Zhejiang University Fosters Passionate Companionship for Students’ Academic Journey
At ZJU, there is a collection of “courses” that leverage peer exchange and counseling to ignite interest. Embraced by students, these high-quality student association courses offer a diverse and exhilarating classroom experience. Curious to witness the vibrancy firsthand? Let’s explore together!
A course and a hobby
With vibrant music, skilled gliding, and swift movements, a group of students wearing rollerblades were practicing their moves repeatedly, gliding lightly through obstacles. This is the rollerblading training class offered by the Student Roller Skating Association of ZJU, mainly teaching freestyle roller skating on flat ground, with fancy maneuvering around obstacles as a key focus.
The students who serve as coaches are passionate club members with a love for rollerblading. Peer-to-peer teaching fosters mutual learning, creating an atmosphere of liveliness whenever coaches and students engage in friendly competition.
Such teacher-student challenges also frequently happen in the chess basic teaching class offered by the Student Chess Club of ZJU. The teaching content includes Go, Chinese chess, and international chess, with pairwise matches between teachers, students, and participants being an essential part of the class.
In the chess teaching classes, the chessboard becomes a realm of guidance, while the Student Calligraphy and Painting Society of ZJU guides students to integrate their interest in calligraphy and painting into their brushwork, splashing it onto paper. The premium calligraphy and painting courses encourage practice through imitation, enabling students to acquire calligraphy and painting techniques through mimicry, ultimately empowering them to create independently.
A course and a skill
There is a spot where numerous exquisite handicrafts, showcased behind glass display cases, captivate passing students, compelling them to pause and admire. The studio named Craft Space, is managed by the Student Traditional Handicraft Art Club of ZJU. During Craft Space open days, under the expert guidance of club members, both students and faculty members can experience the allure of handicraft art and create delicate DIY items.
“Here, you can shed the trivialities of academic life and immerse yourself in moments at your fingers”, one student commented. Traditional handicrafts and artisan spirit are also passed down through teaching. Similarly, the Ark of Grass and Wood in the exudes a botanical vibe. In the premium course offered by the Student Botany Society of ZJU, students explore the world of plants step by step through dissecting onions, succulent planting, botanical specimens, and flower pressing.
How to create a MAD video? How to dissect your laptop? How to materialize a 3D printed model? E-Classroom, a premium course offered by EVA (electrical volunteer association) of ZJU, provides professional answers. Beyond theoretical knowledge, students immerse themselves in practical sessions led by club members, engaging in activities like system installation, laptop disassembly, basic welding, and more, to master a range of practical methods and techniques.
The Intelligent Factory Software and Hardware Basic Practice Teaching shifts the focus from daily maintenance to industrial production. Starting from Solidworks part drawing to basic development of Arduino, and then progressing to virtual terminal single-chip microcontroller experiments, members of the Student Intelligent Factory Innovation Club at ZJU provide hands-on teaching to help students unlock the doors of industrial design and manufacture.
“I learned practical and important skills, What seemed impossible to me slowly took shape.” At the end of the semester, students also produced many interesting products: a remote controller to switch off dormitory lights via a phone, an automatic hand wash device with sensors, an IoT platform controlling water temperature adjustment in a cup… They integrated their learning into production, transforming whimsical ideas into creative and imaginative works.
A course and a world
In ZJU’s student club premium courses, you will encounter even more expansive horizons! Every Tuesday and Thursday evening, the rhythmic beat of drums fills the administrative building on Zijingang Campus, where students are learning the African drums found in traditional West African music. The longstanding friendship between China and Africa, as well as the enthusiasm of ZJU students in the African Drum Society, has promoted the spread of African music on campus. Through this course, more students experience firsthand the rhythm carriers and cultural symbols from West Africa.
Also, the Student Cantonese Club of ZJU imparts local culture through its premium courses. Cantonese is one of the most widely spoken dialects in southern China. A group of students from the Lingnan region, as well as Hong Kong and Macao, share their language and cultural heritage in premium classes. From pronunciation exercises, basic Cantonese, to Cantonese songs, and Hong Kong films, the teachers among peers lead other students in embracing Lingnan culture and cultural diversity. The teaching materials represent the a legacy and accumulation of knowledge passed down through generations of club members.
In the spring semester of 2024, a total of 61 premium courses were offered by student clubs throughout the university, attracting about 2500 students from different grades and majors. These distinctive club premium courses, sparking interests through peer-to-peer exchanges, radiate youthfulness and vitality.