My lectures are in small classrooms with drop-down screens; the lecturers\nwalk around, engaging with students, handing around samples and producing\nworksheets for us to complete mid-lecture. It feels more like a school than a\nuniversity which, after some getting used to, I really love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/09\/class-768x1024.png\")
My Volcanology ‘lecture theatre’<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/09\/text.png\")
My Mineral Deposits textbook<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n - Canadians speak in lectures?!<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Back home if I so much as make a sound in a lecture- never mind ask or\nanswer a question- there are so many eyes glaring at me I want to sink into the\nground. You can imagine my surprise when in my first igneous petrology lecture\nthe professor asked \u2018what are the two main classification types of igneous\nrocks?\u2019 obviously I shrunk into my seat then jumped out of my skin when the\nclassroom erupted in a cacophony of voices shouting, \u2018volcanic and plutonic!\u2019.\nI am still working on getting over my fear of speaking in a lecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Textbooks in exams?!<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
I had never heard of an open book exam until this week, turns out they\nare very common in North America (and maybe all over the world, who knows? But certainly\nnot in the Earth department at Cardiff!) what a brilliant idea! My jaw dropped\nwhen I was told for the first time that I could take my course textbook, full\nof whatever annotations I want into an exam with me. This makes exams so much\nless stressful, even if I don\u2019t entirely need a textbook in an exam, it feels\nlike a comfort blanket I can desperately cling to. And I like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Assessment differences<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
If someone told me that two lectures into a course I\u2019d have my first test\nand I would continue to be tested every single week after that, I\u2019d have\nlaughed in their face- or maybe cried, who knows? Today I sat my first short\ntest and needless to say I was terrified, but it turns out when a test is only\nworth 2.5% of one course ( which is less than 1\/8 of the year) it becomes a lot\nless scary. I also think it is a better way of learning than trying to desperately\nmemorise everything at the end of the term when all you want to do is go home\nand celebrate making it through a semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/09\/untitled-1024x768.png\")
Two lectures in and learning all this (plus more on the other sides!) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n - Assessment weighting<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Finally, (and already lightly touched upon) is the assessment method in\nCanada. As I mentioned for all my courses we are tested often, these tests aren\u2019t\nworth a huge amount individually but when added up they usually amount to a\nfair chunk of the course (~30-50%). This means that the big scary assessed\npractical and even scarier exam at the end of the course are only worth around 25-35%\neach, and that\u2019s a lot nicer than an exam, 4 months after you have finished the\ncourse, worth 70%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/09\/mirror.png\")
Wednesday OOTD<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/09\/self.png\")
Wednesday Make-up<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/09\/clothes-769x1024.png\")
Thursday OOTD<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n Overall I am really enjoying the differences between the two countries\nand find the methods over here refreshing, I feel like I will get so much more\nout of this year because of how much work I have to do throughout the year,\ninstead of cramming all the knowledge at the end!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today marks the end of my first full week of classes at UBC. I have noticed some major differences in teaching\/learning styles between the UK and Canada. I\u2019ve listed 5 […]","protected":false},"author":1720,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[269],"tags":[267,262,48,309,400],"class_list":["post-3872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-exchange","tag-cardiff-earth","tag-cardiff-university","tag-exams","tag-study-abroad","tag-ubc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4QQbz-10s","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3829,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/settling-in-my-first-week-at-ubc\/","url_meta":{"origin":3872,"position":0},"title":"Settling in- My First Week at UBC!","author":"Niamh O'Reilly","date":"September 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Saturday I left Vancouver Airport at 3pm on Saturday. It didn\u2019t take much more than half an hour to get to UBC and I was checked in my room by 4. I quickly unpacked and decorated my room as much as I could before I met my new flatmates; then,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Placements"","block_context":{"text":"International Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/international-exchange\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/09\/IMG_4333-e1567866634448-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/09\/IMG_4333-e1567866634448-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/09\/IMG_4333-e1567866634448-150x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/09\/IMG_4333-e1567866634448-150x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/09\/IMG_4333-e1567866634448-150x150.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/09\/IMG_4333-e1567866634448-150x150.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1093,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/week-one-at-ubc\/","url_meta":{"origin":3872,"position":1},"title":"Week One at UBC","author":"Lorna Hayne","date":"September 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"So I\u2019ve been in Vancouver for a week now and I\u2019m still sane and functioning which I have to say has been a shock to most of my friends and family and especially to myself. Admittedly I may still be in the honey moon stage with this amazing city and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Placements"","block_context":{"text":"International Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/international-exchange\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"14315766_1382948828399186_227321271_o","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/09\/14315766_1382948828399186_227321271_o-450x338.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3741,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/applying-for-a-year-abroad-my-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":3872,"position":2},"title":"Applying for a year abroad- my story","author":"Niamh O'Reilly","date":"August 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my major inspirations for studying Geology was the opportunity to travel- this dream has finally come true! This is due to some very hard work and a pinch of good luck. My A-Levels weren\u2019t what I expected, and I ended up at Cardiff through clearing (best thing that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Placements"","block_context":{"text":"International Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/international-exchange\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/08\/Flight.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/08\/Flight.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/08\/Flight.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2019\/08\/Flight.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6478,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/accessing-support-whilst-abroad-a-students-perspective\/","url_meta":{"origin":3872,"position":3},"title":"Accessing support whilst abroad: a student\u2019s perspective.","author":"Daniel Estell","date":"March 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Name: Daniel Estell School: English, Communication and Philosophy Global Opportunity: Semester Abroad If you are a student who has accessed additional support whilst at Cardiff, you may be wondering how this will translate to your time abroad. As a student with medical needs, one of my biggest concerns prior to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "European Placements"","block_context":{"text":"European Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/europe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3770,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/top-10-fears-and-cheers\/","url_meta":{"origin":3872,"position":4},"title":"Top 10- Fears and Cheers!","author":"Niamh O'Reilly","date":"August 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s now just over a day until I embark on my journey to Vancouver- I have contemplated the parts I am most looking forward to as well as those I am definitely not. Here\u2019s my top 10 fears and cheers for going abroad. 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- Assessment weighting<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Assessment differences<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- Textbooks in exams?!<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n