Credit training has been implemented at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities since the 2007-2008 school year. QH-2007-X (K52) is the first student class to apply this training method in all subjects. Out of 1,345 students in this class, there are currently 05 students who have completed over 90% of the total credits, with scores sufficient to register for graduation thesis defense.These students have the opportunity to receive their university degrees this year and become the first students of the University to obtain their university degrees after only 3 years instead of the usual 4 years. They are Duong Thi Oanh Thanh, Ninh Thi Anh Hong, Nguyen Thi Phuong, Vu Thi Kim Loan, Dong Thi Chinh of class K52A, Faculty of Philosophy. The 5 students have completed from 115 to 119 out of a total of 136 credits with good academic results. While they are working on their graduation thesis to defend in June 2010, the 5 students are still trying to complete the last credits. Reporter ussh.edu.vn had a quick interview with these 5 students to learn about their efforts in the process of "racing" to shorten their study time and have job opportunities sooner than their classmates.
Reporter (PV): Was being able to shorten your study time your plan from the beginning when you entered university or was it completely a coincidence?-
Duong Thi Oanh Thanh: Dear madam, this is an idea that has been pondered and planned since the first year when my friends and I studied at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. When learning about the credit training method, we realized that if we arrange our time skillfully and do not waste any time, we can completely skip subjects and complete the required credits before the deadline. We have planned and asked for advice from teachers to achieve our goal.
Students who meet the following conditions are considered for graduation:
- Not being prosecuted for criminal liability or not being disciplined from the level of suspension from school or higher up to the time of graduation consideration.
- Accumulated enough credits required for each training major. Cumulative average score of 2.00 or higher for standard system or 2.50 or higher for high quality system.
- Have a minimum English proficiency of 4.0 IELTS for standard training, 5.5 IELTS for high-quality training or equivalent for other languages.
- Completed two-subject program of National Defense - Security Education and Physical Education.
(Excerpt from Student Handbook of University of Social Sciences and Humanities)
PV: So what specifically have you done to achieve that goal?
- Duong Thi Oanh Thanh: First of all, you have to learn and master the school's training process for students majoring in Philosophy, see which subjects are prerequisites that need to be studied first, then based on the class schedule provided by the Training Department for your course, the class schedule of the previous course (ie course QH-2006-X - PV), see what free time you have to arrange to study subjects that are beyond the previous course at the same time as the current subjects. -
Nguyen Thi Phuong: In general, you have to be proactive in registering for courses, grasp the schedule of your course and the previous course, of course, you have to prioritize finishing all the courses of your course first, then consider taking additional courses with the condition that the study time does not overlap with any other subjects.
PV: What do you think about the benefits and difficulties that the credit-based training method brings to students' learning?-
Duong Thi Oanh Thanh: I think that credit training, although a new training method, helps increase the effectiveness and initiative in students' learning. Students must proactively learn about the learning process in 4 years of study, learn about the subjects, be proactive in asking and communicating with teachers to receive information related to the learning process, even useful advice for arranging their studies. If they are proactive, persistent and try hard, students can shorten their study time and have job opportunities sooner. -
Ninh Thi Anh Hong: Credit training can help students make the most of their time to shorten their study time, but it comes with a lot of pressure to study. That makes it difficult for us when we are used to the old passive way of learning and have to change our awareness and actions in actively finding materials, taking the initiative in time and studying. In particular, outside of class time, we have to find ways to acquire more knowledge for ourselves.
PV: So, in your opinion, what are the current limitations of credit training at our school?-
Dong Thi Chinh: My course is the first course in which all subjects apply the new training method, it is the first experimental course of the school with this training method. Therefore, besides benefiting from the positive factors of this training method, we also have some disadvantages because the credit training management activities will not be immediately perfect but also have many limitations. Both teachers and students have not fully adapted to the new training method. -
Duong Thi Oanh Thanh: In my opinion, the facilities are one of the limitations. Students have to study both morning and afternoon and only have a short break at noon. This is different from the training system that only studies one session a day. If you go home at noon, you will not have time to attend afternoon classes, so students have to stay at school at noon. But currently, the school does not have a place for students to rest at noon, so my friends and I have to sit somewhere in the schoolyard, which makes us very tired and affects our studies. I think the school should open some lecture halls during lunch break for students to use.
Vu Thi Kim Loan: The limited number of documents in the library also makes it difficult for students to study for credit. We have to wait for our turn to borrow because the number of documents and the number of books per document is small. There are also not many documents in the faculty libraries. Credit classes are too crowded with students, some classes have more than 100 students, making it difficult to discuss and exchange in class.
Students are accepted for graduation thesis topics if they meet the following conditions:
- Complete 90% or more of the subjects of the training program (not including graduation time)
- Achieve a grade of B or higher in all advanced courses.
- Have a graduation thesis outline approved by the head of the training management unit to carry out the thesis.
(Excerpt from Student Handbook of University of Social Sciences and Humanities)
PV: What advice do you have for other students to be able to study effectively using the credit-based training method while shortening study time?-
Duong Thi Oanh Thanh:If you have decided to study ahead, you must have a plan from the beginning and be consistent with that goal. Because in the process of studying ahead, you will be under great pressure when having to study a larger amount of knowledge but in a shorter time than other students. That pressure occurs regularly over a long period of several years, so it is not easy to overcome. After determining that mindset, you need to proactively learn and follow the school's information about the school schedule, training program, subject content, contact teachers for guidance and advice so that your study plan is reasonable, fits the time, does not overlap and does not waste any space.
Dong Thi Chinh: My advice to you is to prepare yourself mentally to cope with the pressure of studying when you have to study many subjects with a large amount of knowledge in a short time. It often happens that the whole class has plans to go out tomorrow but you alone cannot participate because of your exam schedule. In general, students who want to study ahead will have to face more stressful exams than other students. If the exam results are good, it will make you excited to continue to schedule to study ahead next semester. If the exam results are not good, it is easy to get discouraged and give up halfway.
Nguyen Thi Phuong:You should boldly contact and discuss with teachers to get more information and useful advice.
PV: Is it a coincidence that you are a group of 5 people in the same class?-
Duong Thi Oanh Thanh:When we had the intention of studying ahead to save time, we decided to form a group to study together for motivation. We basically studied the same subjects, with the same time to go and come back together, study, discuss and exchange together. Actually, at first our group had 7 people but then 2 of us stopped following the group.
PV: So, according to you, is it difficult to excel in your studies?- It's not too difficult if you know how to study, be proactive, be active in learning, and importantly, be persistent with your original goals.
PV: Thank you and I wish you all to fulfill your wishes and receive your university degree this summer!Talking on the sidelines of the interview, we discovered a very interesting piece of information: all 05 students above, for one reason or another, entered university at the School one year later than usual. Maybe that is also a motivation for these students to try harder and be more urgent in planning their studies? Sharing with us, they also expressed their desire to continue making plans "
run over time if possible” in their future studies and work. Because they will have more time to do more of the things they want and to grasp more good opportunities in life - which sometimes only come once and at a certain time in each person's life.
