This blog post was written by a friend of mine. My friend studied as an exchange student at Aachen University of Technology in Germany for a semester. The engineering education system he experienced was very different from Korea in terms of exam periods, textbooks, and teaching methods. This experience gave my friend a new appreciation for the diversity of engineering education and the student-centered approach to teaching.

Exchange Student Experience at Aachen University of Technology, Germany

I had the opportunity to pursue engineering education as an exchange student in Germany for a semester last semester. Before my exchange, I thought that the education system in Germany would not be much different from Korea, but my semester in Germany gave me the opportunity to refresh my thoughts on engineering. The university I attended was Aachen University of Technology in Germany, which is a well-known engineering school, especially in the automotive field. Although it was a short semester, I was able to see my German friends often and talk to them a lot, and I also had the opportunity to interact with Korean students who are currently studying at Aachen, so I was able to hear their perceptions of engineering and experience engineering education firsthand.

A school with no exam period

The first thing that surprised me when I checked the timetable and went to the classes I wanted was that there was no exam period. At my school, Seoul National University’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, there are usually two to four exams, the scope of which depends on the professor’s discretion, and the exam dates are usually announced a week in advance. So at the beginning of the semester, you have plenty of time to take it easy, but as the midterm period approaches, most engineering students get busy. At the beginning of the semester, you don’t have a set schedule for exams, so you have to juggle overlapping exams, project course meetings, and homework time. Engineering students usually feel busier and more exhausted than other students on average by the end of the semester, when exams are over, they are busy with homework, reports, and projects, and then the cycle repeats.
But it was different at Aachen University. The main difference was that I knew the exam schedule in advance when I registered for the course, and I could take the exams during my vacations instead of during the semester, so I didn’t have to neglect my classes due to exams. Of course, depending on the exam schedule, it is possible to take exams outside of the semester, but the ability to plan and rest and study in between was a huge advantage. Also, by knowing the exam schedule in advance and preparing for it, I had enough time to focus on each exam, so I was able to focus on my studies and feel proud of how much I knew and studied. While every system has its advantages and disadvantages, I felt that Aachen University’s examination system demonstrated a student-centered approach to engineering education. The ability to organize one’s own time is a necessary skill for engineering students, as is the ability to take responsibility for failures, and I believe that German engineering education helps to cultivate these skills.

Textbooks and exams that don’t fit your major

When I took my first class at Aachen University of Technology, the textbooks were one of the things that surprised me the most. At Seoul National University, some professors use their own textbooks or PPTs to teach, but most classes are based on a certain textbook. However, in German schools, professors produce educational materials with their own names on them. So, even though the textbooks were small, the professors could decide how many classes they would teach in a semester and what they would teach. For the first time in my engineering class, I encountered a textbook without formulas and full of explanations. I had never seen a book like this before because engineering textbooks were full of complicated formulas. When I was studying my major textbooks in Korea, I often lost track of whether I was solving a problem just to solve an equation or what I was calculating for. But in Germany, the textbook itself focused on where it was needed and how it could be applied.
We had problem-solving classes, but we worked on the concepts and how to solve the problems. This way, anyone could study and get a good score on the exam. The previous year’s exams were all publicly available, so I didn’t have to ask my seniors for the exam questions. Also, unlike in Korea, where it was difficult to prepare for the exams by asking questions related to the class content, the exams evaluated the concepts learned and problem-solving skills in various ways. I realized that I could learn engineering in this way, and it was important to see if I understood the concepts without focusing on calculating numbers.

Hands-on classes and free discussion

The class that impressed me the most was the laboratory class. I went as an exchange student in the first semester of my fourth year, so I was able to take all of my major classes to some extent, so I was able to compare lab classes in the same class. When I was studying automotive engineering at Seoul National University, I learned about the low noise and low vibration of electric vehicles on paper, but at Aachen University of Technology, I was able to drive the electric vehicle that the school built on the track and experience it. I was also able to drive different types of Mercedes-Benz trucks and buses to compare their characteristics. For the first time in my life, I was able to drive a Mercedes-Benz truck weighing over two tons without a license and experience the manual transmission and understand how it works.
Whereas at Seoul National University, lab visits were only possible when I was writing a research paper, showing it to high school students, or doing research for an article, in Germany, I had the opportunity to observe new technologies and experimental equipment in a factory-like laboratory every week, and to hear and experience them in relation to my classes. I also had the opportunity to visit the famous German car company Mercedes-Benz and the auto parts company Bosch throughout the week, which gave me a hands-on experience. As Germany is a manufacturing powerhouse, there is a lot of investment in engineering, and I envied the atmosphere of free research and experimentation. I also admired the way German engineering students freely discuss and share their opinions with their professors as equals.

The atmosphere of engineering students who are different from us

When we think of engineering students, it’s easy to imagine them as gloomy, serious, and sighing about the future. However, this was not the case with the German friends I met. The general German perception is that engineering education is difficult and long, but those who attend are proud of it. I was envious of the discussions we had over dinner and the way they made the hard work fun and enjoyable. I realized that people’s perceptions and the environment in which they study affect their enthusiasm for studying. I realized that the social atmosphere that recognizes and treats difficult studies as a strength for engineering students, and they use that pride as a driving force to focus on their studies. I remember when I first arrived in Germany and told my friends that I was majoring in mechanical engineering, many of them encouraged me. In Korea, it was common for engineering students to be concerned about the life and future of engineering students, and I felt a little embarrassed and happy at the same time. I thought that more high school students would want to major in engineering if they could study in such an environment.

Reflections on the German engineering education system

This experience made me think about how this type of engineering education was adopted. Of course, I haven’t studied German education in depth, both humanistically and historically, but I can talk about the reasons from what I’ve seen and felt. The history of engineering and natural sciences in Germany is much longer than in Korea. Unlike Korea, which began to blossom in the 1900s and embraced foreign culture in a hurry, Germany’s science and engineering programs have been developing over a long period of time. I was reminded of this when I visited the Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. Since Mercedes-Benz is such a famous automaker, I expected that the exhibits would be limited to cars from different eras, but the huge seven-story museum mixed world events and automotive history, from the first cars to car engines, the companies that were founded, and the two wars and bombings that Germany went through and how they rebuilt their businesses. I was impressed by these facts, so I read each one slowly and marveled at them. I thought that these trials and tribulations had solidified the fundamentals of engineering, and I wondered if the hard-working atmosphere, industriousness, and horizontal thinking of the German people, which they had learned from a young age, had shaped their liberal approach to engineering education.
Until I went to study as an exchange student, the guidelines of what an engineering student should do were firmly embedded in my head. The idea that you should be busy, that you should save time, and that you shouldn’t have time for other hobbies was common. But after my exchange year, I realized that there could be more to teaching engineering and learning engineering, and I felt the need to rethink the engineering education system. Engineering is a fundamental discipline that allows humans to create things and improve the world. While it is important to learn theory and solve difficult problems in engineering, it is also important to think about and discuss fundamental issues. It was deemed worthwhile to consider how these two disciplines can be harmonized. Therefore, both students learning and professors teaching felt that engineering education needed a lot of thought and resolution.