University of Applied Sciences, Fulda

Part Two

It is interesting that the particular use of the Referat system in German education is new to the interviewee, in spite of her previous familiarity. "Totally foreign, em, the Referat system, this system is for me totally foreign . . ." As was explained before, finding information is considered to be the duty of the students, and this is quite strange to many students: ". . . [one of the professors] wanted us to find out ourselves, without him doing, well, he meant that it is our duty. Such a thing is not imaginable for me. When one offers such a seminar then one must offer a complementary part as well, so that one can get the basics . . . I went there, listened to the Referats, and not everybody is good at presentations . . . with this Referat system, one has to work on the theme very thoroughly . . . . they don’t take it into consideration that some people don’t work on the theme very well . . ."
It is once again the duty of the students to gain deeper insights into the subject and ask the professors questions. In classes where there are no Referats, the lecturer only speaks about the content of the handouts, and obtaining a better understanding of the theme is up to the students: ". . . [the professor] gave the content of the text again, you know, I am not used to this. I have learned that giving the content [of the handout, or reading] is nothing, I must be able to interpret it . . ."
This lack of guidance sometimes leads to confusion among the students. It becomes difficult for them to find the connections and get a clear picture of the whole subject. As the Romanian student says in regard to possible irritations, " it was only that I couldn’t see the connections. Well, I, I didn’t see why I should learn certain subjects, like 'public policy issues' and whatever. So I couldn’t see the connections, and this was not irritation, but it made me insecure, you know . . ." The student also states: "For me the intercultural communication is important . . . I found out how important it is. Well, I don’t notice here, how much I’ve learnt, but I met an intercultural group and then I found out I have learnt a lot . . ."
Establishing contact was seen as a positive point: ". . . the contacts were quite good, . . . the international students' office really took their time when you had problems. And of course with foreigners one can find contacts very easily . . ."
According to the interviewee the city is one of the negative sides of the program: ". . . [Fulda] is a place where I don’t feel good . . . compared to other cities which are against foreigners, Fulda is still okay, but the atmosphere here is very strange, it is really strange, but the people don’t show anything . . ."