Interest Survey
(Results of a survey I
gave grad students in 2007)
Why this page: I thought foreign teachers might
like to know what Chinese students are interested in learning or talking
about. Your students might choose different things, but perhaps you can
use this as a model so that you can ask!
Student sample:
92 graduate students, studying various aspects of
medicine at Kunming Medical University, first week of class, September
2007
RESULTS: Topics in order (from highest number of responses
to lowest):
1. Life Stages: Love, marriage, children, divorce, death
2. Doctor-patient relationships (I have a movie about
this, but we wouldn’t have time to watch the whole thing in class)
3. Humor as medicine (I have a movie about this, but we
wouldn’t have time to watch the whole thing in class)
4. Food: diet, obesity, food safety, nutrition
5. Internet & Communications (problems & resources)
6. Honesty, obedience, accountability, idealism and other
culturally-defined issues
7. Non-medical health factors (anxiety, attitude,
loneliness, etc)
8. Growing up or growing old (a humorous look at aging)
9. Pollution & recycling (I have a video on this subject)
10. Cancer & Despair (I have a Snoopy cartoon on this
topic)
11. Multicultural awareness and differences in worldview
12. Handling stress (including coping with pressure &
professional development; I have a TV drama on this)
13. Medicine without drugs (traditional and alternative
med)
14. temperament, interpersonal relationships, personality
characteristics
15. Question & Answer time (in English) with doctors
16. Cloning (I have a movie about this, but we wouldn’t
have time to watch the whole thing in class)
17. The interdependent role of culture, social structures
and individuals.
18. Antibiotics, bacteria & viruses (I have a TV drama on
this)
19. AIDS (& SARS?)
20. First aid
21. Smoking (and other addictions)
22. Hygiene/sanitation in hospitals (I have a TV drama on
this)
23. Annual Physical Exam & Health Examination procedures
(rules & procedures for foreigners living in China)
24. The role of NGOs (& charity) in society
25. What are grades? (& the role of exams in Chinese
society)
26. Eye care
Disclaimers:
Most students didn't follow my instructions (which is
rather typical); that is, they didn't limit themselves to 10 "best" and
five "uninteresting" topics. Some marked everything, and some only
marked a few. My ranking also doesn't really take the OK" or "frowns"
into account, but there weren't many of these. As a result,
statistically, these results are suspect. No one suggested extra topics.
The survey:
Next week we will
talk about pain. What do you want to study after that? Here are
some suggestions. Choose up to 10 “best” topics and mark them with a
smile J; choose up to 5 “uninteresting” topics and mark them with a frown
L.
You can leave the others blank or mark them “ok.”
Possible topics:
J
ok L 1. What are grades? (& the role of exams in Chinese society)
J
ok L 2. Multicultural awareness and differences in worldview
J
ok L 3. Medicine without drugs (traditional and alternative med)
J
ok L 4. Humor as medicine (I have a movie about this, but we wouldn’t have
time to watch the whole thing in class)
J
ok L 5. Smoking (and other addictions)
J
ok L 6. Doctor-patient relationships(I have a movie about this, but we
wouldn’t have time to watch the whole thing in class)
J
ok L 7. Non-medical health factors (anxiety, attitude, loneliness, etc)
J
ok L 8. AIDS (& SARS?)
J
ok L 9. Food: diet, obesity, food safety, nutrition
J
ok L 10. The role of NGOs (& charity) in society
J
ok L 11. Internet & Communications (problems & resources)
J
ok L 12. Cancer & Despair (I have a Snoopy cartoon on this topic)
J
ok L 13. temperament, interpersonal relationships, personality
characteristics
J
ok L 14. Pollution & recycling (I have a video on this subject)
J
ok L 15. Honesty, obedience, accountability, idealism and other
culturally-defined issues
J
ok L 16. The interdependent role of culture, social structures and
individuals.
J
ok L 17. Antibiotics, bacteria & viruses (I have a TV drama on this)
J
ok L 18. Hygiene/sanitation in hospitals (I have a TV drama on this)
J
ok L 19. Handling stress (including coping with pressure & professional
development; I have a TV drama on this)
J
ok L 20. Question & Answer time (in English) with doctors
J
ok L 21. Cloning (I have a movie about this, but we wouldn’t have time to
watch the whole thing in class)
J
ok L 22. Annual Physical Exam & Health Examination procedures (rules &
procedures for foreigners living in China)
J
ok L 23. Life Stages: Love, marriage, children, divorce, death
J
ok L 24. First aid
J
ok L 25. Growing up or growing old (a humorous look at aging)
J
ok L 26. Eye care
Other suggestions?________________________________________
This resource was created for our students under my
understanding of "fair use" for educational resources.
2007 Michael Krigline. As far as I am concerned, people are allowed to print/copy/adapt
it for personal or classroom use.
(see Website Standards and Use Policy)
