Vietnamese female doctor points out a fear with university students

Dr. Jenny Dung Le, a lecturer at the Institute of Business Administration, VinUni University, studied and taught at Cornell University (USA) for nearly a year (from February to December 2022) under the Future Faculty program.

This program enhances the research and teaching skills of young faculty members, meeting the standards of top universities. Therefore, during their year at Cornell, faculty members will be directly involved in teaching and research. After being mentored and guided by a Cornell professor, faculty members will practice giving lectures in class and conduct group research on real-world topics.

The pressure of teaching for the first time at Cornell.

Dr. Jenny Le (born in 1986) graduated with a degree in International Economics from the Foreign Trade University of Hanoi. She continued her studies for a master's degree in France for two years and returned to Vietnam to teach for five years. Before joining VinUni, Dr. Jenny pursued her doctoral studies in Australia.

“I never thought I would become a teacher. It's true that the profession chose me. Perhaps my connection with teaching has been with me ever since. At VinUni, I believe I will make a greater impact and support the development of an entire generation of young people in Vietnam,” Dr. Jenny shared.

Recalling her early days teaching at Cornell, she said that in order to be able to stand on the podium, lecturers had to attend lectures, read, and develop course content throughout a semester, under the guidance of a dedicated professor. Afterward, lecturers would practice and prepare with the professor before teaching in class.

Students in the US are very proactive in asking questions and participating in lectures, so instructors have to prepare five to ten times more knowledge than is actually in the lecture, in order to be ready to answer questions and expand on the topic with the students.

“Cornell University is incredibly competitive for admission. Therefore, the students there are exceptionally talented. They are all top performers from diverse backgrounds around the world ,” Dr. Jenny shared her impressions of Cornell University students.

“Teaching at Cornell was a bit stressful; for example, you’d be teaching for only five minutes and students would already be raising their hands to ask questions. During class, students could raise their hands to ask questions at any time. This was quite challenging for a lecturer standing at the podium,” Dr. Jenny recalled.

However, because the students were very active and highly motivated, the atmosphere in the classroom was very lively.

American universities say no to something that haunts students.

After studying and teaching at Cornell, Dr. Jenny pointed out that the Ivy League top 8 university has two main advantages. Firstly, Cornell has very strong connections with businesses, and its students often have practical experience in solving business problems, so their lectures and teaching activities are highly applicable and closely linked to real-world situations.

Secondly, the curriculum at Cornell focuses not only on imparting knowledge but also on fostering critical thinking skills, including the ability to reason, evaluate, analyze, and solve problems. Instructors assess students based on "challenges" and their contributions in class.

The faculty at Cornell consists of leading experts. They are involved in research and also advise businesses, solving real-world problems. Theory and practice always go hand in hand at Cornell University.

According to Dr. Jenny, the biggest challenge when applying the Cornell University learning and teaching model to Vietnam is attracting talented faculty and creating an environment where faculty members have the opportunity to work practically with businesses, thereby enriching the information and improving the quality of their lectures.

Therefore, applying this model is promising for a startup university like VinUni, which has close ties to Cornell and the Ivy League system.

Currently, Dr. Jenny is involved in a project to evaluate and improve the customer experience management system at Vinpearl. Initial assessments indicate that the system still has some limitations and needs improvement based on the application of customer behavior insights and artificial intelligence (AI). This project is expected to support Vinpearl more effectively in optimizing resources and enhancing customer satisfaction.

"I have changed my teaching methods."

At VinUni University, Dr. Jenny teaches Hotel Management, Digital Marketing, and Customer Behavior. She highly regards this program for its outstanding advantages.

Firstly, the training framework and teaching materials are inherited from Cornell, ensuring world-class training quality.

Secondly, inheriting the spirit of business leadership training from America's number one university in the hospitality industry, VinUni focuses on developing industry understanding and management thinking, the ability to deeply analyze business situations and solve problems, innovative thinking, and a dedicated service spirit. VinUni places emphasis on developing vision and strategic thinking so that graduates can compete on equal footing with management trainees from multinational corporations around the world.

Thirdly, VinUni students have been developing their professional skills through summer internship programs with VinUni's partners such as Marriott, International, Melia, etc. The university is discussing with partners about overseas internship opportunities for students, putting them in a favorable position to develop their careers in the industry.

After nearly a year of studying and teaching at Cornell University, Dr. Jenny has made many changes to her teaching methods upon returning to Vietnam.

Accordingly, instead of attending classes and listening to lectures, students will follow a self-study model. Specifically, before class, Dr. Jenny will deliver the lecture, sharing the lesson content, and students are tasked with reading the textbook beforehand to gain a deeper understanding, as well as answering some questions related to the lesson topic, with the goal of retaining knowledge as they learn it, rather than cramming for revision at the end of the semester.

Dr. Jenny outlined four key factors for evaluating students at VinUni, including: full attendance; participation in class discussions and debates; answering questions and completing quizzes for each lesson; solving a business problem; and what the biggest lesson learned from the course was.

Attending classes that involve presentations and debates makes learning more engaging for students, compared to traditional methods.

"Don't be afraid, be confident! There's never a perfect solution. But learning to listen and critically analyze others' opinions will help students improve themselves," Dr. Jenny commented.

NGOC LINH

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