Engineering Student Shares Her Online Study Experience at Tohoku University
Meet Pocut Arifah Zahrina, a Universitas Syiah Kuala Civil Engineering student studying at Tohoku University, Japan, remotely from Indonesia.
[Engineering Student Shares Her Online Study Experience at Tohoku University]
I am currently enrolled in a virtual student exchange program at Tohoku University, Japan. It has started on 1 October 2021 and is expected to finish on February 2022. The program is supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia through the International Credit Transfer program. Tohoku University is one of the available university possibilities, which I was thrilled to explore. Japanese universities are well-known for their engineering and technology expertise. I chose Tohoku University because it is one of the Japanese institutions with the greatest Engineering major and in line with my background of the study.
As one of the greatest public universities in Japan, I am very impressed with Tohoku University’s website system, it provides all of the information and services that students and professors need. Furthermore, the university is technologically savvy, it makes extensive use of technology, making it easy for everyone, particularly me, as an exchange student, to get information throughout my studies. This website also contains information about some activities or meetings hosted by the university or association.
When it comes to online learning, there are not many differences between Indonesia and Japan. Tohoku University uses the same platform, like Zoom and Google Meet, to deliver the lessons. Tohoku University gives each student a Microsoft and Google Suite account. However, there is one aspect of the learning approach that I found it was intriguing. Tohoku University offers an additional hour, or known as the “Office Hour.” After the class ended, students are free to ask the lecturer any further questions they might have concerning the subject. However, if we do not have any questions, we are free to leave the class. The online courses were not disappointing at all!
At Tohoku University, I took six courses: three mechanical engineering major courses, one Japanese language course, one Japanese culture course, and one introduction to planetary objects course. Two of the six courses appeal to me. The first is a course on Japanese culture. This course covers Japanese culture and history in general. Several topics are relevant to Indonesia, prompting me to express my thoughts based on what I know and a little research into the subject. We were required to write a reflection on what we had learned that day at the end of class. This task provided me with an opportunity to practice writing about my thoughts on the subject. The second is a course called “Introduction to Planetary Objects.” This course covers a lot of ground, including the origins of the solar system and other topics. I saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn about such a unique subject, so I jumped at the chance.
Overall, I enjoyed the program or courses, and I learned a lot since Tohoku University’s major is different from my original major. The course is a little more difficult than I anticipated. That is, however, what makes learning more enjoyable.
