sandro in taiwan 2
Lectures
On this page I would like to present my subjects and explain how the lectures look like. I realized the lectures are very different according to each country or continent and for this reason I think the comparison can be useful, mainly for other students who plan to study in Taiwan or even at the NTUST. I will not discuss the scale of study, because the syllabus can be downloaded from the NTUST and every university has a little different syllabus even to the same subject.Mandarin Course Level 3
3 hours/week, every Monday from 18:30 till 21:10
I worked hard on my Chinese during the summer vacation and thanks to (expecially) Edward's help I was able to skip the Level 2 and join directly Level 3. At the beginning I had felt to be really bad (and I really had been!), because I was still finishing the Leson 2 by myself. However during 3 weeks I have caught up and now I feel relatively confident. As I skipped one level, I also changed my professor. Even though Mr. Wang was very good, I can say my actual teacher is even much better. Her style of teaching is very nice and she is really easy-going. I still haven't any experience with tests, just one very easy homework had to be submitted recently. That, however, doesn't lower the quality of the class, because the teacher focus on extending our vocabulary and speaking ability during the class (each class we learn about 20 new words).Transmission Electron Microscopy
3 hours/week, every Tuesday from 11:30 till 12:20 and Wednesday from 10:30 till 12:20
As you can read below, last semester I took a course focused to elementary understanding of all the widely used types of electron microscopes. I listened the advice of my "advisor" as well as my father and joined another course, focused just to Transmission Electron Microscopy (the most widely used one). Contrariwise to the previous course this one goes deep into the given physical and technical field, however with the knowledge accumulated during last semester it seems to be relatively easy. The professor is a young sympathetic woman who studied one year in France. The only disadvantage is that the professor often forget to upload study materials to the student system :) The first test will take place soon.X-ray Diffraction and Crystallography
3 hours/week, every Tuesday from 13:30 till 16:20
Despite the subject is not exactly from my major, I took it on the basis of my department leader's and father's recommendation. As well as the Transmission Electron Microscopy the subject goes deep into the given field. Nevertheless, this time I have almost no background and for that reason this subject will be probably the most difficult. (However beside Random Vibrations it will be still just a child game.) The professor is obviously fresh one and thus he is really easy-going. His presentations are prepared well, he makes revisions of his work, make secondary slides for explaining difficult questions and others. Test contains all the important issues from X-ray Diffraction and it is focused on practical use (computing, calculations). Homeworks are also required and focus to the same things like tests. It usually take 2 hours to finish them.Services Marketing
prof. Ming-Yih Yeh, 3 hours/week, every Thursday from 9:30 till 12:20
This is my second economical course. I have to admit this is not my primal choice and I took it rather because I wanted to have two economical subjects and thus extended my economical background then from my personal interest about the issue. On the other hand I have to say it surpsised me it is quite interesting and some of the topics are also aplicable to different fields, thus the real value of the course have increased for me during the time. The professor is very strict and she has set a lot of rules. Most of them are contraproductive or too complicated, but that is her way how to teach. The tests are rather focused on the ability to find the information in papers (the tests are open-book) then to our real knowledge and understanding of Service Marketing, which is pity. On the other hand, the presentations are held half by discussion half by explaining the theory and they are interesting and well conducted.Construction Project Risk Management
prof. Sou-Sen Leu, 3 hours/week, every Thursday from 13:30 till 16:20
This economical course is the one I really wanted to take. It is highly correlated to technics and construction respectively. It is conducted by the professor from department of Construction Engineering and thus it is focused on these areas even more. The professor gave us a printed PPT handout, which is further discussed during the class. The absence is not a big deal, but additional information can be obtained if you listen carefully. Several small assignments are expected during the term and we have to present a term paper in the end of the semester (we work in the group of 2 people, I am with a Taiwanese student who call himself Brad. I am Quite lucky as he can speak English well, thanks God :) ).Strategic Human Resources Management
prof. Wei-Shong Lin, 3 hours/week, every Monday from 9:30 to 12:20
Economical subject concerned about Human Resources. To be honest, this lecture I like the most. The lecture has a concept of discussion among all the students. The professor leads us the right way and lets us think over all the possibilities, sources and consequences of given problems from case studies. There are no real homeworks, but preparation for each class is expected (and required). It usually takes 1 or 2 hours to prepare well. The theoretical material altogether is left for self-study. Beside the tests we have to present a final paper about Human Resources in company of our personal choice. The only disadvantage is very expensive textbook (1008 NT$ = 650 CZK), which is actually necessary due to our self-study of the theory.Project Management
3 hours/week, every Tuesday from 9:30 to 12:20
Another economical subject, this time about Project Management. Contrariwise to the previous one, where are just 10 students, this one is attended by more than 50 as the subject is very popular. The lecture is also held partly as a discussion, however the theory is explained. The professor offered us PPT slides, which make the study easier. Everything important can be found there. In addition to this, we are divided into 3-person groups and during the semester each group has to present a presentation about one famous contemporary (or past) project and discuss it from the project management point of view. Our project is Brooklyn Bridge, the presentation will be in the end of April. Except this a term paper has to be submitted till the end of the semester. This time we are not working in groups, everybody by his/her own.Advanced Surface Characterisation of Materials
prof. Jinn P.Chu, 3 hours/week, every Wednesday from 12:30 to 15:10
This subject is concerned about electron microscopy, the ways how various versions of electron microscopes work are introduced. The professor offered us a self-written textbook, which is really good. However he discusses even more topic than it is mentioned there, thus we have to listen carefully. He precisely explains every issue. If you listen carefully, it is really easy to understand the point even though the amount of information is enormous. The lecture is attended by at least 70 students. The score is given on the basis of two relatively easy tests, which however require your focus during classes. The professor is also my unofficial advisor (because I don't write thesis).Mandarin Course Level 1
3 hours/week, every Wednesday from 18:30 till 21:10
The Mandarin course. What more can I say? We are learning Mandarin both spoken and written. That means we are learning the characters, however I think 3 hours a week is not too much. Tests are after every discussed lesson and limited knowledge characters are required. Homeworks are based on writing chinese characters to special form. I can really speak about an enormous luck I nodded to the teacher I can teach English one Taiwanese student and he will teach me Mandarin instead. Not only because I learn really more then on the lecture, but thanks to this I already found 3 great Taiwanese guys and I think they are more than "teachers" for me :) All of them are very kind and even though their English is not perfect, we can understand each other, which is great!Random Vibrations
prof. Cherng,Rwsy-Hua, 3 hours/week, every Thursday from 13:30 to 16:00
Random Vibrations are certainly the most difficult subject I took here. The subject connect the Theory of Probability and Dynamics of Continuum together and create the independent science major called Random Vibrations. According to this, it is essential to understand both mentioned parts toget idea about Random Vibrations mechanism. I am quite lucky as I had already 2 times Theory of Probability and Dynamics of Continuum was discussed in at least 5 subjects at the FNSPE. Good concentration is needed all the lecture. This subject is the only one with really difficult tests. Homeworks are also required and each of them takes about 2 or 3 hours. Just because of the very easy-going professor it is possible to pass without getting mad :)
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