By Seo Yeon-ji
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, ? man? sic manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait.?How we behave truly reflects our inner beauty. However, not all Ewha students seem to possess beautiful manners that they can proudly present as their self-portrait.
Many students eat, send text messages, sleep, or even make phone calls during classes. Students who are engaged with these actions do not concentrate during their lessons and a bigger problem rises when they disturb other students who sit near them.
Lee Hye-jin (Sociology, 3) who is registered for a class with more than 400 students said, ?ormally, students come into the classroom with drinks in their hand. As there isn? much room for everyone in the class, incidents happen when people eat and drink. When an empty can drops off a desk and tumbles down the stairs, everyone? attention including the professor? shifts to the can and the flow of the lecture is disturbed.?Lee said that in large classes where the lecturer can? see every student, students tend to behave more discourteously. ?eople bring in food to eat during the lesson and the smell stays in the room for a long time. Although professors don? say much about eating and they can? see your face in a large classroom, students still need to have better etiquette,?she added.
Another unpleasant behavior that many students complain about is sleeping during class. ? lot of students sleep during the class and many professors don? say much about this. However, it is especially embarrassing when students sleep in front of a guest lecturer who is specially invited to our school,?said Sung Yoon-young (Computer Science, 4). ?taying awake and not chatting during the lesson is basic good manners, something we learn from elementary school but people seem to forget that very often,?said Choi Ye-seul-gi (Korean Education, 1). Sung also said that, when the lights are turned off during class for a slide presentation, the flashes from people checking their text messages are often distracting.
While many students complain about the people eating during lectures, professors seemed to be more offended by chatting and not paying attention to the lecture.
T here were even some cases where professors encouraged students to drink or eat during class. Professor Mah Jai-sheen (International Studies), says he encourages his students to bring coffee or coke into his class if that helps them to stay awake and focus on his lecture. Professor Yi Kyung-ok (Human Movement & Performance) lets students eat during her classes because she thinks it is better for their health than skipping lunch. However, she added it would be even better if students clean up and take their garbage with them after the class.
Professor Kim Sung-won, (Science Education) who is currently teaching the class ?cience, Life and the Future,?to about 400 students said, ?t is very sad for a lecturer when students don? pay attention and talk with others. The sound distracts other students and makes the class very noisy.?One other annoying behavior teacher and students agree on is arriving late. ?he clinking sound of heels really bothers other people, and some of them come into the classroom through the front door. Maybe it would be a good idea if the professors lock the door once the class begins,?said Lee Hye-jin.
To overcome these problems, Lee suggested having smaller classes to make the students concentrate more. Ro Chai-won (Chemistry, 2) said installing more ventilation fans and eating outside the classroom might help to remove the smell, especially from basement rooms.
Students may value the freedom to eator even sleepduring class. But says Professor Kim Sung-won, ?ne? freedom should be pursued as long as it doesn? have bad effects on others.?Have a look into yourself. Are you disturbing someone else? class in the name of freedom?