SDLP 105: Learning Journal 5

[Constantinos Beauclair-Kolomtsas]

The Culture Shock video showcased the cultural problems international students face when they attend American universities. One aspect of the video that stood out to me was the part that described the trust placed by professors to students. Professors in American universities tend to trust that students will not cheat in exams and often feel comfortable enough to exit the classroom during an examination. This was perceived as odd by a Turkish student in the video, who explained that in Turkey that would be unthinkable. I remember how surprised I was, when I took my first test in an American elementary school in the US, at how relaxed and trusting the teacher was with the students. He sat there and read his newspaper, which made it easy to cheat for anyone in the class yet nobody cheated. The academic culture difference was stark and the result was my own personal taste of culture shock.