A weekend visit to the Grand Canyon marked the end of an adventure for some, but the vast, panoramic views made them reflect on the experiences and global perspective they've gained on their visit to the United States and two of the Maricopa Community Colleges. In the last weeks of January and early February, two faculty members and six students from Wuyi University spent time with faculty and students on the Estrella Mountain Community College (EMCC) and Mesa Community College (MCC) campuses as part of a seven-year exchange program between the Maricopa Community Colleges and Wuyi University.
Wuyi University, located in Jiangmen City in the Guangdong Province of China, is a four-year university with 15 departments and more than 11,000 students. The exchange program began with the Maricopa Community College District as a faculty exchange program only, but in 2000 the program was expanded to the students as well. The program's purpose is to encourage faculty and students to develop intercultural communication and understanding. With 53 Maricopa faculty members, 44 Wuyi faculty and several students from EMCC and MCC participating in the program since its inception, the exchanges have been very successful in creating learning communities for faculty and students.
"I was shocked into participation in the Wuyi University/Maricopa Community Colleges China Exchange program when a student told me about her struggle with laying off all of her manufacturing employees because the entire operation had been outsourced to China. As business faculty, I wanted to learn more about how the manufacturing industry in China affected the industries in the U.S.," said Dr. John Bradley, business faculty at Estrella Mountain Community College. Bradley participated in the exchange program in China in 2005 and hosted the two Chinese faculty this year along with business faculty member, Clarissa Davis-Ragland.
Chen Musian (Yin) and Zhou Xuanfeng (Angel), Wuyi English faculty, were excited to come to Estrella Mountain Community College to observe American classrooms and teaching methods. "One thing that we noticed right away was the freedom that the teachers and students have in the classroom," Angel said referring to the learning spaces in Estrella Mountain's classrooms. "It's great that the students are encouraged to work as a group; it's not like that in China."
Yin agreed. "Here, the students have a lot of interaction with each other and each student has a computer; we only have one computer per classroom, and it's for the teacher to use," she said.
Wuyi's students had other observations; "The food is delicious!" was heard around the room during an information session between Wuyi and EMCC students. But, on a more serious level, the students discussed their impressions of the United States and the educational system. "You learn more about home because you have the impulse to learn after what you've seen with other cultures in another country," said one student. "Classrooms, and your lifestyle in general are more relaxed," said another. One big thing the students agreed on what that our teachers focused more on group discussion and learning from one another with most of the work being done individually at home. The Chinese students said they are required to do much more of their work in the classroom leaving no time for discussion with their peers.
Outside of the classroom, the faculty and students lived with American families, host families who work within the Maricopa Community College District. Other activities included visiting model homes so they could see what a typical American home looked like, frequent visits to pizzerias (a favorite amongst the group), a visit to the site of Superbowl XLII, and Arizonan landmarks including Lake Pleasant and the Grand Canyon.
Davis-Ragland summed up the experience, "Learning to be more globally-minded is important, not only to our students, but students around the world. This was a great opportunity for our students and their students to learn about things outside of their everyday lives, but what still has such a big impact on their futures."