This course is, I would say, one that is quite unique at Muhlenberg. Coming into the course a little late I was initially very confused about the different tools that we use in this class. This confusion however was something that obviously has been resolved now as the semester has gone on and I now have experience with the website we use as well as my own berg builds account.
The uniqueness of the course does not however only include our medium of communication. Unlike many other courses Modern China does not have any exams and our final grade is made up of weekly blog posts and less often deeper investigations, show and tells, as well as class participation. This structuring of our grading does not conform to traditional measures of student engagement and learning and instead puts the majority of the students learning into their own hands. At first, much like with the use of the different websites, I was a skeptical and confused about how it was that we would be able to differentiate ourselves from our peers and be quantitatively measured on our academic performance in class without tests or large essays/projects. Two thirds of the way through the semester however I have found myself surprised at what I have come to understand about my own, and others, learning process. This more flexible structuring of assignments and grading does more than place the responsibility in the student’s hands, but it also gives them the authority to investigate what it is that interests them; rather than being concerned with what will be on the next test, which I have begun to think limits students learning rather than expands it. To point more specifically at myself this semester I think the best example of this different system working was my blog post about the first wave of Chinese migration and the Peranakan Chinese. It was in this post and my ability to have my writing be more of a stream of consciousness, rather than a traditional essay style, that inspired me to continue investigating Chinese migration for my second show and tell. Such a concentrated look at an off shoot of the ‘basic’ material that we were looking at in class would have been difficult in almost any other course as students aren’t given time to research these different parts of the course as they would fall behind the rest the class and the testing material covered in that class.
Another aspect of the class that I come to appreciate greatly is the freedom that we are given in our writing of our weekly blog posts. I touched on this slightly above while talking about my blog post turned show and tell but the freedom that we have in with our writing has meant that I spend less time worrying about conforming to some sort of structure and more about the content itself.
Finally, looking back at my past reflection I think that I have done well to keep in mind the goal that I discussed of monitoring the development China’s relationship with the Western World as the semester has gone on. I have made sure to take note of different factors/events that have played a part in the creation of China’s relationships today. Going forward in the semester I intend to continue keeping this topic in mind as I may use it my fourth show and tell.
