Time is Flying By

Hello my dear friends and fellow classmates! Semester one has finally come to a close, and second semester has provided many new opportunities to be explored.  What I would like to do in this entry is to take a look back on first semester, and explain the impact of studying biology abroad.

 

As I have mentioned previously, I enrolled in four modules that all have a link to the field in which I study, neuroscience.  Three out of my four modules were in the biology department, and the fourth was centered in the psychology department.  Each course was setup differently from what you would expect at Washington College.  In the U.S we typically have our courses weighted 60% exam, 10% lab courses, 10% quizzes, class assignments, class participation, and 20% final exam.  However, the British system tends to employ a 70-100% exam weight and/or a 0-30% continuous assessment (essays, lab assignments, etc) weight. The structure is heavily focused on your final exam.  With that being said, the courses are much structured around independent learning.  Of course you still attend lectures, but you are given more free time to spend studying the topic in-depth rather than spending time completing assignments and studying for “chapter” exams like we do in the U.S.

 

Another key difference between studying sciences in the United States vs. the United Kingdom is that each module is taught by about five various professors in the field. Each professor takes a different approach, based on their research, to lecture about the topic at hand.  They discuss and provide an in-depth analysis on the field. Current research is constantly brought into lecture discussions, and basic textbook knowledge is frowned upon. Instead, you are expected to delve into the vast world of primary research articles to bring focus and gain more background knowledge into the course material.

 

For those who attend Washington College, or are thinking of attending Washington College for the behavioral neuroscience degree program this next paragraph is for you!

 

 I find the British style of teaching much more enjoyable and much more challenging.  You are expected to go much further into the research material which is often very challenging (those who have read primary research articles often know the agony of having a dictionary in one hand and the article in the other!)  Being at Scotland’s top research university I am learning first hand from the experts in the field.  I have become much more aware of the scientific community on a global scale through my courses here at the University of St. Andrews.  Being that I am interested in going into the research field after graduation this global perspective is something that I will treasure throughout my career.

 

My next couple entries will focus on what I have done over the past month or so, and what has come out of this amazing opportunity! I hope that everyone enjoyed the May Day festivities!!!

 

Peace and love. 

Raisin Day Weekend

St. Andrews is the home of a famous tradition called "Raisin Day Weekend" that nearly tops WAC's  May Day celebration! Throughout the first semester third and fourth year students adopt first year students to create what is known as an "academic family."  This family system was developed to allow "parents" to help guide the first years through life in St. Andrews in a system of mentoring.  Children are wined and dined by their parents throughout the year and create strong family bonds with other siblings.  The climax of this tradition occurs on Raisin Day Weekend.  On this weekend children are encouraged to play pranks, other silly games, and drink with their siblings. At the end of the weekend on Raisin Monday the children are dressed in flamboyant costumes by their mother, given strange objects (boats, refrigerators, old sofas, canoes) with a latin inscription by their father, and forced into St. Salvator's Quad for a foam fight. What a weekend!!!!  

(The images were created by Halo.)

Getting Into the Swing of Things

Things here in St. Andrews are wonderful! Classes have been going great! 

As I said in my previous blog, I am going to go into more depth about the course structure here at St. Andrews in comparison to Washington College. This semester I am taking four courses, three within the biology department and one within the psychology department.  I am taking the neural mechanisms of predator and prey avoidance behaviors, the evolution of human behavior, systems physiology, and the psychology of visual art.  For being at such a large university the course structure has been setup in a manner that it arranges for smaller class sizes, tutorials, and a professor-student relationship, similar to that of Washington College.  Each of my classes range in size from about 7-15 people, which is very small, and it allows for much more group discussion.  Only one of my classes has a required textbook (The Evolution of Human Behavior), which is actually a novel written by the professor himself (the very prestigious Kevin Laland)!  All of my other classes focus on finding primary research articles to supplement the lecture.  Learning the material in this fashion is a lot more productive then the typical setup that we see in America.  It is a more relaxed, focused version of what we do at Washington College.  Instead of cramming material and focusing on an exam every two weeks you get the opportunity to LEARN the material through discussion and debate.  You are challenged to actually lecture the class and write an essay on a relevant topic for your coursework.  The first week of lecture seemed completely foreign to me because of the odd style.  However, the further we get into the semester the more I like it in comparison to WAC's style.  Another difference in course structure is that for my system's physiology class we have four different lecturers, which is quite common for most classes here.  Each lecturer introduces a topic relevant to their research, for example the neural control of breathing, and then the following two weeks the students lecture on that topic.  Similarly, my predator and prey course has two lecturers, who perform research in two separate fields, and they attend class together.  This setup sparks numerous  class discussions, and a more rounded view of the topic presented. Overall, the educational experiences that I have had here are far beyond what I ever imagined.  I highly recommend and challenge any science major thinking about studying abroad to do so.  Getting to see how research is performed in  other countries, as well as being lectured by the top researchers in the field is such a rewarding experience!

I will be posting some photos from my tour of Scotland later this week. Until then, CHEERS!

Uni Pictures

The gorgeous McIntosh hall, where i reside here at St. Andrews.

A view from our hall's kitchen. You can see the sea in the background.

A view of the town, and everyone thought Chestertown was cute and historic!

An alleyway to the Scores.

The beautiful Scores, and a panoramic of the town!

A view from the beach.

Another view of the town and sea.

Freshers Week

Greetings from St. Andrews!!! Im not quite sure how to begin a blog entry, so im just going to give it a try!

Traveling to St. Andrews was quite a hike.  The time spent on planes, layovers, and shuttles totaled about twenty-four hours! However, the view that was presented as soon as you arrived on campus was worth the time.

The first week here at St. Andrews, or "Uni" (short for University), was quite the interesting one.  Freshers week, short for beginners/Freshman, was not anything that I experienced my first week at Washington College.  Being that the drinking age is only 18 here, plenty of liquid courage was the Freshers choice to eliminate the awkwardness of the "hi, where are you from, what do you study?"  Instead belligerent Freshers tore through the streets of St. Andrews, and it was a scene like no other!  The student union put on a variety of events to keep everyone entertained throughout the week.  Those events include two raves where you dressed in either all white or all black, a bubble party, the "bop" (cheesy dancing music), and the ever traditional ceilidh.

Getting scheduled for classes here was not the same cut and dry procedure that we all know and love at WAC.  Instead everything is more relaxed which tends to cause for much more confusion.  You tend to spend half of freshers week in your advisors office searching for classes. Stresses arise because many of the departments have not put up their timetables for courses and it is less than a week before classes begin!!  However, the courses that i will be taking this semester were well worth the wait!  I am currently taking: Neural Mechanisms of Predatory and Avoidance Behaviors,  The Evolution of Human Behavior, The Psychology of Visual Art, and Systems Physiology.  I will have a follow-up blog on each of the courses to give you a better idea of what each if them entail.