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Chinese Engineering Students Observe Rose-Hulman Catapult
July 31, 2012
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| (From left to right) Yangyang Liu, Hao Chen, Chaoke
Guo, Xiaocong Gong, Dr. Zheng Zhang (instructor), Jin Chen, Ting
Ge, Shuyu Liang. |
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Read
a blog by Xiaocong Gong
Upper class students from the HUST, Hubei University of Science
and Technology, in Hubei Province China, returned for the third
year to observe Rose-Hulman's Catapult, the summer program for
promising high school students considering a career in engineering.
The Catapult program, called
"engineering camp" by students around the country, is built on a
core of hands-on project work, and a handful of engineering
challenges. But it includes a rigorous schedule, a compact course
of study, close faculty mentoring, informal atmosphere, and a lot
of hardcore fun, from late-night movies to travel trips to nearby
cities.
"Catapult has the most intense schedule on earth!" said
Xiaocong Gong from the HUST school. "Timetable is always
full from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. the next day."
On one of these fun-filled evenings, the HUST students offered a
program for the Rose-Hulman "Cata-Monkeys" called "Dumpling Night"
- the featured foodstuff for the evening, none other than Chinese
dumplings. The HUST students spent a whole day preparing for
the evening, including the production of over 300 hand-made
dumplings. And during the evening, they told students about China,
taught them Chinese paper cutting, calligraphy, language and
writing. They also treated each Cata-Monkey to a bookmark
with his or her name in it, written out by hand in Chinese
characters. Students from HUST reported that the evening was a
great success as well as a lot of fun.
"We were deeply touched when [Catapult students] put this little
gift in their name cards in front of their chest and brought it for
the rest of Catapult days," said YangYang Liu, referring to the way
students proudly presented their bookmarks.
When asked what he might bring back to China from his
Rose-Hulman experience, Jin Chen said good-humoredly, "I will take
back the cooking skill," which he learned on-the-fly in order to
help make the dumplings. For many of the HUST students, "Dumpling
Night" was the first time they had ever cooked.
The emphasis on the work-hard, play-hard model, injecting the
element of "fun" into the learning environment, is something the
HUST students said they hope to import to their university.
"I will bring back this period of having fun," Hao Chen
reported.
They were intrigued by Catapult's "theme days," which encourage
students to dress up according to a theme - that day was Superhero
Day. The HUST students marveled at the creative costumes the
Catapult students put together, adding that there had also been
"Nerd Day and Toga Day." They said they regretted not having
brought any costume-wear from China.
According to the current HUST visitors, this "fun" approach was
successful last year at their school when Rose-Hulman's Dr.
Patricia Bracken and a small Rose-Hulman team visited Hubei, by
invitation, to provide a short Catapult-like experience for HUST's
incoming freshmen.
Dr. Zheng Zhang, the HUST instructor accompanying this summer's
HUST student team, mentioned that before he visited
Rose-Hulman, he'd had an impression that Americans' freedom came at
the expense of rules and order. So he was surprised to note
Catapult's mix of fun and freedom within a framework of strict
rules and tight learning schedule.
"I hope that in the future, we can make our campus more like
this," he reported.
"I want to bring this teaching opportunity to students in
China," added Xiaocong Gong, sounding very much as if leadership
was in his future.
In a conversation at Hatfield Hall's alumni center, HUST
students reported being impressed with many things that have come
to be Rose-Hulman hallmarks, the trust and honor system, the
friendly atmosphere in which everyone says "hi." Yangyang Liu, who
goes by the name of Freka, said she was impressed by the Christian
belief system, noting that faith-based ideas are not as prevalent
in China. She said she'd like to bring home the trust and
belief that come with having such a system.
In terms of what American students could learn, about China, Liu
said she has been surprised to have people ask if they still wear
braids in China.
"One day when we were cooking in the kitchen, one friend came
and asked us if there is still arranged marriage, if Chinese men
still have braid," Gong reported. "Aha, it is certainly untrue
about that. China has changed a lot since 1949, the founding year
of PRC." But Gong also mentioned an American student who had lived
Shanghai who spoke fluid Chinese and still Skyped his Chinese
friends.
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| Sharing Chinese food specialty: dumplings |
Yangyang Liu said she would want Americans to know that though
the culture is different -- particularly the food, which in China
is less sweet and involves different preparation - that China is a
modern and growing country. In lifestyle, she said, she and her
colleagues could relate very much with the young Catapulters. She
added that while sites like Twitter may be banned, China has its
own counterparts, including a Twitter counterpart.
Being upper-level engineering students, the students from HUST
were certain that they could guide their pre-college Catapult teams
toward successful completion of the challenges. The team working on
the rail-runner noted that the challenge has only been successfully
overcome 2 times in 10 years. They promised that their team will
complete the challenge successfully. That will be seen next
Wednesday, when Catapult winds up with project testing.
"One day when we were cooking in the kitchen, one friend came
and asked us if there is still arranged marriage, if Chinese men
still have braid," Liu reported. "Aha, it is certainly untrue about
that. China has changed a lot since 1949, the founding year of
PRC." But Liu also mentioned an American student who had lived
Shanghai who spoke fluid Chinese and still Skyped his Chinese
friends.