The semester is well underway here in London at St. Mary’s University College. Each of us study abroad students are allowed to take 12 credits, which means four classes this semester. Some of us have been fortunate to get our classes to count for specific courses back home and some are just taking classes for the fun of it.

The teaching and learning styles here are considerably different than what most of us experience back home. First off, classes only meet one day a week for two to three hours, thanks to this, some, myself included, have been fortunate enough to score three or four day weekends out of the deal only needing to go to class three days a week. Also, students generally are only at a university for three years and they only study the subject in which they are getting their degree. There are no general education requirements.

Instead of regular quizzes, tests and assignments, most classes only have one essay, about 2,000 words, and one exam for the whole semester. Many of us American students will be able to opt out of the final exam in light of our term ends May 24.

There are generally no set assignments and no quizzes. Instead, the tutors, as they are referred to here, give monstrous outside reading lists for us to do when we are not in class. This extra outside reading is not monitored but if you show up for seminar, discussion, without having read, you will be left in the dark.

For every credit earned at St. Mary’s the tutors expect the students to do an hour of work. Technically, each class here is worth 15 credits, which means the tutors expect each student to do 150 hours of work per semester per course. So one can see why the reading lists are so extensive.

In turn, the grading scale is decidedly different from ours back home. Everything is basically based on a 75 point grading scale, which means getting a 60 or even a 55 is ideal for these students and most students here do not score into the 70 to 75 point range.

Each tutor has their own style and way of teaching their courses, as is similar back home. But here, some tutors stand and lecture while others assign students in groups to basically instruct the class. Each group is required to do the research on a subject and teach the class that subject.

Since classes only meet one day a week, the tutor is able to secure almost the entire semester through this process and then base the test and essay questions off of what the students have taught each other. Some tutors invite guest lecturers or even plan museum or gallery visits. I have been fortunate enough to secure two courses with museum and gallery visits. I will have the opportunity to have guided tours of five of London’s major galleries as well as a guided tour of the Holocaust exhibit in the Imperial War Museum in London.

Academic life is incredibly different here at St. Mary’s. Some people have chosen to use their extra time for extensive studying, while others choose to visit the city and the sights. Some of us are still struggling to work out a balance between work and play but so far the experience has been an eye opening and rewarding one.