Lesson III: Student and Teacher Interaction

For this lesson, you will need to use Windows Media Player (PC users) or Windows Media Player for Mac (Mac users).

In this lesson you will learn about appropriate and inappropriate ways to approach a professor and ask for something that you need. This is an important issue to address because many times when people from two different cultures are communicating, each person brings with him ideas of what are appropriate ways and inappropriate ways to approach someone and to ask for things. If one person, bringing with him his own cultural knowledge, is not aware of the other's, there is the risk that one person can feel upset after the interaction if he feels that the other's behavior was somehow rude or inappropriate.

1. To get you thinking about your own ideas about how it is appropriate to approach professors in your home country, answer the questions on the worksheet that you will get from your professor in groups. The worksheet is also available here (MS Word Doc)

2. Now that you have answered the pre-activity questions, ask your professor for the next worksheet. This worksheet has questions on it that you will answer after completing step 3 of the lesson. Before you go to step 3, which is watching 2 video clips, preview the questions on the worksheet, so that you will be prepared to answer them after viewing the clips. The worksheet is also available here. (MS Word Doc)

3. In this step, you will watch two video clips of an interaction between a student and a professor. One is an example of an appropriate way to approach and interact with a professor, the other way is an example of an inappropriate way.

Click here to see the first video clip.

4. Now, after viewing the clips, fill in the answers to the questions in groups. You may watch the clips again if you wish while you fill in the answers to the questions.

5. Take a quiz to test your knowledge!

Click here to go to quiz.