When students go on break, the last thing most want to think about is schoolwork or classes. But when Cary Laxer goes on sabbatical, he’s the exact opposite.
Photo courtesy of Cary Laxer
The University of Aizu. Founded in 1993, Aizu is a Japanese university that places a focus on science and engineering.
Laxer, the computer science department head, took sabbatical for the 2007-2008 school year. Rather than go home or vacation with his family, however, Laxer chose to visit the University of Aizu, a recently founded Japanese university with a focus on computer science and engineering.
During his visit, Laxer team-taught a course on Java game development, learned basic Japanese, did some cultural sightseeing, and came back armed with ideas for improving Rose-Hulman’s collaboration with other overseas institutions.
The University of Aizu, founded in 1993, offers only degrees in computer science and computer engineering.
Rose-Hulman’s collaboration with Aizu began three years ago with a talk given at Rose by one of Aizu’s professors. The presentation, which Laxer attended, focused on cross-cultural differences and computer science education. Laxer spoke with the visiting professor after his presentation, and the two corresponded by email for some time.
A pivotal moment came when Laxer went on a global conference trip. He was able to add a one-day stop at Aizu to visit and chat with his Japanese colleagues. “[The faculty there] were thrilled that we were number one, things like that,” Laxer said. “At the end of my visit, they agreed that we should pursue further cooperation.”
The two universities formally began their relationship soon thereafter, when Gerald Jakubowski, then first-year president of Rose-Hulman, signed a document establishing cooperation between Rose and Aizu. The document was the first he signed in his time as president, according to Laxer.
That cooperation eventually culminated in the president of the University of Aizu inviting Laxer to spend a semester there, teaching courses and getting to know the university. Laxer accepted the offer, despite plans to visit New Zealand with his wife and spend a portion of his sabbatical there.
Along with Laxer, four students went to Aizu for the semester: Mark Grandjean, Ryan Parnas, Daniel Sabin, and Jonathan Woodworth. All four are junior computer science majors, with Parnas also double-majoring in software engineering.
“I got a grant from Rockwell Collins that allowed me to take four students with me as exchange students and paid for their travel costs and some cultural sightseeing that we did,” Laxer said. “They were the first students that ever earned transfer credit from the University of Aizu.”
While at Aizu, Laxer taught a graduate-level course on Java game development. Three of the four Rose-Hulman students enrolled in the course, allowing Laxer to get to know them better and have an unprecedented teaching experience.
“It was a great way to get to know some Rose students,” Laxer said. “It was a unique opportunity to teach [them] in a different country.”
Though Laxer enjoyed his trip, teaching at Aizu was very different from teaching at Rose-Hulman. Japanese students, according to Laxer, “don’t speak in class, don’t ask questions, and didn’t want to work with Rose students on a team.”
Photo courtesy of Cary Laxer
The president of the University of Aizu stands among several school faculty members.
“There were times I wondered if the Japanese students understood what I was saying,” Laxer said. “I probably had more interaction with the Japanese students here from Aizu than I did with the students there. It’s a very different culture.”
Along with the differences in cultural attitudes went the differences in language. Laxer didn’t have a chance to learn Japanese before his trip, so he took a beginner’s course in the language while overseas. The graduate-level courses were mostly taught in English, however, and Aizu focuses on building English skills in its students, so Laxer didn’t have too much difficulty.
“They’re trying to force their students to speak more English,” Laxer said. “I could tell from their presentations that some were very uncomfortable with English.”
Despite the occasional problem, Laxer came back to Rose having taken away something valuable from the sabbatical.
“I think it helps me to prepare our students better for when they work collaboratively with students from another country,” Laxer said.