Editor’s Note: Lobos Abroad is a regular column from former Daily Lobo staff members studying in a different country this semester.
I have been known to grumble about an afternoon class that I would prefer to nap through, so when I heard about Linkoping University’s educational structure, I was giddy.
Little did I know that I was more dependent on UNM’s structured course schedule than I thought. I certainly didn’t anticipate craving a fixed agenda.
Not only does the location of any given class at LIU change, but the time and the teacher alternate as well.
Most students would rejoice at the prospect of focusing on one class per month and each course meeting once or twice a week, but essentially that setup assumes that you will be responsible for teaching everything to yourself.
My Swedish roommate, Louvisa, said this arrangement allows students to get whatever experience they want from school.
“Psychology is my concentration, and we don’t even get assigned books,” she said. “We pick whatever books we think most relevant to our assignment and course.”
Louvisa said the Swedish education system caters to an older student population and assumes intellectual maturity.
“Our last two years of our high school are like the first two years of American college,” she said. “We graduate when we are 19, and everyone takes at least a year off before even beginning university. You all are so young when you start!”
This would make most Swedish freshmen the age of the typical American junior, with the capability to self-pace themselves in their classes.
Students create their own study schedule for their course, teaching themselves what we would normally expect a professor to lecture to us.
Louvisa wrote out a study plan that she followed from the comfort of her room, reading for hours at a time. Talk about self-control!
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Aside from the independence, there are some other unusual characteristics present in the Swedish schooling system, such as the opportunity to retake final exams twice if you fail them.
This could be considered beneficial, but it does make one nervous to think of why they need to have this rule in place. Are people really failing them that often?
Another Swedish quirk was the academic quarter system.
If your class is listed as meeting at 8, then you should expect the class to begin precisely at 8:15.
If you arrive at the proper time, you are 15 minutes early!
As a chronic early bird, this initiates a fair amount of thumb-twiddling on my part as I wait for my fellow students to arrive to each class.
As an 18-year-old exchange student, there is a minimum three-year gap between me and other LIU students. No doubt that affected my ability to develop an effective study plan for myself.
However, while it is apparent that I lack the self-management and organization required, I hope being exposed to these methods will help me develop them.
Experiencing a self-guided learning technique has shown to me some of the flaws in American universities. Being responsible for your own education increases motivation.
Sometimes, some of us forget why we are in school. We just blindly show up to classes to fulfill requirements. That being said, I will never complain about even the most snore-inducing lectures because I am glad that they are there teaching me.
All right, I might complain just a little bit.
