Interviews

To make your look at Dalarna University more differential, we prepared short interviews.

First, with Anita Purcell Sjölund, lecturer at Dalarna University. 

Budding Borlnge: What is your style of teaching?

 

APS: It is something could be called experiential method learning. And basically it is where you learn by doing. And another style is problem based learning. Where through activities you are presented with the problem and through activities you work to solve the problem. So I am putting the theory into practice. The ideal is not to teach you the theory in seminars, in the sense that I would stand in lecture. But to put the material up before the seminar, so that you could read that.  And then come to seminar and do activities so that you can practice the theory and find the advantages and disadvantages of the theory.  So it is problem based learning and experiential learning methods.

The thing with tourism course is that a lot of it is some communication techniques, presentation and so on. I can stand there and teach the theory of communication but then it wouldn’t be effective. So in another words, it is combination of going through the theory in the seminar and then doing communication technique exercises and so on. So it is a lot of fun, I think. Because personally in my thoughts learning should be fun. But hopefully in that you learn a few things about the techniques and the theory as well. And I found that when we do activities people are able to laugh at themselves, laugh at other people and have fun. And actually learn a lot more than just sit at seminar and just have somebody to give you a PowerPoint presentation, for example. So that I do is, I have a theoretical part and then we do activities and discuss the theory. And I think, hopefully, students get to learn a little bit about communication and group work and how to work with teams.

BB: Why students should come to Dalarna University?

APS:It is a small university and that is one of the advantages. The classes are quite small, even the lecturers are small compare to other university. You have a feeling of the one on one relationship with your lecturer that you wouldn’t get in the bigger university. For example if you were sitting in the lecture hall with 50-60 students or even 100 students, you don’t have that kind of relationship. I think because this university is focused on small lectures and seminar groups, so students feel that we are putting into practice what we are learning and they build the relationship with the lecturer. It is a lot of because of the size.  Small size works in this advantage, but at the same time there are disadvantages to be in small university. But if you are here for a different type of learning experience and I think Dalarna University could do that. Over the years that I have taught, the majority of students come away discovering things about themselves. They learnt to come out and try new things. They are not afraid to try new things because they do them in the seminars and nobody is going to criticize them. The thing is if you can break out of yourself and do things like that, then it makes a lot easier for you to be more confident in your professional life as well. So I think it is what students find in a small university, that it builds their confidence. It is really important to build confidence. So in that case students should come to Dalarna University for a different learning experience.

Autumn in Borlange

We also asked international students from Dalarna University, Campus Borlange - Helena from Poland, Pavla and Zuzana from Czech Republic and Adeline from France.

BB: Why did you choose Dalarna University?

Helena: Finland and Sweden have very good educational systems, one of the best in the world. Secondly, it was my dream to go to Scandinavia, to practice english and learn some swedish.

Pavla: Because I wanted to practice English and it is known that English is at a high level in Northern Europe. Then, I wanted to see Scandinavian landscape on my own. And Dalarna University is only university in Scandinavia, which has an agreement with our department of geography.

Zuzana: I chose Dalarna, because I wanted to go studying to Sweden and I had 2 opportunities here. One was in Kristianstad on the south of Sweden and second one in Borlange. I chose Dalarna, because I wanted to travel to north to Lapland and from here it is closer :) 

Adeline: I have always be fascinated by Scandinavia and Northern Europe countries. Living and studying in Sweden was one of my dreams. And these countries are well known for their good education system. Dalarna University has an exchange agreement with my university back in France so... Here I am ! 

BB: So what do you think, are your expectations fulfilled?

H: Completely yes! Without taking into account problems connected with moving here (like too many things to bring, etc.). Normally, I also study in international environment so it was not a problem for me to make a change.

P: It is quite short time to judge, but teachers are friendly and very good at English, lectures are interesting and countryside is really beautiful. 

Z: My expectations are more than fulfilled. If you mean only about school, I experienced another type of education, because in my country, we spent way more time in school and we have almost no homework. And If you meant gererally, I met here a lot of nice people, with them I have more in common that at home. I also realized, that I can easily live alone in foreign country. And I broaden my horizons. Now the world looks smaller for me. And impossible things are becoming possible. 

A: The system is quite different here, so it took me some time to adapt. But now, I feel very good in my new environment. Our courses are interesting and I got to meet and work with amazing people. Everyone seems friendly and open-minded. Studying here is an experience I do not regret.