pátek 31. října 2014

AP kurzy nově na edX!

Dobrý den,

velmi děkuji Betty za upozornění, že na e-learningovém portálu edX jsou dostupné AP kurzy a další přípravné kuzy pro středoškoláky. Neváhejte a probádejte oblasti, ve kterých můžete rozšiřovat své znalosti!!

Link: https://www.edx.org/high-school-initiative

úterý 21. října 2014

'How much of the past can you count?' Oxford interview questions explained

The University of Oxford has released a set of sample interview questions from tutors who conduct Oxford interviews, in an attempt to explain the reasoning behind even the most strange-sounding questions.
The questions have been released to mark the deadline day for students to apply to study at Oxford University next year (15 October). Students applying for biological sciences might be asked why rainforests and coral reefs support such a high diversity of plant and animal life, while budding art historians should expect to discuss a painting they have never encountered before.
'While we look very carefully at GCSE results, aptitude test scores, personal statement and teacher’s reference in addition to interview performance in considering who gets a place at Oxford, we know that for many students the interview is the most daunting part of the process,' says Samina Khan, Acting Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Oxford University. 'Academic interviews will be an entirely new experience for most students, so we want to show students what they are really like so they aren't put off by what they might have heard.
'Interviews are not about reciting what you already know – they are designed to give candidates a chance to show their real ability and potential, which means candidates will be encouraged to use their knowledge and apply their thinking to new problems in ways that will both challenge them and allow them to shine. They are an academic conversation in a subject area between tutors and candidate, similar to the undergraduate tutorials which current Oxford students attend every week.'
Dr Khan adds: 'It's important to remember that most interviews don't involve strange or irrelevant-sounding questions at all – they might include a logic problem to solve for a subject like Maths, and we will often provide candidates with material to prompt discussion – for example a piece of text, an item to examine, or an image. It is often best to start responding by making very obvious observations and build up discussion from there, rather than assuming that there is a hidden meaning or a highly complicated answer you have to jump to immediately. Questions may start with familiar territory and then move into areas students have not studied before, introducing new material or ideas, and they are entirely academic in focus.
'There are plenty of anecdotes out there about Oxford interviewers asking questions that seem intimidating or confrontational, or even downright silly – we hope that seeing some of the less obvious questions will reassure prospective applicants that tutors aren't trying to catch students out or see how quickly they get the "right" answer or demonstrate their specialist knowledge. Tutors simply want to see how students think and respond to new ideas. We know there are still lots of myths about the Oxford interview, so we put as much information as possible out there to allow students to see behind the hype to the reality of the process. We now have mock interviews online, video diaries made by admissions tutors during the interview process, and lots of example questions to help students to familiarise themselves with what the process is – and isn't – about.'
Here are some sample questions:
Subject: History
Interviewer: Stephen Tuck, Pembroke College
Q: How much of the past can you count?
Stephen: This is, obviously, a question for someone who has also studied Maths in Year 12 or 13. (For those who have done English, the question could be 'What can novels tell us about the past that other sources can't?', and so on for other subjects.)
The question plays to the applicant's strengths (which is what we always try to do), but provides a chance to see whether the applicant can relate other subjects to history - quite a challenge given that subjects are often studied entirely separately at school.
In this case, the question gets at all sorts of issues relating to historical evidence. For which periods and places and aspects of the past is data readily available? When it's not, can it be collected, or at least estimated (and if so, how)? When it is available, is that data trustworthy? Is it sufficient? How might it be misleading (intentionally or unintentionally)? We might then probe the value of numerical evidence in a particular subject they have studied, for example agricultural yields in medieval Europe, crime rates in industrial England, or the profitability of American slavery – and think about what other sources would be needed to make sense of the past.
Of course, much of the interview would be taken up with discussing in depth the history courses the students have studied – the interview is not all about unusual questions.

Subject: Biological Sciences
Interviewer: Owen Lewis, Brasenose College
Q: Why do some habitats support higher biodiversity than others?
Owen: This question encourages students to think about what high-diversity habitats such as rainforests and coral reefs have in common. In many cases, patterns or correlations can help us to identify the underlying mechanisms. For example, a student might point out that both rainforests and coral reefs are found in hot countries and near the equator. The best answers will attempt to unravel exactly what it is about being hot or near the equator that might allow numerous types of plant and animal to arise, persist and coexist. Do new species evolve more frequently there, or go extinct less frequently? Once students have come up with a plausible theory, I'd follow up by asking them how they would go about testing their idea. What sort of data would they need? 
Subject: Experimental Psychology
Interviewer: Nick Yeung, University College
Q: An experiment appears to suggest Welsh speakers are worse at remembering phone numbers than English speakers. Why?
Nick:
 This would never be given as a one-line question out of context – it is one of a set of questions I ask students after showing them a psychology experiment case study with data about short-term memory in English and Welsh speakers. The key point is that numbers are spelled differently and are longer in Welsh than in English, and it turns out that memory (and arithmetic) depend on how easily pronounced the words are. I would hope the student would pick out this connection between memory and how easy to spell or pronounce a word is, and how that relates to spelling and pronunciation in Welsh versus in English. The interview is structured so that further hints and guidance are provided if the student doesn't immediately see this problem with the design of the experiment described in the problem sheet. This basic question can then lead to interesting discussion about the role of language in other cognitive abilities, such as memory or maths. This question is meant to be deliberately provocative, in that I hope that it engages candidates' intuitions that Welsh people aren't simply less clever than English people!
Subject: Art History
Interviewer: Geraldine Johnson, Christ Church
Q: Do you recognise this image?
Geraldine: This is the first question we ask History of Art candidates in interviews when they are shown images of artworks like this one. And it is the only question for which there is a single, correct answer, which is 'No' – though if the answer happens to be 'Yes,' then we simply pull out another image to show them. The interviewers obviously know what the picture being shown is, and the point isn’t to quiz candidates on what they may or may not have stumbled across in a book, online or in a gallery. Instead, we want our candidates, many of whom have never studied Art History, to show us how they would begin to approach an image they have not previously encountered. We want to find out what questions a candidate would ask about a particular image: what is it made of? what is being depicted? what size might it be? for what purpose might it have originally been made? how could we try to figure out when it might have been produced, and by whom? 
We are less interested in hearing a 'correct' answer than in seeing the thought process a candidate goes through in trying to analyse something he or she has never seen before. In fact, we have had candidates who have been off by several centuries and entire continents when assessing an unknown image, but who have really impressed us at interview because of the potential they showed in the kinds of questions they asked. In trying to tackle these questions, we hope that the interview will resemble a tutorial in establishing a two-way conversation rather than being just an exercise in question and answer.

How to Write a Great College Application Essay

Další z pěkných videí, co by se vám mohli hodit:


sobota 18. října 2014

Několik rankingů pro US univerzity a colleges

Best 







Jak se připravit na Interview? Cambridge radí.

Focus On… Interviews
 
The University of Cambridge has produced two new films to provide accessible guidance about what Cambridge interviews are really like to potential applicants and their advisers.

Four successful applicants were asked to put themselves through another interview in order to create the latest in the University’s series of outreach films demystifying Cambridge admissions, teaching and student life. Cameras are not allowed in to the December interviews, because the University believes this would create unnecessary stress for the applicant, however three of the student participants are unconditional offer holders – students who have taken their A Levels already, but have not yet started at Cambridge, bringing them as close as possible to the level of academic knowledge of a typical interviewee.

The student volunteers were interviewed by academics whom they had not met before, and the interviewers reviewed the real application forms submitted by the candidates, just as they would in preparation for an admissions interview.

Angharad Devereux came back to re-live her HSPS interview. She felt that the experience was very similar to her admissions interview.

“I did feel a similar apprehension before going to the interview as I had no indication as to what the questions would be. My experience of interviews at Cambridge was that they are closer to an academic discussion rather than a question and answer session which was realistically depicted in the filming.” Dr Sam Lucy was one of Angharad’s interviewers in the film. “The HSPS interview was very real, and an extremely accurate depiction of what those interviews are like,” she said. “I largely forgot we were being filmed.”

“I hope that these films make very clear that we are not looking for a perfect performance, but a thoughtful academic response to technical subject-related questions,” said Dr Mike Sewell, Director of Admissions for the Cambridge Colleges, and Angharad’s second interviewer in the film. “The fact that stumbles occurred and that the discussion moves forward through the help given by interviewers reflects exactly what happens in interviews. This isn't failure; it is an indication of a student who is willing and capable to learn and to persevere in discussion when it isn't easy. That, in turn, is a key quality in an undergraduate.”

Dr Maria Cairney, an English teacher at Loreto College, Manchester, agrees that these will be very useful tools for students. Commenting on the value of the films, she said “Applicants are already offered a great deal of helpful general information about the nature of interviews and how they should prepare, but I feel that nothing is quite as powerful as watching a student – someone just like them – going through the interview process.”

The two new films are available on the University's YouTube channel and on the Undergraduate Study website:

The Interview
Four successful interviewees return to share their experiences of four different subject-based interviews. Experienced Admissions Tutors and interviewers provide commentary and an explanation of some of the interview clips shown in the film.

Preparing For Interview
This three minute film features contributions from Admissions Tutors, Admissions Officers, current students and other staff from across the collegiate University who share their top tips with prospective applicants in order to ensure that they prepare effectively for interview at Cambridge.

The videos can be embedded onto your own school/college webpages, shown at meetings or events for prospective university applicants or in class, or simply sent to prospective applicants who you might like to encourage to watch them.

Další video

čtvrtek 16. října 2014

Pozvánka na představení Yale-NUS univerzity

The English College in Prague is pleased to invite you to an information session by Yale-NUS

on Monday, 20 October 2014 from 2:30-4:00 in the English College in Prague auditorium. This

event is recommended to high school students interested in Yale-NUS College or the Liberal

Arts programme of study. The invitation is also extended to university advisors, teachers, and

parents looking to explore a new and dynamic option in higher education.

The presentation will begin at 2:30 and cover the following key areas:

• What is it like to study at Yale-NUS?

• What is a Liberal Arts education?

• How does the application process work for the US universities?

• What is the general application process and student life like in Asia?

• Questions and Answers from participants.

Yale-NUS is a joint venture between the US university, Yale, and the Singaporean university, NUS

(National University of Singapore). It seeks high-achieving and educationally daring students

from around the world who will make the most of their talents and the opportunity to learn

at Yale-NUS. Attached is a brochure about their university. Even if your students are not 

specifically interested in Yale-NUS, this is an opportunity to gain valuable information on 

advising, recommending and applying to a US, Asian or Liberal Arts university.