Before starting their first classes in August, the newly admitted students from this year's admissions had the opportunity to join pre-orientation workshops on diverse topics: reading strategies, note-taking, an overview of academic ethics and plagiarism, determining the reliability of sources, APA citation, paraphrasing & direct quotations, the core architecture of an essay and presentation skills. The workshops were organized under the Parami Language and Learning Center and led by academic advisors Brooke Taffler, Anny Lin, May Zin Nyein Ein, and Lily Huang.
The liberal arts and sciences education philosophy is core to the undergraduate degree programs at Parami University. The University uses a student-centered learning approach that encompasses both a mindset and an institutional culture to give students more autonomy in learning. Discussions are the primary mode of learning at Parami University.
Anny Lin, an academic advisor from the Parami Language and Learning Center (LLC), explained, "The pre-orientation sessions are really important for helping students become more comfortable in student-centered spaces at Parami and to begin the process of building a collaborative learning community amongst each other.” Having provided eight pre-orientation sessions, the LLC aims for the students to feel more confident and prepared heading into their first semester.
How learning is facilitated at Parami
It is important for students from diverse educational backgrounds to understand the essence of the teaching and learning approach at Parami. Student-centered learning, which is different from rote learning that the majority of the incoming students experienced at the K-12 level, engages students actively by accommodating diverse learning styles and encouraging them to consciously and actively participate in classroom discussions.
"For many of our students, past education consisted of memorization and individual learning,” explained another academic advisor, Brooke Taffler, “ which is why we are introducing them to essential components of the liberal arts curriculum, including student-centered learning, critical thinking, inquiry and discussion, and more.” She has observed growth in the students’ confidence, collaboration, and problem-solving skills even within a few short weeks of running the academic workshops.
Another important characteristic of the education programs at Parami is the diversity of the students’ backgrounds and educational experiences. This diversity, according to Anny Lin, is beneficial in that students are constantly exposed to diverse ideas, perspectives, and experiences. However, she also emphasized that these differences can sometimes feel overwhelming for some of the students who have had more limited academic experience previously. Her advice to the students who are newly starting at the university is to keep in mind that “we are all coming to Parami with different areas of strengths and areas for improvement; all we can do is to put in our own personal best efforts."
Despite the electricity and internet connection issues, all the workshops were successfully delivered to the students, and the incoming students had the chance to adapt to Param's learning environment. The instructors were impressed by the new students' dedication and commitment to learning. With the knowledge gained from the pre-orientation sessions, the instructors hope that the new students will be ready to make the most out of the upcoming 2-week Language and Thinking Workshop before the fall semester classes begin.
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