March 29th, 2008
Podcast: Why counselors Blog
Tim Munnerlyn of Shanghai American School shares why and how he got started blogging. Listen to our podcast.
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March 25th, 2008
U-Cast #4: University of California VS Cal State University
Once upon a time, there were three college systems that grew up with the same parent–California. California wanted to make sure they all fulfilled a unique roll in society and so gave them unique names:
- California Community Colleges
- University of California-UC to us
- California State University–Cal State or CSU for short.
In the old days, the colleges were all very unique. Today the lines are blurring more than ever, especially when it comes to CSU and the UCs. The community colleges are essentiall junior colleges offering associate degrees and guaranteed transfer to the UCs and CSUs if you maintain a certain GPA. But what’s the difference between the UCs and the CSU? A quick look around the web reveals a variety of opinions:
- UC schools make professors, CSU school make working professional adults. (wiki Answers)
- The CSU has a more practical, career-oriented approach to education in contrast to the more theoretical approach offered by the UC. (canyons)
- Reputation and Prestige–UCs being more of both (Yahoo Answers)
Costs –Cal State wins here especially if you are trying to save money for grad school (LA City College) - One focuses on teaching (CSU) and the other focuses on research (UC)–Yahoo Answers
- UCs are more difficult to gain admission too taking students primarily from teh top 12.5% while the CSU take from teh top 30%. (DVHS)
- Scope–UC has 10 campuses and CSU has 23. (wikipedia)
Evergreen Community College offers a nice summary:
The UC system emphasizes a theory-based approach to learning and offers doctorate programs in most disciplines along with graduate opportunities in medicine, dentistry, business, law, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine. The California State University (CSU) is the system of higher education in California that grants the highest number of Bachelor’s degrees. The CSU offers traditional and career specific majors, with graduate opportunities at the Master’s level. The CSU has a more practical, career-oriented approach to education in contrast to the more theoretical approach offered by the UC.
Today we explore this and more with a dean of admission from San Diego State–who happened to study at the UCs….Listen to the podcast now.
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March 24th, 2008
U-Cast #3: San Diego State
I can smell the Fish tacos, hear the screams of Splash mountain and visualize the superheros parading their way to Comicon as I talk with San Diego State university, one of the gems of higher education in California. One of the oldest California, SDSU is also one of the largest with 35,000 students congregating on the beautiful Spanish style architecture. SDSU has been ranked the No. 1 most productive research university, among schools with 14 or fewer Ph.D. programs based on the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index and SDSU has been designated a “Research University” with high research activity by the Carnegie Foundation–which places it among the top 200 higher education institutions in the country conducting research.
With 81 bachelor’s degrees, you can study pretty much anything here. Learn more about SDSU here and listen to the podcast.
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March 23rd, 2008
U-Cast #2: Jacobs International University, Breman, Germany
Once upon a time, German higher education was the envy of the world. In fact, US land Grant Colleges are modeled very much after the German system integrating government research into the university experience. Back in the trun of the century, many of the greatest scholars would end up in Germany at some point in their studies, much like the US today. A few years back a German professor visited Rice university and was simply blown away. Jacobs carved out a unique place for itself since opening its doors in 2001, focusing on “trans-disciplinary” approach between diverse disciplines and subject areas:
Asian and Western History
Comparative Literature and Culture
History
History and Theory of Art and Literature
Integrated Social and Cognitive Psychology
Integrated Social Sciences(Sociology, Economics, Political Science, Mass Communication)
Intercultural Relations and Behaviour
International Politics and History
Literature and New Media
Applied Computational Mathematics
Biochemical Engineering
Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
Biology/Neuroscience
Chemistry
Computer Science
Earth and Space Sciences
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
International Logistics
Mathematics
Physics
Listen to the podcast as Jacobs explains their unique approach. Highlights include:
- Residential college system
- 3 year degree
- scholarships and financial aid
- Study abroad
- internship
- Senior project
- transdiscipinary approach
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March 16th, 2008
U-Cast #1: UK vs US higher education
One of the first choices many international students confront is which system to study in? US? Canada? UK? Australia? or their own home system? Each has pros and cons, each has it’s champions. Today’s episode is an exloration of US and UK higher education with Neil of Regent’s College London.
With the largest population of international students adn the most high education insitutions (over 3500), the USAÂ is a desination of choices for many international students. Some common conosiderations:
- a place for everyone
- World class education and high accountability
- Liberal arts, core curricula and special programs
- although it can be quite expensive, many colleges have very generous aid and scholarships for international students.
- Real flexibility to enter undecided or change your major.
Read more reasons here and here.
The UK is the second most popular destination for international students. Some reasons include:
- Three year degrees
- Direct entry to law and Medicine
- World class education and strong accountability
Listen to the podcast as Neil and I try to distinguish the two styles of education.
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February 4th, 2008
AP and IB: Do they desrve the gold standard?
As you make decisions about which courses to take next year, you have the tough call of which program of studies to follow: Advanced Placement or International Baccalaurette. They both afford college level work, rigour, and external examinations. In general we typically charactize each as following:
- AP–broader, more content, fast pace
- IB–Deeper, more focused, more emphasis on practical development
When students ask which one is better, I usually respond it depends on you.
- If you are looking for more flexibility, choose AP
- If you are looking for more integration, choose IB.
- If you are planning on going to university in Europe, the UK or Australia, IB makes it cleaner, but AP will be accepted.
- If you are planning on going to university in the US or Canada, either program is perfectly acceptable.
Which one is harder? Hmmm. To be honest that is a silly question; the question ought to be which one prepares you better to succeed in university. So I have assembled some current research to help answer the questions:
The Fordham Institute: AP and IB: Do they deserve the Gold Standard. They had academics reveiw curriculums in the following areas:
- Math
- English and
- Biology
Interesting they choose to use Standard Level rather than the more rigourous Higher level.
On my college counseling blog, The Internatioanl Counselor, I have summarized research focusing primarily on the IB.
Jay Mathews, journalist for the Washington Post has written extensively on the AP and IB. His conclusion is that what matters is the rigour.
and the official document jointly published by the IBO and Collegeboard describing the two programs is a pdf file located here.
Some other comparisons can be found here:
http://www.lee.k12.fl.us
http://www.shawneemissionib
http://northport.k12.ny.us/ib
University admissions:
IB conducted surveys in 2002 and 2003 of students on their acceptance rates to various colleges and universities and their scores on the SAT, ACT and AP exams. IB North America received responses from 6,392 candidates from 131 schools in 29 states to our 2003 survey. Now any Pyschology student will tell you that self reported surveys present some serious geenralization problems, but the trend is striking:
University Total Population Acceptance Total IB Candidate Acceptance Diploma Candidate Acceptance
University of Florida 58.0% 88.4% 88.9%
Virginia Polytechnic Institute 66.0% 67.9% 80.2%
James Madison University 58.0% 65.1% 76.9%
University of Virginia 39.0% 55.9% 61.3%
UCLA 24.0% 41.4% 48.5%
UCSD 41.0% 60.5% 65.6%
UC, Berkeley 24.0% 45.4% 50.6%
Florida State University 70.0% 92.9% 94.6%
George Mason University 66.0% 88.4% 97.5%
UCI 56.0% 85.8% 89.9%
It should be noted, thatIB schools in the US tend to be selective enrollment meaning that a typical candidate is higher achieving already.
Duevel (Purdue University dissertation) analyzed participation in the IB program as a predictor of college success.
92% of students to hold an IB Diploma earned a Bachelor’s degree and 87% of IB Diploma holders earned their degrees in five years or less.
59% of the students receiving IB Diplomas advanced to graduate school.
Most IB Diploma holders believed their IB experience had a positive impact on their global awareness, understanding of complex assignments, critical thinking and time management skills.
AP and IB have produced a brochure comparing the two programs.
The Collegeboard has a fact sheet on the AP with two interesting studies on AP as effective preparation for College:
This study concludes: “The subject-specific, curriculum-intensive AP
Exams are the epitome of ‘achievement tests,’ and their validity in
predicting college performance should not be surprising5.”
More studies to involved to go into here showcase the collegeboard research into AP. Of key concern, A 2005 study conducted for the National Center for Educational Accountability found
that students who earned a score of 3 or higher on one or more AP Exams
in the areas of English, mathematics, science, or social studies were
more likely to graduate from college in five years or less compared to
non-AP students. For a nice summary reading of key points check out this article from Insidehighered.
Regardless of which program you choose, it is clear both are well respected by universities as they clealry help prepare students for success in College and university.
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January 30th, 2008
Using Naviance for Course requests
Here is a screen cast on how to enter your course requests using Naviance. After you watch you can log into your Naviance family connection account and try.
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January 30th, 2008
Using Naviance: COurse Request
The Youtube video is a little blurry. For clearer viewing you can download the file here.
Powered by ScribeFire.
January 30th, 2008
Using Naviance: Course Planning
The Youtube video is a little blurry, but you get the idea. If you would like a quality download, click here.
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January 25th, 2008
Coursecast: Languages-French and Spanish
Learn a language, earn a friend.
How important is learning another language? How does our language sequence work at SAS? IB vs AP? Should I have an immersion expereince? Can I skip a level? These are all questions that will be addressed in this podcast.
We will have a separate one for Mandarin.
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Coursecast, Languages, IB Group 2, IB, AP
January 22nd, 2008
Coursecast: Film (IB Film, Digital Film)
SAS is proud to offer two options:
- Digital film
- IB Film Studies.
Listen to learn more about the courses.
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Coursecast, Fine arts, IB Group 6, IB
January 22nd, 2008
CourseCast: Physics
Physics First! is the banner cry of many scientist around the world. Enter the world of Newton and Einstein and find out the underlying theory of everything. Come learn how our general physics, IB and AP Phsyics compare.
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Coursecast, Science, IB Group 4, IB, AP
January 22nd, 2008
Coursecast: Physical Education options
Fit for life? Come learn how. We offer five speciality courses for juniors and seniors focusing on:
Red Cross Water Saftey Instructor
Red Cross Life Guarding
Personal Fitness training
Advance Personal Fitness Training
Sports League
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January 22nd, 2008
Coursecast: Economics and Business
Seems like everyone works in business, but do you really know what business is? How does it relate to Economics and what is economics anyway? Come join us for a very informative podcast.
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Coursecast, Socials, IB Group 3, IB, AP
January 21st, 2008
Coursecast: Speech and Debate, an English option
Study the art of rhetoric, public speaking and debate–a course that will enhance anyone’s public speaking abilities.
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Coursecast, English
January 21st, 2008
Coursecast: Drama and Theatre
Whether you are a serious thespian, just want to gain confience in front of groups or get busy with your hands and create cool porjects fro the theater, SAS has the course for you.
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Coursecast, Fine arts, IB Group 6, IB
January 21st, 2008
Coursecast: Creative Writing, an English option
Come find your voice, master covnentions and share your creative juices in a very special class.
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Coursecast, English
January 21st, 2008
Coursecast: History
Who says there is no future in History? With great choices between AP and IB history, come survey the opportunities.
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Coursecast, Socials, IB Group 3, IB, AP
January 21st, 2008
Coursecast:Literature into Film, an English Option
Love literature? Love movies? Do you feel the book is always better than the movie? Come see where the two worlds intersect in a course that is part literature, part film studies and all fun.
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Coursecast, English
January 21st, 2008
CourseCast: English
Grade 11 brings a wealth of opportunities for the English student. Do I take A or IB or Regular? What’s the difference? If I am a native speaker of Chinese can I take IB English A2 (the answer is yes). Can I take AP Language after I finish my Grade 11 English? (yes). Learn more in this engaging conversation.
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Coursecast, English, IB Group 1, IB Group 2, IB, AP
January 21st, 2008
Grade 10 History options
In grade 10 you have three options:
World History
US history and
AP US History
Join us for an interesting conversation about these courses and how you should go about choosing (Hint start with the region).
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Coursecast, Socials, AP
January 17th, 2008
CourseCast: Psychology
Not just for Crazy people. Come learn what the science of human behavior is all about as we examine AP, IB and regular psychology.
Check out Mr. Anthony’s IB Psychology student’s blogs.
And here are his AP Psych blog.
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Coursecast, Socials, IB Group 3, IB, AP
January 17th, 2008
CourseCast: Music
Wow! So many possibilities, from theory to performance, vocals through instruments, SAS has so many options.
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Coursecast, Fine arts, IB Group 6, IB, AP
