August 21, 2006.
Dear Students of 2005-6:
Happy Summer Vacation!
We are now reaching the middle of our long vacation. Some of you have asked why our university has such a long vacation. It is, in fact, a set of two questions I am posing to you. What have you been doing during these last two months, and how are you planning to spend the rest of your summer vacation?
UIC is running an international program, with particular emphasis on the American system, that usually consists of around 14 weeks of teaching with 2 to 3 weeks examinations. A lot of American and Canadian universities have their summer vacation starting the end of April running to the end of August. This year, the teaching of the new semester will begin at the latter half of October because we have to adjust to the completion of the first phase of our new campus. We are still keeping a period of around 4 months to our summer vacation.
What is the rationale behind this international practice of having a summer vacation of around four months? It relates directly to the educational philosophy that students should be given a chance to map out their own individual and individualized educational program away from the regular teaching and coaching of their universities. The concept also is concerned with what I taught you at the beginning of last academic year, that UIC’s educational philosophy does not endorse the approach of “over-teaching” or rote-learning. Students should learn how to learn on their own. Summer is the best period during the year for them to plan their own educational development in accordance to their personal needs and interests. They should personalize their own plans to the best of their ideals. This should also include plans to take up summer jobs, internships, travel, and any other kind of study of their choice. This whole concept is to provide students with opportunities to work out plans to supplement their regular study during term times, and to train up their ability of “life-long study”.
Consequently, I am posing a number of questions to you:
- What have you been doing in the last two months in accordance with the educational philosophy for the summer vacation that I have stated above?
- What is your plan for the rest of this summer vacation?
My suggestion is for you to consider the second question, and to consider, at least, the following points:
- Watch a minimum of two hours of English TV programs or movies (preferably with the Chinese subtitles blocked so that you will not be distracted).
- Read at least two hours of any kind of English material, and keep a writing journal that records your impressions of the reading.
- Prof. Eva Lai has recently set up an e-learning project. I encourage you join it, and you can use this opportunity to directly talk to some of the English teachers by phone. Please check the UIC website for information.
I strongly urge you to maintain the English language ability that you achieved during the last academic year because in the next academic year, the level of language proficiency is much higher. Please put more effort into preparing for this new challenge, as well as training yourself up for personalized educational planning that will benefit you for the rest of your life.
I sincerely hope you can enjoy a fruitful and rewarding summer vacation!
Sincerely yours,
Edmund Kwok
