Students speak up about EPO’s programs and suggest improvements

From the 43 percent of students who answered that there is a room for mprovement concerning the EPO's programs and courses, 38 percent throught lecture methods needed to be improved, 33 on the content, 25 on the level of difficulty, 2 on advertisement for the programs, 1 on increasing in the number of additional classes for a course, and the remaining one on limiting prerequisite courses.
Regarding the efforts and programs of EPO, students have shown their opinion through a survey conducted by the Ewha Voice.
According to the survey targeting 234 Ewha students from Aug. 22 to 23, 43 percent of the surveyed students think that there is room for improvement concerning the EPO’s programs and courses. Among these 119 students, 38 percent wish for improvement of the courses’ teaching methods, and 33 percent voted for improvement in the content of courses. Twenty-five percent of the students asked for the betterment of course level.
“We have meetings every semester to improve course quality,” said Choi Yoon Ji, EPO Researcher. “Through the meetings, we decide how to change the contents and methods of courses or what kind of books to use in class.”
Another noticeable issue is students’ varying English levels in class. Six percent answered that the level gap is very large. Over 40 percent replied that the level gap is quite large, and 44 percent said the gap seems to exist. Only 10 percent thought the gap was small or very small. Following these answers about the apparent level gap among students, 51 percent often experienced inconvenience caused by the difference. Nine percent of the students even had numerous occasions of uneasiness regarding the gap.
Furthermore, although 13 percent of the surveyed students thought that the EPO is doing the best they can to solve this problem, 24 percent felt that the EPO is not trying hard enough to do so. And 63 percent answered that they were not sure of the EPO’s efforts.
“When it comes to classes such as College English and Advanced English, I think there are many cases where students’ English levels vary both within a class and among classes of supposedly the same level,” Jeong Da-young (Education, 2) said. “In some situations, students who are actually good at English cannot get satisfactory grades just because of the high level of the class. Maybe it would be better if mandatory courses used absolute evaluations instead of ranking the students against competition.”
Regarding the aspect of gap among students in classes, the EPO replied that this supposed problem can be overcome by individual students’ efforts.
“Many students think students’ English gap affects grades a lot,” said Choi. “Actually, that is not true because the test score only accounts for 30 percent of the complete grade. So students can easily get the remaining 70 percent of the score in class.”
In addition, students showed positive reactions regarding the diversity of the EPO’s courses. Seventeen percent thought there are various types of courses provided by the EPO, and 66 percent answered that the EPO’s diversity is average.
In terms of students’ awareness about the EPO’s programs, 29 percent of the students originally knew about the English Lounge, 21 percent about the school’s English evaluation exam, 18 percent about Ewha Intensive English, 17 percent about the English Clinic, and 16 percent about Ewha Writing Intensive School. Over 63 percent replied that they had participated in one or two of these programs from the EPO. Five percent of the students participated in more than three EPO programs. In addition, 30 percent had found the programs effective, while 53 percent thought they were okay.
“I went to the Writing Clinic to get advice on revising my essay,” said Kang Se-lim (Social Studies Education, 1). “I got it from a teaching assistant, and it was really convenient. She not only checked my essay, but also taught me general knowledge about writing.”
The EPO wishes for students to take advantage of the various EPO programs.
“We hope students will utilize the resources that the EPO offers,” said Kim Min-jung, Director of the EPO. “Students could gain so much by challenging themselves through taking part in the courses and programs we offer. Effective use of the programs will improve English skills to the maximum. Students may not even need to take extra outside programs to prepare for official exams.”
저작권자 © Ewha Voice 무단전재 및 재배포 금지