From: ustai@memstvx1.memst.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asean
Subject: Re: US vs British university degree
Date: 10 Oct 92 00:15:08 -0600
Organization: Memphis State University

In article <296@jaring.ism.my>, napi@jaring.ism.my (Mohd Hanafiah Abdullah) writes:
[serious munching begins, to conserve band width]

> I am convinced that the American system of education is SUPERIOR to its
> British counterpart by far as explained by the following:

	Matter of opinion.  No serious studies have been done.  Your points
seems to be based on the better universities.  Don't forget that there are
3000+ colleges and universities here, of varying qualities.  Also there is a
big difference between undergraduate degrees and graduate degrees.  You seem to
be talking about graduate degrees.
> 
>    was able to take so many other courses in the humanities, literature, and
>    other hard sciences, and social sciences to expand one's horizon; and this

	Yes, this is a good thing.  
> 
>    projects like building an industrial strength programming language, or a
                               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
	What's that?? Never heard of it before...

>    full-featured central-processing-unit as opposed to usually "toy" projects
>    undertaken at British universities.  As a result, one could get substantial

	No idea about the kinds of projects undertaken at British Universities,
but I don't think it's all toy.

> 3. In the US, before one starts to work on a PhD thesis he/she has to go through
>    around 30 hours of graduate courses related to the field of study, not

	Yes, this is very useful in grad studies.
> 
>    Talk about resources, most US universities have the state-of-the-art
                           ^^^^
	I wouldn't say most.  Undergrads don't get access in most cases anyway. 
All graduate students playthings.

>    A PhD candidate in Britain would right away start on a dissertation,
>    ill-equipped, and with extremely little supervision.  They sometime do not
>    see the supervisor for more than six  months until they happen to run into
>    each other in the corridor.  For example, a person with a bachelor and

	 I would say your corridor scenario is an extreme case and probably
never happened before.  

>    And this usually takes around 2.5 to 3 years to complete.  What a crime!!

	Don't forget that they don't have to take any courses.  So it would be
shorter.  And slightly harder since they will have to cover the material
themselves.
> 
>    much since then.  The grading is based on the final exams which does not
>    reflect a student's true achievement.  Most students just spot questions and

	Marking scheme is dependant upon individual professors here.  There are
some who give just a final too... 

>    memorize certain facts for days then forget them immediately after the exam.
>    Remember the SPM/MCE and STPM/HSC?  Plus, many British universities are just

	Unless you have an extremely good short term memory, it doesn't help
too much.  Not even in the monthly tests that you get in school... *-( 
Memorizing by rote is very very strenous, and the friends who did that didn't
do very well in SPM.

>    Whereas the US system place appropriate weights on homework, exams, quizzes,
>    assignments, and class participation throughout a course.  This is a

	So far, no course I have taken have ever placed any weights on class
participation.  One visiting lecturer in KDU even said that class participation
is an over-rated thing (refering to class interaction in US).

>    progressive and highly effective system of learning, and a student cannot
>    afford to put of his/her studies until the last minute.  BTW, what is the

	I have known of people who put off studies until the last minute, under
both systems.  That person still managed to pass.  Quite well in fact.  I don't 
believe it myself.

> So to the British trained, face the facts, there is not much to be proud of
> about British education.  The fact is that the American system is SUPERIOR
> by a lot!!  I rest my case.

	Expect lots of replies... :)  Also, I believe the graduate program do
have some compulsory courses.  Not too sure, but I thought I saw something like
that in one of my catalogs.  Would someone over in UK check please?

> Have fun.

	You too... :) :)  BTW, does this mean MIMOS is on the leased line now? 
Congrats if you are.  I thought it was suppose to be the end of the year? 
Expect lotsa mail asking about getting/using email thru you... :) :)
	Ciao.

-Tai