The classroom experience abroad will require you to engage, speak up, and interact in culturally different ways. That's the point!
Pre-Arrival / Pre-Departure Orientation
Pre-Departure Orientation is critical preparation for students who will be attending universities and colleges overseas.
Simply put, your ability to engage with culturally different instructors and students in the classroom will impact your grades as much as, if not more than, your ability to study and write exams.
This session, developed in partnership with instructors who specialize in teaching international students, provides key insight and preparedness to the vital classroom skills, expectations and etiquette needed for optimal academic performance in the overseas classroom environment.
This overview of "soft-skills" for the classroom has completely transformed students' learning experience by giving international students the tools that local Canadian and American students already possess and use.
The 3-hour interactive workshop covers:
- How to make a strong positive impression on instructors;
- How to improve your grades through effectively participating in class;
- 12 vital "soft skills", what they are, and which ones are most important for success in the Canadian classroom;
- How to combine technical skills and specific classroom habits to improve academic performance;
- Making friends across cultures, and overcoming misperceptions of international students;
- How to contribute to a more inclusive student community that also enhances English-language proficiency;
- Interpersonal basics, such as making appropriate eye-contact, your name and how to give the perfect Canadian hand-shake;
- Adapting to the cultural differences between students and instructors;
- Understanding "academic integrity" in the Canadian context;
- Answers to the most pressing questions about integration and classroom performance.
Student Reviews
This overview of "soft-skills" for the classroom has completely transformed students' learning experience by giving international students the tools that local Canadian and American students already possess and use.
About
Alden E. Habacon has helped thousands of international students at the University of British Columbia and elsewhere improve their classroom performance through a workshop specifically designed for those admitted to the Conditional Admission Program at the English Language Institute, Vantage College (UBC's international undergraduate college) and first-year students in the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Science and Faculty of Applied Science.