On the afternoon of 19 October, the 9th Coffee Time in 2023 themed “ANU in My Eyes” was held in R.301, Dianzi Building with the purpose of broadening the students’ academic vision, improving their understanding of Australian National University (ANU) and helping them make a plan for their academic development. The college teaching staff who received professional development training in ANU last summer, Yu Pei (biological sciences), Wang Xi (applied chemistry), Shen Quanli (mathematics and applied mathematics) and Li Zhiquan (applied physics) were invited to share their experiences in person as guest speakers with the 2021 cohort students onsite. Prof. Chang Xiaomei, Vice Dean hosted the event.
The four teachers told what they saw and felt in their visit to ANU, focusing on campus environment, lab facilities, academic atmosphere, class teaching, safety management and daily life, etc. They presented vividly the campus architecture, natural environment, international cuisine and ecological characteristics surrounding the campus area with photos taken by themselves. By describing the lecture modes, laboratory facilities, teaching building layout and so on, they helped the students with a better understanding of ANU in terms of its free and intense academic atmosphere, teaching modes like workshop and drop-in and comprehensive assessment method that combines course content examination with experiments. The guest speakers talked in a casual and humorous way and the students responded actively in a light and lively atmosphere.
Following the sharing, Chang Xiaomei expressed her sincere thanks to the speakers and then exchanged her opinions on academic planning with the students. She compared and analysed the two choices they are all faced with, pursuing a master degree home or abroad in terms of time cost, admission probability and employment competitiveness. In the Q & A session, the students asked questions actively one after another concerning scholarship, PhD application, research direction, academic stress, career prospects, etc. to which all the teachers present responded patiently in detail.
During this event, the four teachers gave a vivid presentation on their academic and life experience at ANU, which provided an overall picture of ANU’s teaching, scientific research, culture and life to the audience. It has not only built a closer tie between the teachers and students, but helped the 2021 cohort students to set a clearer goal and plan for their future development.
