Date: 05/08/2015
For students thinking about coming to the University of Botswana as exchange students or simply looking for an elective to take next semester, I think this post will help you.
Also, for my Batswana readers, please do not be confused by my use of "professor". In American colleges and universities, every teacher is referred to as professor whether they have a PhD or not. If you decide to take the course, you can confirm your teachers' qualifications when you meet them. I know you guys make a distinction between lecturer, professor and Dr. but, if I referred to any of my teachers without a neutral title, it would be seen as disrespect (in my culture).
Any-who, this semester as an international student, I took a total of 6 courses, two of which are only offered for CIEE students. CIEE stands for Council on International Educational Exchange which is the program I did. Below, you will find my evaluation of each course, each professor as well as my chosen grade for their teaching method and effectiveness. Hope this helps!
SPRING 2015
Courses offered year around
BNS209 (2 credits)
Mabel Magowe
T.R.B Monau
BNS 209 is a 2 credit course that looks at the history and current trends of HIV/AIDS in Botswana. Guest speakers also come to talk to us about BOFWA (Botswana Family Welfare Association)-which is funded by International Planned Parenthood-and HIV Counseling in the Student Center.
There were always reading assignments. Notes are offered on Blackboard and Moodle. We had two quizzes, two tests and one final exam. The tests are kind of difficult because they are tricky and the wording can be confusing. There were misspellings, missing words and grammar problems throughout them all. Also, Moodle marked several correct answers as being wrong for test two because the answer key was incorrect. So, I ended up with a 30/50 instead of a 40/50. If the professors focused more on clarity of written English, I think they will avoid tons of confusion and student dissatisfaction in the future. Also, you may be waiting a long time for your final exam grade as many of us are.
Besides that, this course was really insightful mainly because I was more interested in their perspective of HIV/AIDS in Botswana and how culture impacted the high rates.
Professor Mable was there more often so I have had more interactions with her. She is really critical of how culture plays into the stigma of HIV/AIDS. Her passion and sense of humor made it easy to listen to her.
Professor Monau was a good professor for our 2-3 classes together. He really makes the content come to life and engages his students. He got us involved in the discussion and encouraged us to think critically about HIV/AIDS in Botswana and in the world in general.
Overall, the professors are pretty thorough during presentations, although some of their statements may be debatable. It's not always a matter of accuracy, but a matter of clarity because often times their written English and spoken English is different from our own. But both professors understood their material and were pretty effective in breaking down the scientific perspective of HIV as well as the prevalence and incidence rates in Botswana.
I would give my professors an A+ for their clarity and teaching effectiveness, and a B- for their use of technology.
Side note: if you could understand Setswana, I promise, you would be laughing all throughout the class because Batswana always have a joke to tell. For international students, you may feel left out because everyone is laughing except you, but this is okay (remember you are experiencing a new environment). But, do be persistent when professors begin teaching solely in Setswana because you are here to learn and need to understand what is being said. So, raise your hand every single time they reach that 3 minute mark and ask them kindly to speak in English because you are an international student.
African Written Poetry
ALL 242 (3 credits)
Professor
This course mainly focused on theory-Negritude, Feminism and Marxism. For one assignment and the final exam, we had to read a poem and analyze it using one of the theories mentioned. We answered in essay form, 5 paragraphs that consist of an introduction, 3 body paragraphs and a conclusion. Try to stick to the structure if you want a good grade. Use topic sentences and adhere to the point mentioned in that sentence. Try not to loose focus or deviate away from the point. There was also a group project which was pretty easy. Groups of 5-7 students analyzed a poem and presented the information to the class. This course was pretty simple and straight forward.
The professor is good with giving notes. If you are look for a challenge, however, I wouldn't recommend this course. Granted it was a second level course, it's too easy. As long as you write perfect essays paying attention to the standard structure, you will be fine.
Overall, I would give this professor an A
African Oral Narratives
ALL 342(3 credits)
Prof. E Kezilahabi
Dr. P.G. Tshane
African Oral Narratives focused on oral literature in Botswana mainly in Setswana culture, although oral narratives from Swaziland, Lesotho and Xhosa speaking tribes are referenced. We rarely had any assignments. All we had were two tests, a group performance and a final exam. The tests are difficult if you fail to study and understand the technique side of narratives (i.e. epics, categorizing narratives, theory of Diffusion and Evolution, patterning, imagery, model,spatial time,etc. etc).
Professor Thsane is such a great teacher. At times she does speak in Setswana during her lectures but she made it a priority to include me in the discussion. She wold always say "class can anyone explain this traditional narrative to Tierra. Tell her why stories are important to our culture". Or she would say "Tierra, I have something to say to them that I must say in Setswana, so they understand me fully". Or she would reference American culture and ask me to explain what I knew to the class. I never felt left out or belittled because I didn't speak Setswana. I actually wanted her to speak Setswana more often because I was here to experience their culture and I appreciated their language. I knew she would not say anything important in Setswana without translating for me. Professor Thsane did an exceptional job with balancing Setswana and English and blending the cultures for me.
Prof. Kezilahabi is often hard to hear because he speaks so softly. He rarely projects his voice unless he is telling a story. Even then, the only reason I heard him is because I sat in the front row. He does offer good insight into the purpose of storytelling and the importance of African speaking and writing in their own languages but his explanations of certain concepts such as spatial time and narrative episodes are often unclear.
I would give Professor Thsane an A+ for her teaching methods and effectiveness and Professor Kezilahabi a B because he provided very little clarity.
Oral Poetry in Botswana
ALL 433 (3 credits)
MR. B. L Janie
The course synopsis can explain the objectives of this class way better than I can. According to our syllabus, "The course will cover various sub-genres of institutionalized sub-Saharan African oral narratives such as myths,folkatles and legends as well as experiential ones like contemporary legends, dreams and memorates (i.e. personal experience stories". The key word is "institutionalized" because oral culture loses its essence when written.
This course had much potential but was not difficult at all. We had one assignment throughout the entire semester, not counting 2 performances which should be easy unless you are nervous about public speaking. The assignment was to turn in a praise poem. The two performance include one group performance and an individual performance worth 40% of your grade. We rarely used any of our readings.
Professor Janie was a bit underwhelming during his lectures. We mainly focused on similes and metaphors which we covered in high school. I wish he would have focused more on figurative devices not commonly discussed, like parallelism and ideophones. Ideophones are sounds that have an convey ideas within a particular culture. Ideophones are a signature technique in African poetry and story telling.
The good thing about his class is that he offers old and new poets the chance to perfect their craft as reciters or spoken word artists and perform in front of their peers. He encouraged us to be creative, innovative and excited about poetry, not just writing poetry but delivering our poetry to an audience. His explanation of performance theory was also very helpful.
I would give this professor a B+ for effectiveness. The resources made available to us and his ability to connect tradition and modern culture was very beneficial to me as a modern day poet who respects tradition.
Setswana Language and Culture Practicum
AFST 10001 BOTS (2 credits)
Mma Phono
This course is required for CIEE students. The organization of the notebook was not helpful. Early on, we were advised to sections our notebooks accordingly: 25 pages for dialogue, 15 for verbs, 15 for nouns, 5 for useful phrases and 5 for any other business. This method did not work for me because we didn't have enough verbs or nouns to take up 5 pages and I found myself jumping from page to page. So this hindered my ability to organize my notes according to dates.
Assignments were culturally challenging but not academically challenging. We were required to turn in a Scavenger Hunt, Group Media Project, take a written test and oral exam. Not to mention, many of our excursions to Serowe and Kanye were a part of our grade. The Scavenger required us to speak with local Batswana students and ask them questions about their names, culture and totems. The media project required us to pick a topic (animals, food, clothes etc) and make a video for future CIEE students.
Our professor was really theatrical and she tried to make every class fun and exciting. Using pictures and childhood games and songs was very helpful. The handouts and categorization of words and subject markers were also helpful. I just think she could have been more consistent with having written assignments such as worksheets (like the crossword puzzle we did). Also, I understand that this was not an intensive course, but the difficulty level could have been a little higher. She tried her hardest to give us information gradually so we wouldn't be overwhelmed but, I often felt like the pace was too slow. She was not a tough grader at all.
I would give this professor a B+ for effectiveness because I think she was too easy on us. She definitely could have been more stringent.
Internship
INSH 3003 BOTS (3 credits)
Basetsana
This course is optional and offers public health and Arts & Sciences students the opportunity to intern at a health organization in Botswana. The locations are not limited to Gaborone, so you can seek opportunities in Tlokweng at SOS Children's Village (SOS) or even in Muchudi at Stepping Stones International (SSI). Usually, after reviewing your resume and cover letter, CIEE provides you with various options to choose from. However, if you know of an organization offering internships, bring that up to Basetsana (the program director) and make it happen.
Back to the course evaluation!
This internship gave us a long leash to explore our organizations and be independent. In the beginning, we did have guidance in meeting our site supervisors, establishing our work hours and clarifying our job description. Weekly meetings were held with our course adviser so we could give updates and receive feedback on how to make the best of things. We also had light readings to discuss at each meeting. Assignments are few- a total of 12 reflection journals (1 every week), a 15 page research paper (end of semester) and a 10 slide power-point presentation (end of semester). We were also graded on our performance and attendance at work.
Although, time management and proper planning could have prevented unnecessary stress, our advisers were really interested in helping us. They listened to our concerns and worked with us to ensure that we stayed sane. Because, trust and believe, depending on your course load you may feel overwhelmed in the beginning when there is an excursion every other weekend. If you are Saturday and Sunday morning book worm, you will be torn when you have to drop your books to go to Kgale Hill, Mokolodi Game Drive, a Braii (BBQ), Son of the Soil, a safari-you name it! All of these places are cool, so you shouldn't be upset for going. Just try to do most of your readings and studying during the week so you can enjoy yourself without worrying about class.
I would give our advisers a strong A because they gave adequate feedback on our papers and great advice on how to solves problems at work. I would just encourage them to get assistants to help with
Did this help!? I hope it did.
Keep in mind that professors may change over the years. I know that one of my professors is actually returning to the sates. So you may not catch her in Botswana, but maybe you will get lucky and see her in the mid-west. You will also find that many professors did their undergraduate and graduate studies outside of Botswana in places like the United States, Europe and South Africa. However, all professors are not referred to as "professors". Sorry to burst your bubble. A lecturer is someone who teaches (whether they have a degree or not). A professor is someone who obtained their PhD. My classmates taught me this when I gave a lecturer the distinguished title of "professor". Then I just recently learned that there is a difference between a professor and Dr. which are not used interchangeably. For international students, I know this may be confusing because we are more hesitant when saying "Dr." and not "professor" or lecturer. But, keep in mind that you are experiencing a new culture and this is something to take note of.
For the record, Ratemyprofessor.com is something we have in the states. Students are able to write reviews and grade their professors. When making a decision on which courses to take, students are able to reference these reviews. I am in no way an expert and just because I am from the states, that does not mean that my opinion is superior. I am just a student reflecting on her experience and hoping to help other students.
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