By Jellaby Lai (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia)
Studying abroad is all about LEARNING: new culture, new knowledge, new skills, new people and new stories. Today let’s talk about the academic differences between Australian National University in Canberra and The University of Manchester. Talking from experience, I found it extremely helpful to know the differences before starting my semester abroad. (For those who haven’t read my introduction, I did Actuarial Science and Mathematics so the differences I am about to talk about may vary from other courses.)
| Academic Differences | The University of Manchester(UoM) | Australian National University (ANU) |
| Course units per semester(Full credit) | 6 | 4 |
| Lecture style | In lecture hall or theatre | Same |
| Lecture Recording | Some lectures are recorded, some are not. | All of them are recorded |
| Assignment | Weekly assignments are not marked after first year | The weekly assignments marks make up part of the final grade for many courses |
| Tutorial | Weekly tutorial | Same |
| Exam | 2 hours exam | 3 hours exam(One of the Statistics exam I had is an open book exam which I have never had in UoM) |
Personally I am not a big fan of 3-hour exam, it is very draining and one of the papers I did was worth 180 marks. The pressure was no joke. However it has turned me into a much more flexible and adaptable learner. It is vital that you know the assessment method of your chosen modules. Figure out what learning style best suits you and pick the modules with your preferred assessment method. Like The University of Manchester, Australian National University offers a wide variety of different units and the learning environment and facilities at ANU are excellent.