From August 14 to 28, Cao Lin, deputy dean of School of Design, led 15 students from Visual Communication major (Sino-foreign cooperation in running school) to Athlone Institute of Technology for a 15-day summer camp. Chen Kai, the deputy dean of School of International Education, met for the students in education before their visit and distributed trip uniforms and other supplies in Shanghai on August 13. On August 14, Chen Kai safely sent the students to the departure hall of Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
On the first day of the summer camp, the students visited the campus under the lead of the school staff, and experienced the school culture of Athlone Institute of Technology and got familiar with various equipment in the school. The school staff prepared campus cards for students’ convenient life in the school. During the summer camp, Athlone Institute of Technology arranged Professional English, Design Basics, P.E. and other classes for the students, and scholar professors of the institute lectured them. The students experienced the teaching mode and curriculum organization form of Athlone Institute of Technology in person.
I. English Class: The teacher integrated the design professional knowledge into the class, through the explanation to the color, form, emotion and other uncommon words of design major, transmitted and improved the English level of the students to the design professional English, effectively combined the English homework with the specialized curriculum. To strengthen the self-study ability of languages of the students, the teacher introduced listening practice system of the school and many self-study websites in the class, and brought the students to the library to lend English books, and taught them how to choose suitable books to read in accordance with their English level.
II. Design Basics Class: The design class is divided into three parts, respectively contains the design flow and thinking mode training, software skills and mastering the platemaking and printing techniques. During the study of design flow, the teacher paid more attention to the teaching of thinking process and design method, through the associative thinking to the key word, trained the student to utilize the visual design to express the character emotion, each student delivered their own creative ideal according to the requirements, and finally completed design product with learned animation software. In the process of plate making and printing techniques, the teacher showed the technique in person and taught every student how to make plate and print, all the students complete satisfying design product after learning.
III. P.E. Class: The Athlone Institute of Technology attaches great importance to the sports exercises of the students. The school arranged two P.E. classes for the students during the summer camp, learning hurling and football. The students got to know the characteristics of the hurling during the sports, and established friendship with the international communication students through the competition.
IV. Life in homestay: The students lived in homestays arranged by the school during the summer camp, part of the homestay was the home of teaching staff of the school. The homestay prepared breakfast and dinner, and also lunch for them to bring to the school, during the after-class time, they also took the students to attend family activities or visit the farm. All the students had a happy life experience in homestay in this summer camp.
After a 2-week study, the students had a more comprehensive understanding to the family life and folk culture in Ireland and the learning style of Athlone Institute of Technology, and accumulated valuable experiences for continuing study in Athlone Institute of Technology afterwards. In teaching, Cao Lin made a further exploration with the principal of Athlone Institute of Technology in cooperative running of the school, fully discussed about the students’ learning plan, graduation, employment and other aspects, and laid a good foundation for the further educational cooperation. The 2-week study ended quickly, at last, the principal of Athlone Institute of Technology conferred certificate of completion for each student and teacher.
