1. Which of the following statements is correct?

a) At the UT, it is not appreciated if students have a critical mindset towards their study material and teachers

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Having your own opinion and being critical are important in Dutch society and are core values of the University of Twente.

b) The most important part of studying at the UT is memorizing and understanding my study material

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The Dutch believe that learning actively is the best way to learn. The essence of active learning is asking yourself questions that you try to answer by studying. What am I going to learn? What do I know already about this question? Does what I read answer my question? Do I agree? What do I miss? Are alternative solutions possible? What are the consequences? Memorizing and understanding are considered valuable but only as first steps in learning. There is more emphasis on the development of academic and/or professional skills.

c) In class, the process of finding a solution is often more important than the actual answer

Correct!

If a professor asks a question, you are expected to come up with a reasonable solution, not the perfect one. The process of finding a solution, dealing with new information and creativity are paramount. The quality of the actual solution is often less important.

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d) Competition is very important in Dutch educational culture

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Competition hardly plays a role in Dutch educational culture: students are seldom graded against each other. The teacher sets a minimum score and passes all students that meet this criterion. Dutch students are usually not very interested how they rank in class; they are mainly concerned with passing the course. Students striving to be the best will not talk about it as it is not done in the Netherlands to be too competitive or work too hard.