Trimesters are coming!
Trimesters are coming!
  • 김창식
  • 승인 2007.09.04 18:55
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Sung-Mok Jeon  Bloodytaker@yun.ac.kr

  The Trimester-system will be introduced in the Schools of Display, Chemical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Science, Material Science, and Engineering. Yeungnam University will test the new system in its technical colleges from December 14, 2007.

  Survey

  The statistical graphs show that many students Yeungnam university know what a trinester-system is. There are an equal number of students who do not know what one is and what it will or will not do for them. Most students exhibit negative opinions about the trimester-system. Perhaps, the negative viewpoints arise from a lack of understanding of the new system. It might take a while to get the students' approval for the system.

1. Do you know what the trimester system is?

2. Can the trimester-system be useful to the students of Yeungnam University?

3. If the trimester-system starts, would you be willing to take advantage of the system, like taking a winter semester?

4. Do you think the trimester system is worth trying in Korean universities?

 

The Trimester-system (three semesters per year) has been fashioned on the American university system and some argue that it now fits the Korean situation. When the YU-trimester system comes into effect, students will be able to take an extra six, 3-credit units, in addition to the regular spring and fall semesters, during the eight-week winter semester.

What exactly will the trimester-system mean for us? These days, many universities are agonizing over the deepening hardship suffered by graduates searching for employment. It is hoped that the new trimester-system will better address the problems of student-employment as well as the competitiveness of the university.

The trimester-system can offer students expanded, multi-subject choices which were impossible in the established two semester-system. Students who lack the basic knowledge to enter special-study programs will have more time and opportunity to acquire it.

Furthermore, the students' precious time which they may idle away during their long vacations could be more efficiently used by attending a winter semester. Students taking all three semesters will be able to prepare for the real world earlier than the students who don't take the winter semester. However, this trimester-system is not perfect. One problem may be the reduction of professors' research-time or the time they spend acquiring extra domestic or overseas-tuition in their own subjects.

In the existing-system, professors can devote themselves to their research during each lengthy vacation, but if the trimester-system takes effect, they will instead have to teach students who want to take special study units during the winter-semester. The professors won't be able to devote themselves to their research and, therefore, the fruits of their research will be diminished.

In the existing system, students can take as many lessons as they wish once they have paid their tuition, fee, whereas, if the trimester-system is brought in, students need only pay an amount that covers the number of units they actually take.

The duration of semesters in the trimester system will be reduced from 16 weeks to 15 weeks, a week shorter than before. Some students mix up the terms 'season-semester' and 'trimester'. A season-semester emphasizes, academic studies more than the demands of the real world which many students wish to prepare for. Students who take a winter-semester, however, can choose to deepen their knowledge of their major subject so that they will be ready for the real world after graduation.

Finally, through the additional extra studies in winter that the multi-major degrees require, the quality of education should easily be improved. The new trimester can be a process of trial and error for YU in providing a better campus-life for its students.

Another problem, even if educational programs are good in a trimester, the winter-semester will be of no value if there are not enough students to enroll. In conclusion, we can predict at any rate that the trimester system will help the students who lack the discipline to study during vacation-time or those who want to take inter-disciplinary studies.


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