Toyohashi University of Technology,
Institute for Global Network Innovation inTechnology Education

News from QC（Vol. 15 2015/11/16）

Reports

Queens College, New York, and My Unexpected Experiences
Tomoyoshi Akiba, Toyohashi University of Technology
Let me look back shortly on the days in ourthought-provoking. She makes full use of theELI class during this summer. A teacher gave

learning management system (LMS), such as

us weekend homework assignments of writing

Blackboard and Moodle, and seems to always

an essay on a given theme, such as "gay rights",

try to introduce new technologies into her"pro and con for social media", and "how tolectures. For example, all of her lectures aredevelop creativity for children”. For the lastrecorded by using a video-sharing website sotheme above, the thesis of my essay wasthat students can review past lessons. I would

something like this: "Though over-control is

miss such a lecture, if I took the mostcertainly a creativity killer for children,

appropriate courses.

no-control is also a bad idea. Instead, giving an

Speaking of the only CS course I'm taking,appropriate restriction on what they do should

the teacher often give students a group work

bechildren'sassignment, in which three or four students

creativity." When I'm looking back on myself, I

make a team to make up a report. As you know,

am feeling that the same goes for our global FD

I am a teacher, so I always worry about how

program.

closely I should participate in it, i.e. it would

thebest way todevelop

As the fall semester of Queens College

not be good for the other students in my team if

began from the end of August, we started toI did all the work by myself. So I decided to do

attend several courses either for earning a credit

it a little passively by trying to give them onlyor just for auditing. However, I found I could

useful comments but not an answer. Indeed,

not take some subjects that were most related tothey often did not work as I expected, whichme, because they were not given in thisannoyed me very much. Therefore, motivating

semester or were given on Friday when we hadthem to do their work became another role of

to attend the two other English classes provided

mine. This might be a kind of lesson we would

just for us, the GFD teachers. I had to select mynever have experienced other than in thisclasses from the restricted time table available

program.

for us, so I decided to take only one course

From the fall semester, the research projectfrom my major, computer science (CS), andwith my mentor, Prof. Bon Sy, also became infour from those other than CS. Nevertheless,earnest. His research area, knowledge-based

this turned out very well for me. The mostsystems for medical diagnosis, is a little

impressive course I'm taking now is aboutdifferent

linguistics given by Prof. Eva Fernandez, whoprocessing. Therefore, I had expected that ouris one of the coordinators of our program. Iresearchfound linguistics as a subject is really relevant

However, he kindly proposed an attractive

for second language learners like us, since it

research topic related to both of us. He, his

provides us an objective insight into ourPh.D. student and I are now having weekly

learning target, i.e. language. Not only that, but

research meetings every Sunday morningalso

because we cannot find any sharable time slot

hermethodofteachingis6frommine,collaboration

spokenwouldbelanguage
limited.

on weekdays. In the meeting, I always

time, I believe we have enjoyed a lot ofstruggled with not only communication in

unexpected but irreplaceable experiences. Last

English but also the differences in ourof all, I would like to quote the final sentences

backgrounds. I am always feeling as if we aretaken from my essay to which I referred at thetalking with different languages. Nevertheless, I

beginning:

think that it is really fruitful, because I cansurrounded by a fence. They will come up withoften learn a new way of thinking from theira good way to play there by themselves. And,approaches, and I can also provide our methods

sometimes, they may find out a way to go

and resources that are new for them. I hope itbeyond the fence in order to enjoy more lively

will bring us further collaboration in the future.

games. Such activity is only possible when theThis is also a kind of experience I would havefence is there.""Puttheminaplaygroundnever had if we were from the same research
field.
Talking about our daily lives in New York,we were suffering from a low exchange rate of
the yen. For example, when I have a seat at arestaurant for my supper, it costs a minimum ofaround $20 (2,500 yen) including tax and tip.
Therefore, I decided to cook meals everyday
for myself. Food at a super-market is still
expensive and a one way bus fare in New YorkA scene taken from the psycholinguistic course

is $2.75 (about 330 yen), so I always have agiven by Prof. Frenandez

walk to a cheaper supermarket. Walking,shopping, cooking and washing-up also take up
quite a lot of my free time. Nevertheless, I havefound myself enjoying them so much. While I
am walking, I can discover various fragmentsof life everywhere, such as passing people,
those talking on their cellphones, houses andgardens on the street, nature at a park, playing
and exercising in it, traffic signs, dustbins,noise, smells, etc. Now it is one of my favorite

A snapshot with my lab members, Ayman whothings to seek a cheap and easy-to-make recipe

is a PhD student, Prof. Sy, me, and John who iswhile I am shopping around in a supermarket.

an ex-member, from left to right

Among others, they give me a feeling of reality
about life in New York.
As I mentioned so far, we have faced a lotof restrictions in our programs. At the same7

Classes in the Fall Semester
Yuko Ichikawa, National Institute of Technology, Tokyo College
I am already in the fourth month of my New

determinant of a matrix or to predict aYork life. Living in New York has been mylimit. Instructors explain how to use it.

dream since I was a high school student andI’ve just started attending the courses

read a girl’s comic “California Story.” I got“Differential

used to the life here and I don’t get on theDifferentials.

3Equation”“Psychology

wrong bus now. I feel I’m not a traveler but anof

insteadofDevelopmentandinhabitant. We are now students of Queens

Learning of Student of Mathematics at

College and are attending courses during thethe Secondary School Level” is the course

fall semester. It started at the end of August andfor freshmen learning education. Most ofI am also getting used to them. Here I introduce

the students in this class are the same as

the courses that I’m taking to you.

those who are in the Differentiation class

The courses in Queens College usually have

I took. They are studying about what is

two 75minute classes a week: Monday andlearning, what is cognition and theWednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. Beyond

mechanism of memory. This class isthat there are several types of classes, 50minuteconducted in the style of active learning.

long,long,Students do the homework, discuss about

170minute long or one time a week, two times

the questions and state their opinion.

a week and so on. There is no lunch breakStudents also do the fieldworks in thetime.

110minutelong,150minute

middle school near here. They observe a4class

We are required to take one credit course.

there.

Beforeafter

thediscuss

what

they

I’m attending eight courses including the credit

observation

course.

should focus, on that day, and what they

Four of them are mathematics: Linear

theyandactually saw.

Differentiation, Linear Algebra II, Probabilityand Statistics. The styles of these classes

Inthecourse“ModernJapanese

are usually lectures. Differentiation is a

Fiction in Translation” students read 20

course for freshmen who will become highcentury Japanese novels. The classes areschool teachers. They have just started

taught by the discussion of the instructor

studyingand students.

othermathcourses are for junior or older.

TheIn “Music History II” students learn

biggest difference from a Japanese mathabout the history of western music ofclass is that the instructors recommend

17th or 18th centuries. They study theusing

style of the music of the era andacalculus.

calculator:

Thetocalculate

aexperience it by listening to the real

Written by Akimi Yoshida, published in1975 by Shogakkan. More than half of thelocale is Manhattan.
4 Some students have lunch during theclass. Instructors don’t pay attention ofthat.
3music. They are required to read thefacsimile of the composer and play the oldmusic.
8

On top of that, on Friday there are twotalk I can hardly understand what they say. The

courses provided for us, Global FD

discussions among students is the most difficult

teachers; “Teaching in English” andto understand. They speak in an ungrammatical“Academic Language Support”.

way. Thinking of how we talk in Japanese, it isBecause I’m attending such a lot ofquite natural. My goal is to join their informal

courses, it is really hard even though I

conversation. I have only slightly more thanam just listening to them. In every course,two months left. I wonder how I can get mystudents have to do a lot of homework

goal, but I will try to do my best.

and it makes them spend a great deal ofFinally, I would like to write my thoughts

time, so they usually enroll in five

about New York. First of all, New York is fullcourses or less in every semester. I can doof cultures. There are a great number of cultural

only homework for math classes andthings: arts, music, sport and so on. I can’t

classes on Friday and reading Japaneseexperience all of them. I don’t have enoughnovels. To my regret, I have no spare time

time (actually and money): Jazz, Classic, Rock,to do the other homework. The mathTheclasses are very understandable for me

History Museum, U.S. open, Major League,

because my special field of study is

NBA… I really appreciate having me such amathematics and it can be described inchance to study in this amazing place. Duringsimple English. In math classes I’ve

my stay here, I would like to experience as

learnedthemany various things as I can. Secondly, New

questions that the instructors deal withYork has enormous diversity: many races ofor how they explain theories. These will

people are living here and they speak various

help me when I will go back Japan.

dialects of English. That makes native speakers

many

usefulthings:

MetropolitanMuseum,The

NaturalPsychology, Literature and Music History

understand any kind of English such as ourare the challenging classes for me. I have littleKatakana English. That sometimes helps us but

background in them, so the English is much

I tend not to pay attention to pronunciation. Butharder. But little by little I’m getting better at

it is only because of NEW YORK!

catching the details of them. I believe it makes
Student’s

my English better to attend many courses.
While I have been taking part in theseperformancecourses, I realized something. Firstly I canin the music

communicate in English if the person tries tohistory course

understand me. In the classes, the biggest
reason that I can’t catch what people say is due
to my lack of vocabulary. All English spoken

Group work in

by instructors is clear, grammatically correct

the educationaland easy to understand. Once they start small

psychology
course9

Toyohashi University of Technology
Institute for Global Network Innovation in Technology Education
Center for International Education
1-1, Hibarigaoka, Tempaku-cho, Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan
Tel: +81-532-81-5161
Mail: unireform@office.tut.ac.jp

10