In early 2016, after one year of negotiation, DTU and St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa signed a teacher exchange agreement in lecturing and research. Two to five DTU lecturers go to St. Ambrose University to teach for half or a full term. In exchange, a similar number of the St. Ambrose University faculty will come to teach and conduct research at DTU.
Dr Le Nguyen Bao, DTU Vice-Provost, and Professor Paul Koch, St. Ambrose University Provost
To initiate the partnership, Mr. Tran Tuan Dat, a lecturer from the DTU International School, went to Iowa from March to May 2016 to teach Organizational Leadership and Trading at St. Ambrose. There were 20 students in each class, which required the lecturer to have an in-depth knowledge of the specialized topics and to prepare lesson plans very carefully.
“Combining diverse academic resources for each class is vital in the US,” Mr. Dat explained. “However, the library and internet facilities in American schools are excellent, which cuts down the time required to hunt for information. I was surprised that I met mostly Caucasian students, learning and exchanging ideas in a comfortable environment. US students have an outstanding ability to link what they learn in class with other activities, in their part-time jobs, discussing problems with their parents and relatives at home and in groups, writing papers, playing sports and so on. They are much more motivated than their counterparts in Vietnamese but sometimes restricted by the necessity to take out student loans".
Mr. Dat lectures a class at St. Ambrose University
Evaluating Mr. Dat’s performance at St. Ambrose University, Professor Dave O’Connell said, “I highly appreciate Professor Dat’s international perspective on the role of leadership and on the differences in leadership styles between different cultures. The Vietnamese and European examples that he presented in his class really made the students change their perception about the optimal types of leadership methods required in specialized businesses today.”
Teacher exchanges with foreign universities meet the basic objectives established by DTU. The aim is to improve the teaching quality of DTU lecturers and increase their self-confidence by working abroad. When they return to Vietnam, these lecturers will then be able to share their new experiences and skills to the benefit of their DTU students here.
(Media Center)