Mae Fa Luang Univercity

[brianmarinus]

Edited February 2, 2012 by brianmarinus

[toybits]

Love this campus. Wouldn't mind studying here - if I was younger.

[JimShortz]

It LOOKS great, but unfortunately seems unable to back it up. A very good ex-student from the school that I teach at went there this year to study physiotherapy but was hugely disappointed by an international programme taught largely in Thai (although it was supposed to be wholly English). She is a good student, but was so disappointed with the course quality that she left before the end of the first semester...

A shame but not in any way surprising I am afraid...

[brianmarinus]

Hi!

I can not say anything about that situation you mention here-but one thing is for sure-Mae Fa Luang is a very good univercity-we have two from our family there,now for 3 years, and they are so happy to go there-and I must say that what you mention here, is the very first bad thing I ever have heard about this place.

[little_muppet]

its depends on the student themself. not the university

[harrry]

Hi!

I can not say anything about that situation you mention here-but one thing is for sure-Mae Fa Luang is a very good univercity-we have two from our family there,now for 3 years, and they are so happy to go there-and I must say that what you mention here, is the very first bad thing I ever have heard about this place.

As a patient of the Physiotherapy department I have been impressed with the quality of the department. Its staff, equipment and students are a match for any hospital in Australia. Students fail to progress in University for a variety of reasons, it is not always the fault of the place or the staff.

[rmacdon61]

Hi!

I can not say anything about that situation you mention here-but one thing is for sure-Mae Fa Luang is a very good univercity-we have two from our family there,now for 3 years, and they are so happy to go there-and I must say that what you mention here, is the very first bad thing I ever have heard about this place.

As a patient of the Physiotherapy department I have been impressed with the quality of the department. Its staff, equipment and students are a match for any hospital in Australia. Students fail to progress in University for a variety of reasons, it is not always the fault of the place or the staff.

I very much agree. Back home, in the 1970's, the economy was very good, it was a period of motivational decline in young people, Universities were looking for more money, enrollment went up, motivation went down, Grade Point Average went down with it. As Universities saw their Status decline with grade point, they raised the bar for grade point entry to raise theirs back up so as to increase prestige and status. The old adage, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink!!"

[JimShortz]

I think the point I was really trying to make was that for any student to study "in English" at Mae Fa Luang University they need to have a very high standard of Thai. I am not knocking the university for using a lot of Thai language within the teaching, they just need to be up-front about this...

Almost all of the students enrolled in this "international" course are Thai, hence instead of all struggling along studying in their second language (English), they frequently simply revert to Thai. This is absolutely fine so long as it is made clear to anyone with less than perfect use of Thai (at an academic use level) considering the course.

[harrry]

One of the current graduating batches of students at MFL in physiotherapy is a young man from Nepal. His English is excellent as he had his schooling in Dargeling India.. His thai study consisted of the two one month 40 hour courses at CMU. I asked him if he studied Thai at MFL and he said no because he did not need to. He seems to have achieved a high level of competence in his physiotherapy. Maybe your student should have persisted rather than deciding University study is too hard.

[JimShortz]

One of the current graduating batches of students at MFL in physiotherapy is a young man from Nepal. His English is excellent as he had his schooling in Dargeling India.. His thai study consisted of the two one month 40 hour courses at CMU. I asked him if he studied Thai at MFL and he said no because he did not need to. He seems to have achieved a high level of competence in his physiotherapy. Maybe your student should have persisted rather than deciding University study is too hard.

I don't recall the student in question mentioning anything to do with it being "too hard"; please try to avoid putting words into other people's mouths... Unsatisfied might be a better description of her feelings.

So, one Indian educated Nepali student; and all of the others Thai? I'm sure with "persistence" she could have continued and passed with little difficulty; that does not alter the fact that she was deeply unhappy with what was on offer. Her persisting would have not fixed the problems (for her). I think her decision to switch to somewhere more suited to her needs was a good one. Much better than persisting in this situation in my opinion...

I'm glad to hear that the young man from Nepal persisted and passed. That may well have been the right decision for him. I would guess that his educational background was very different to hers, hence he would see things quite differently and have different expectations.

[Fookhaht]

Throughout Thailand, this university is well known for it's stunningly beautiful campus. Unfortunately, it's also well known among Thai academia as having a less-than-stellar program particularly in its English department and international programs. It has been especially struggling in the last 3-4 years. To the prospective student: caveat emptor!

[Fookhaht]

its depends on the student themself. not the university

Translated to business terms, you're saying: "It depends on the customer, not the manufacturer."

Sorry, but there is a very valid "trickle-down" theory when applied to academic institutions. Students do suffer when the educators can't get it together.