivalent of an ‘A’ in the U.S.

10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1 – complete fail

Australia

In the land down under, many schools and universities use a “band” grading system which looks like this:

90–99.95% BAND 6

80–89% BAND 5

70–79% BAND 4

60–69% BAND 3

50–59% BAND 20–49% BAND

Lab. Work 3

 Listen to a talk by a student advisor on campus. Answer the following questions.

1.      What are the rules for dropping a course in the talk provided?

You can drop the course within the first three week of the semester. First, you need to get the signature of the professor whose course you want to drop on the official drop card/ Then you need to go to a student advisor on campus to get the signature of your adviser

2.      What warnings does the student advisor give?

First, You can not officially drop the course after the first three weeks of the semester. If you are having problems in a course and you decide to let it run if you want to drop the course – it is impossible to do so. Second, if you stop attending a course without going through the official drop procedures, the course will remain on your schedule and you will receive a failing grade.

3.      How can you avoid getting a failing grade, according to the recording?

It is important to understand these procedures and follow them. If you do so, you will not have any problems.

4.      What are the official drop procedures for the elective courses in your country?

Lab. Work 4

Listen to a talk given on a college campus.

1.   What are the places of a college campus that the speaker mentions in the recording?

The Library

The Students’ Center: bookstore, post office, a bank, a theatre, a coffee shop, a travel agency, bowling alley

The Administration complex: offices of the university administrators, the students’ records office

2.   Can you find the similar campus places in your college/university? What are other places that are worth mentioning? Characterize them briefly.

We can find the similar campus places in our institute. However, there is no theatre, travel agency and bowling alley.

There are some other places which are worth mentioning.

Reading room

If you are looking for a quiet location to study the Library has a quiet room.  The Library is full of study convenient study space as well as computers equipped with access to the Internet, a photocopier, colour printing and much more.  

Parking

Since our institute is located in an urban area, parking is limited and can be difficult to obtain.  The institut recommends using public transportation whenever possible.  If traveling by car, please be aware that the University does not offer any public parking, and street parking is limited by meters. 

Cafeterias

There are some food-service areas: a major cafeteria (ground floor) and a smaller deli (first floor). There is also a little shop where students can buy some snack.

Hall of residence

A place for living for those students who live far away from the institute.

The college copy center

 Sometimes students may be required to provide multiple copies of an assignment for a class or other documents. 

Ballroom

A place where students have discos and little performances.

The big concert hall

A place for important events and activities

3.   Pick out the places from the previous task and make a similar tour around your college/university to inform the freshmen about the campus.

It’s a new city full of new people and new experiences. So there's your residence hall, the nearest dining center, and of course your classrooms. Those places, you'll be going to all the time because...well...that's why you're here. But of course, you don't want to only go there. 

Today nearly every student has a car, however, since our institute is located in an urban area, parking is limited and can be difficult to obtain.  The institute recommends using public transportation whenever possible.  If traveling by car, please be aware that the University does not offer any public parking, and street parking is limited by meters. 

There are two halls of residence on the territory of campus for those students who live far away from the institute.

There are five floors in our institute.

There is the big concert hall for important events and activities and the ballroom where students have discos and little performances.

If you need a quiet place for studying go to reading room. The Library is located near and moreover there are much convenient study space as well as computers equipped with access to the Internet, a photocopier, colour printing and much more.  

 Sometimes students may be required to provide multiple copies of an assignment for a class or other documents. In this case you should go to the college copy center

In the bookstore you can buy there not only the necessary books but also it’s the source of many items that a student may need or want.

There are some food-service areas: a major cafeteria (ground floor) and a smaller deli (first floor). There is also a little shop where students can buy some snack.