International scholar voice

Dr Jarka Glassey

Jarka.glassey@ncl.ac.uk

SCONUL meeting

Who am I?

A Slovak (who by now has turned into quite a Geordie)

A (bio)chemical engineer STU Bratislava

A senior lecturer in Chemical Engineering

So how did I get here?

The journey

Studied chemical engineering with specialisation in fermentation chemistry and bioengineering (1985-90)

Did a 3 month IAESTE placement in the Dept. of Microbiology, Newcastle University – offered a PhD opportunity

PhD in the Dept. Chemical & Process Eng.

Research associate working with ICI Pharmaceuticals, GSK

Lectureship, senior lectureship, DPD, Director of Teaching

STU background

Founded in 1937, around 19.000 students annually 7 Faculties http://www.stuba.sk/new/generate_page.php?page_id=2989

STU

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CHEMICAL AND FOOD TECHNOLOGY

CIVIL ENGINEERING

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

  

ARCHITECTURE

MATERIAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY IN TRNAVA

INFORMATICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES

Educational experience

5-year Ug degree

Two semesters, a number of modules

Formal lectures delivered by Profs to large cohorts (150-300) in 2 hr slots

Tutorials/labs in small groups (~20), supervised by TAs

Written test pass required to be allowed to take an oral examination by the Prof

Set of exam questions based on the course as covered by ‘skriptá’

Library provision - then

Late 80s, socialist system

Library mainly used to sell ‘skriptá’ and provide additional reserved copies for reading (similar to student text collection)

Quiet area for study

A small selection of scientific journals

However, as a highly research active student I frequently had to use the libraries of research institutes

Photocopying an issue (had to carry heavy journal volumes to commercial photocopying service providers)

Librarians only acted as ‘sales assistants’, ‘volume locators for restricted volumes’, ‘silence-police’

Culture shock

Studied English since 14, passionate about it

1-year compulsory technical English Ug course, also national prizes for research work presentations in English over 2 years

Arriving at Heathrow for IEASTE made me want to turn straight back

Accents difficult to follow (both for daily and technical English)

2 months of constant headache, but persevered, attended microbiology lectures, always wrote my lab notes in English, explored Walton library (self-learner)

By 3rd month ‘dreaming in English’ and wrote a full final report

Returned home and managed to excel in a subject specialist final year exam that Prof decided to run in English (lectured in Slovak)

Returned to UK, spent every day in Walton library searching for info on funding as well as research articles

My view of Ncl library facilities then

Very impressed, although reluctant to ask librarians for help/advice and had no formal induction

Observed others, asked students in the lab or lecture

Personal preferences (independent learner, probably wouldn’t have participated in ‘group-targeted’ activities and would have tried to work my way through material – plain English useful) – supporting both types worthwhile

No idea about plagiarism

Appreciated the availability of New Scientist, etc. for funding/job prospects

However – I was not a full fee paying international student studying for a degree

CHPT Library now

World changes …

The top research faculty within Slovak HE and one of the top libraries in Slovakia

Wider access to research information – electronic access to databases (donations by German and US Chemical societies)

National and international inter-library loans possible

‘skriptá’ not sold, but enough copies kept in the library for the number of candidates on the course

Consultations with librarians

Photocopying no longer an issue

Students change too…

English/German replaced Russian as a second language, learned from primary school

Students travel more (summer placements, tourism, etc)

Educational system adapting more to Western system – Bachelor degrees introduced, ECTS system, examinations becoming more written

Motivation and attitude to learning is also changing with societal changes