At the invitation of the School of Environmental and Civil Engineering (SECE) of Jiangnan University (JU), Dr. Jacqueline McLaughlin from Pennsylvania State University (PSU), a professor of biology as well as a world-renowned expert of ecological education, recently gave a two-week course onIntroduction to Environmental Sciencein SECE so the students majoring environmental engineering in JU were given access to an all-English learning environment, hence an improvement in the bilingual courses of the School.
This bilingual course is graced by previous cooperation between PSU and SECE. Dr. McLaughlin, the founder of PSU Practices Courses in the Sustainable Development of the Global Environment CHANCE, takes students on field trips to observe and study ecological and environmental issues in different countries every year. In the past several years, Dr. McLaughlin has twice led a group of students and scholars from PSU to conduct study on the case of the Taihu Lake and worked closely with SECE on joint undergraduate international courses.
Making the most of her profound knowledge, rich experience and teaching materials, Dr. McLaughlin in her lectures presented the deformation of our world from a picturesque and peaceful one to the devastated one we have. Moreover, she highlighted the hard time developed countries have in restoring the deteriorated environment at a heavy cost. Students can not only learn the basic knowledge but also the way of thinking behind the scene, inspired to reflect on human-nature relationship and realize that protection is the best way to bring environmental pollution under control and each individual can do their part to make our world a better place.
With passion and enlightening ways of instruction, Dr. McLaughlin brought students a pleasant and international atmosphere to develop their talents and a fruitful close to this course. In her classes, she adopted various teaching methods such as inquiry, interaction and group discussion which all played roles in sharpening students’ critical and independent thinking, problems-solving skills, broadening their global vision and improving their English proficiency. During her stay here,Dr. McLaughlin also worked together with Prof. Liu He of SECE, JU, and delivered to the teachers of JU an open lecture of “Teachers’ Excellence Project”,Water Environment. Incorporating academic forefront into it, this lecture, providing teachers with ideas and examples for reference in their teachings, won high praise from the faculty and students.
The presence of an internationally renowned scholar in our bilingual course is a reflection of SECE’s commitment to equipping professionals of environmental engineering with global vision and sharpening their competitiveness. At the same time, it is of great benefit for SECE to strive for perfection and quality education in the days ahead. (Han)
