Studying new changes and establishing a new balance - a report on the education of some famous universities in the United States
Studying new changes and establishing a new balance - Some famous colleges and universities in China's educational research report Yu Shouwen / Zhang Mei / Yuan Dening / Zhang Zaixing From April 6 to 26, 1994, the Tsinghua University delegation went to the United States to take the credit system as Educational review of the main content. He has visited MIT, Harvard University, University of Michigan, University of California at Berkeley, and Stanford University, with a focus on MIT's in-depth visit for 1 week. The visit was warmly received by the schools. In particular, MIT made a very thoughtful and compact arrangement for the visit, and both the vice-president and the provost arranged meetings and talks. In addition to meeting with relevant leaders of the schools, the event focused on grass-roots field visits: listening to university students' major classes, attending various discussion classes, dining with students, visiting laboratories, registration and elective courses, libraries, and visiting Professors, students and academic management staff. This time coincided with the Tsinghua University celebration. The Great Oste Alumni Association held a grand 83rd anniversary celebration and welcome meeting for the delegation. We also met more than 100 alumni from Boston, Anab, and San Francisco. There has been a lot of information and lessons learned from their contacts. In addition, we also invited Tandem Computer Company and Lattice Semiconductor Company in the Shibuya area to visit the Tandem Education and Training Center and the design department of L attice to initially examine the company's technology industry and education.
First, the main impression
The university campuses have a deeper impression of education: 1 Each university has a clear basic requirement for the cultivation of college students, including natural sciences, mathematics, humanities, technology, and writing, accounting for about half of the university's credits. 2 The flexibility and diversity of teaching encourage students to develop their innovative spirit and personality. 3 Teaching and research are closely combined, teachers are of a high standard, professors must conduct research and must attend classes, there are no professors who do not attend classes; a considerable proportion of university students participate in various research work. 4 Teaching and research facilities are abundant and advanced, and the funding is relatively sufficient, which guarantees the implementation of the credit system and free course selection and various teaching research and experiments. The details are as follows.
1. Credit system implementation and mentor guidance.
Each school has a credit system. Its elasticity is mainly manifested in: science, humanities, medicine, law and other major categories have their common foundation. On this basis, students can freely choose majors and change the majors more easily. Of course, in the above Conversion between major classes is allowed, but not easy. The selection of courses and the selection of courses are closely related. Students choose courses for each semester according to their chosen department, and finally achieve the goal of selecting departments through the selection of courses in each semester.
For example, the MIT University Department has a total of 380 credits in four years, of which 75% are required for courses and compulsory courses, and 25% are for limited and non-restrictive electives. The first year is not divided into departments, mainly to complete the required courses required by the college, including: physical, calculus, chemistry, biology, humanities and social sciences limited courses; natural sciences limited courses; laboratory work requirements; writing requirements. At the end of the first year, I chose the Department of Science and the basic academic system for 4 years. There is no limit to the amount of time each student can complete the required credits. In the middle of the course, you can re-elect other departmental courses. In addition to the mutual recognition of the common courses, you need to restart the accumulated credits. Therefore, the transfer means that students will spend more time and pay more tuition fees. According to the statistics of the past years, about one-third of the students have changed the department once, and a few have changed it twice. The vast majority of students at these prestigious schools graduated within four years.
The number of students in each department is not fixed. It is entirely up to the students to choose according to their own needs for employment and personal interests. There is no upper limit on the number of popular professionals in the school. MIT's EE&CS is the hottest, with about 300 people per session. The department head said that the big class is no problem, the experiment can be arranged all day, afternoon and evening, and there is no situation that the number of people can't cope with it; There are only about 10 people majoring in the program; there are only 2 students in the ocean engineering course, and 20 professors are in the department, but there are 100 graduate students.
The setting of the tutor: 85% of the more than 1,000 freshmen in each session set the tutor in a ratio of 1:7. They also guide the new student Seminar, carry out various group activities, have reports, have small lab questions, and have field tests. Through these activities, students are encouraged to choose courses. 15% require new students who have more care, and the ratio of tutors is 1:2 to 3. The total number of tutors is 207, of which 117 are teachers, 80 are researchers and administrative staff, and 10 are graduate students. There are also 300 high school students as deputy mentors.
Harvard University, the earliest credit system, has changed a lot since the early credit system. Students can choose their own “professional field”. However, the courses required for each “professional field”, the duration of study, and the number of courses to be completed per semester are strictly regulated. In the first year of the new year, students will study the courses required by the same year. In the second year, they will start classes according to the “professional field”. For example, the liberal arts college currently has 41 “professional fields”, and each “professional field” has prescribed courses. About 25% of students change their Concentration choices, either in the natural sciences, in the humanities, or in completely different fields. About 25% of students leave school each year, or go to other places to earn credits, work, travel for one semester, one academic year, or register for non-credit courses. It is stipulated that the normal course speed is 4 doors per semester, not less than 3 doors, and more than 5 doors must be approved. Students who have graduated less than 8 semester in advance, or are outstanding students who are identified, or transfer students who have transferred credits, or students who have been enrolled in more than 4 classes per semester. Those who have not obtained a degree within the 8 semester of registration may be added a “ninth semester” with the approval of the relevant department, but no housing and scholarships will be provided during the ninth semester. Regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the credit system, the school believes that this system itself has its drawbacks. For example, some students choose easy courses and “mixed credits”. Fortunately, most of Harvard University is engaged in learning, and the tuition is expensive. A few can not be counted. In addition, credits cannot distinguish the difficulty of the course, and it is not reasonable.
In the method of course selection, each school has not yet established a computerized course selection system directly used by students. Instead, students fill out the course selection form in advance, and the teaching staff use the computer to guide students to select the class schedule. For example, the University of Michigan's elective center has 26 terminals with 26 academic staff. Each student chooses 15 minutes each time for a total of 11 days. Under the manual intervention, the selection of the next semester is completed. In order to improve efficiency and facilitate students, the school can start classes by telephone in the next semester, and students do not need to queue for classes. Some schools plan to establish a computer-based course selection system that students use directly in the next few years.
2. A variety of special programs that motivate the pioneering spirit and develop hands-on skills.
The school provides a wide range of opportunities for university students to participate in research work and set up various educational research projects that embody many novel and distinctive educational ideas, such as interdisciplinary teaching, self-study, research, discussion, and synthesis of various teaching methods. Use, students each take the initiative to develop according to certain steps. For example, special programs like MIT include:
UROP provides opportunities for university students to participate in research work. This is a large-scale project of MIT in the university education. Each student's 3/4 has participated in UROP in 4 years. It has 24 Year history. Each department and each inter-disciplinary laboratory are open to students, and students are allowed to intervene at each stage of the research work, including the writing of the proposal, overall program design, research and test work, data analysis, and summary report. There are three ways to participate in UROP: earn credits, get paid, and participate freely and without compensation. A large number of students are in the second and third grades, 10-12 hours/week in spring and autumn, and 10 weeks in summer. There are a small number of students in the first grade, and a few papers are still in the fourth grade. In 1982, 40% of the participants were credited, 50% were paid, and 10% were volunteers; in 1992, 20% for the creditors and 80% for the payers. In 1993, the UROP expenditures of the whole school totaled more than 40 million yuan. Most of the rest were from research funding. The UROP office has mastered some of the school's funds to support difficult projects.
The Concourse program belongs to the College of Engineering. Each class receives 60 students per class, and students voluntarily sign up. Teachers come from various departments and Harvard University, and most of them are senior professors. For example, the leader of Program is a senior professor of chemistry, and he combines generalization with solid chemistry. The physics, calculus, chemistry, and humanities courses all adopt completely different teaching methods. In the teaching process, in a small scope, teachers and students face-to-face exchanges, seminars, lectures, and classes. Museum, writing papers. The participation of students in the teaching process is very broad and very strong. For example, in the independent activities of January 1992, a group of students newly rewrote the lectures of the chemistry class.
The ISP is a college of literature and history, with 40 students in one class. Its purpose is to add humanities to science, think about adding hands, culture plus technology, theory plus practice. The moderator believes that “only students can understand the relationship between science and humanity, and they can grow into a responsible engineer”. The ISP Humanities Course is a separate class. Three teachers with expertise in history, physics and electronic technology organize students' self-study and discussion on American automobile history, communication history and textile history, while physics, chemistry, mathematics, etc. participate in the teaching of ordinary large classes, but Because ISP teachers organize discussions, there are dedicated classrooms where students are required to participate in technical studies. ISPs especially welcome students who love to do it.
ESG is a science school. Group leaders are senior professors in biology, and the group's biology classes range from generalization to molecular biology. Receive 1 class, 40 to 45 students. Each class in the class emphasizes self-study. Students can study and discuss in groups, or they can discuss them separately with teachers. The class offers high-level elective courses such as special relativity, ordinary differential equations, complex functions, and organic chemistry. If students have new ideas, ESG helps to find a mentor, find information, find funds, and the relationship between teachers and students is very close. Even students call for the name of Professor and have lunch once a week. There are also many graduate students and high class students in the group.
Among them, there are three teaching research projects specifically for new students.
3. Strengthen contact and cooperation with industry.
In recent years, engineering education and research in various schools have begun to emphasize the importance of engineering and industry. This has much to do with the current US science and technology policy that emphasizes technology for economic development services. In this regard, the University of Michigan's movements are eye-catching. The school is increasingly close to the industry, and the main form of integration is the joint application of the school and the engineering research project. The main content of the research is the very practical technology currently used in industrial enterprises. A number of enterprises and schools related to the research project jointly apply to the government for project establishment, and the funds are 50% invested by the government departments and the participating enterprises. The enterprise department also sends people and schools to participate in the research work, and the research results are shared by the factory. The project is completed 1~ Within two years, the technology is a patent enjoyed by participating companies. The school is awarded a certain percentage of the income. It can be disclosed or transferred to the public after 1 to 2 years. The research process can be carried out at the intersection of the school and the factory, making full use of the equipment and equipment conditions of both the school and the factory. For example, the Machinery Department and 10 companies such as Chrysler and the Detroit region are conducting research on a “2mm project” project in the above manner. It is required that through this technology, the assembly gap of each part of the car body shall not exceed 2 mm. This is a comprehensive technology involving multiple areas such as contactless measurement, computer control, and machining. Half of the professors, graduate students, etc. who participated in the work carried out research work at the factory. The mechanical laboratory that undertakes this task has also received sufficient research funding. The cost of such research projects for the entire engineering school is $7 million, and the laboratory accounts for 3.5 million. The form of this research project is quite special in current US universities, but it reflects a new trend.
Although the above-mentioned trend toward engineering practice has not directly affected the university education in the face, it has already been reflected. For example, in the engineering research project of cooperation between factories and schools, there are already a small number of senior university students participating in the work; the University of Michigan teaching plan does not require factory internships, but undergraduates can go to the factory for half a year, and then go back to school to continue learning. On the one hand, through practical internships, on the one hand, students and factories can understand each other and make two-way choices, laying a foundation for employment after graduation. The school has a dedicated office to contact students for a half-year internship at the factory. In addition, all departments of the College of Engineering have URE programs, namely the “University Student Research Practices” program, which uses 10 months of summer work each year to study the practical issues raised by some factories, funded by various research groups and states. The relevant government departments provide students, in addition to the university students in the department of science and engineering, to participate in other departments and other college students in the state. Each student who participates must make a summary and report the results. Students who are doing particularly well can give priority to this project next time. Each year, the school produces a “results report set” and selects outstanding results to participate in national exchanges. Some students earn $2,500 to $3,000 for 10 weeks of work. Students with this experience are very happy to accept the employer when they are employed.
4. A team of teachers combined with teaching and research.
MIT and Harvard University have a lean team of highly qualified teachers. The ratio of teachers to students in both schools is about 1:10. The total number of students in MIT 5 colleges in 1993-1994 is 9778, undergraduate students: graduate students 1:1.2; 966 teachers, including 616 professors, 182 associate professors, 168 assistant professors, all of whom are mobile TAs, all The professor teaches at the same time as the research work, usually 6 hours a week. Half of the professor's salary comes from scientific research, and half of it is paid by the school according to the teaching work undertaken. The lower grade basic courses are generally required to be held by senior high-level professors. Many school professors do not have a retirement age unless they voluntarily retire. There are some senior professors who work on various educational research projects after they stop working on research and thesis. The main criteria for selecting a professor is the current achievement, attaching importance to the “level of a recent good paper”, attaching importance to research activities, and letting young people grow.
The total number of students in 10 colleges of Harvard University is 18,694, and the associate professor is 1990. The principle of selecting professors is to recruit a wide range of celebrities in various fields with high pay and high salaries.
5. More adequate funding.
Although all schools claim to face financial constraints and complain that the funds are decreasing year by year, the current funding is still sufficient, which guarantees quite good teaching and research conditions.
MIT's total funding in 1993 was 1.13 billion US dollars, and the average student population was about 100,000 US dollars. Harvard University's total funding in 1993 was 1.3 billion US dollars, with an average of 19,000 students, and the average per capita was about 70,000 US dollars. The University of Michigan has a total annual funding of $2.5 billion, averaging 35,000 students, and a per capita income of about $70,000. Stanford University has a total funding of $2.4 billion.
It is worth noting that regardless of public or private institutions, student tuition income accounts for a considerable share of total funding. For example, in Harvard University's total investment in 1993, tuition income accounted for 31%, research income accounted for 25%, and endowment funds accounted for 20%. The presidents of the school have launched several fund-raising campaigns, and the school has raised a fixed fund of 5 to 6 billion US dollars. Now Harvard is one of the highest tuition institutions in the United States. The annual tuition fee is more than US$20,000, and the fees for law and medicine are higher. The University of Michigan has a total annual expenditure of 2.5 billion US dollars, medical school income of 700 million, accounting for 28%; tuition fees 350 million, accounting for 14%; scientific research 400 million, accounting for 16%; government grant 300 million, accounting for 12%; Donations for alumni, social donations and others. Tuition fees are $4,800 per student per year, $17,000 per year for out-of-state students, and $20,000 for medical school.
6. The combination of modern teaching methods is an important trend that is currently emerging.
With the development of informatization, the relationship between the various departments and departments of the school, the barriers between schools and enterprises, and the global shared information that transcends the border are being formed. Some advanced colleges and corporate education centers in the United States have adopted or are adopting comprehensive modern teaching methods, integrating computer, control, audio and video, books, multimedia communication, and television teaching. For example, the University of Michigan is establishing an Information Integration Research Center that uses computers, audiovisuals, books, multimedia communications, and other technologies to network libraries, computer centers, and other information departments across the school. MIT has a number of large classrooms with a capacity of 400 people, including a variety of computer-controlled audio-visual equipment, activity blackboards and color dust-free chalk, and can be recorded instantly. Video tapes of some important courses can be borrowed from the library. The Tandem Computer Education Center in Shibuya has an advanced multimedia education information network. It can use the computer network and satellite education film to call the relevant courses and textbooks of universities such as Stanford University, as well as technical information and information related to many countries and regions in the world. . The trend of the development of national economies towards globalization and informatization will inevitably further influence the structure of education and the way of education.
Second, some views
The impression of comprehensive investigation, combined with China's national conditions, we put forward the following points:
1. Adapt to new changes and establish a new balance. The MIT principal believes that "American higher education is in a changing era: the end of the Cold War, the challenges of economic competition are more prominent; the proportion of ethnic minorities and female students is increasing; the speed of science and technology is accelerating, and knowledge often undergoes 'sudden changes'. Adapting to change requires knowledge. A new balance between structure and organizational structure should emphasize the importance of integration." Many of the above changes are global and common. Both MIT research and education emphasize the need to adapt to the development of the market economy. Harvard research emphasizes the long-term and does not emphasize the dependence on current science and technology and society. American futurist Alvin Toffler wrote in the book The Third Wave: "We are on the verge of a new comprehensive era today." From the transition of the planning economy to the socialist market economy, the cultivation of undergraduate students must adapt to the needs of social development and economic system changes. The discipline construction, talent training mode and organizational structure of the school should pay more attention to the intersection of multiple disciplines and multi-faceted knowledge, organize multi-disciplinary research, develop interdisciplinary teaching, and broaden professionalism. In teaching, more emphasis should be placed on unity. If there are conditions, the organizational structure can be adjusted. Some can also be carried out under the existing system. Common courses will be opened, general courses will be opened according to major categories, and courses will be expanded. Gradually, the transition to professional students should be carried out, and the professional direction should be further diluted, and should be chosen by students.
2. Vigorously strengthen the cultivation of innovative spirit and hands-on ability. Tsinghua University's rigorous teaching and solid foundation of students are our strengths and advantages, and the accumulation of teaching reforms over the past decades. But at the same time, our weaknesses are precisely hidden in this strength. Overall, our students are not creative enough. The American society encourages invention and creation, and attaches importance to the cultivation of young people's initiative. It is worthwhile for us to borrow. We should make up for the shortcomings, and provide opportunities and conditions for the cultivation of students' innovative spirit and ability while strengthening the foundation and strict teaching. The key points of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude should also be placed on the spirit of innovation and ability development. They should not simply rely on classes, problems, reading, and examinations. It is necessary to improve various practical plans for cultivating the creative consciousness and hands-on ability of university students, and to form a system. For example, if students participate in research work, extracurricular science and technology activities, creative design courses, several design competitions, etc., they can also organize experimental groups of discussion-based and research-based teaching methods. These links should be summarized and made into a mechanism. ". This work can be hosted by some senior retired professors who are interested in cultivating students. In the teaching and guiding ideology, there must be new changes, and the corresponding teaching reforms must also have new directions. On the other hand, we have also noticed that American colleges and universities that emphasize personality development now also propose to strengthen the cultivation of students' sense of social responsibility and group consciousness in order to meet the needs of the times. We have the characteristics and advantages of the training of students' team spirit. Under the conditions of implementing the credit system, we should continue to maintain and carry forward, and further strengthen and improve under the new situation of "implementing the credit system and retaining the class system". Moral education, the realization of all-round development and the unity of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude.
3. Stabilize the university department and coordinate development. Among several research universities in the United States, the proportion of scientific research and postgraduate is relatively large, the requirements for postgraduate training are relatively high, and the education of the university department is relatively weak. The problem of “re-scientific research and light teaching” is reflected to varying degrees. The school has taken various measures to ensure the teaching of the university department. The scale and status of the education of the university department of our university is more important. Only by fundamentally stabilizing the teaching of the university department can we improve the level of graduate students and develop scientific research so that the various undertakings of the school can develop in a coordinated manner. Stabilizing the university department is the foundation for a world-class university.
4. Improve the talent training model. American colleges and universities do not emphasize professional training during their school years. The important background is that private enterprises in the economic structure are highly closed, and the company has strong professional training institutions. China's national conditions are different. The main body of the enterprise is the ownership of the whole people and the collective ownership, and most of them do not have the professional training conditions. A certain amount of professional training is required during school. However, the narrow counterpart professional education formed under the economic system of the plan makes students' knowledge narrow and adaptable, and cannot meet the requirements of talent development under the conditions of social development and socialist market economy. The talent training model will be constrained by the “downstream” situation in the future. Under the current conditions in China, it is impossible to adhere to the training model of counterpart professionals in the original sense, nor to blindly accept the proposal to change to "generalist". Instead, we should strengthen the cultivation of ability and innovation awareness on the basis of preservation and strengthen engineering. Practice and scientific experimental training. Teaching should insist on broadening the knowledge. In the future, whether the departments of Tsinghua University should no longer be divided into majors in principle, and a number of professional directions can be set up. The basic courses of similar majors will be further opened, and the professional direction courses should be diluted. Strengthen the combination of teaching, use the flexible environment created by credits, realize the sharing of resources in schools, and improve the efficiency of running schools.
5. Improve the credit system and enhance flexibility. An important feature of the credit system in American universities is that the selection is liberalized, providing each student with opportunities and means to meet their needs and aspirations. We can't do this at the moment. At present, the courses can only be selected under the premise that the department and the post-expansion profession have been determined. The enthusiasm of the teachers is mobilized with great strength, and the reform of the curriculum system, content and methods is well done. At the same time, the second degree, minor degree, minor course, and inter-department elective course will be further opened as a supplementary measure for students' professional choice. Schools must take measures to increase the amount of funding to ensure that popular courses can expand capacity and meet student requirements. To what extent the first-year public foundation course introduces elective mechanisms remains to be further refined through practice.
6. Do a good job in building a faculty team according to new ideas. The implementation of the credit system requires the teachers to have a corresponding structure and working mechanism. An important condition for the selection of courses in American colleges and universities to fully meet the needs of students is that the teachers required for teaching are guaranteed. The basic structure is a lean team of teaching and research, plus a considerable amount of mobility. Assistant professor. Our school must meet the needs of scientific research and postgraduate development and the opening of the credit system in the university department. On the whole, the construction of the teaching staff cannot adopt the method of “extension and self-similar amplification” according to the existing structural model, but there should be new ideas. Teaching and research should be combined, professors should go to class, hire famous teachers and professors with rich teaching experience to go to the podium, and let young people come up as soon as possible, gradually reform the teaching and research group system, form two fixed and mobile teaching teams, etc., all of which need to be in new Study carefully under the line of thought.
Yu Shouwen Vice President and Professor of Tsinghua University
Zhang Mei, deputy director and professor of the Department of Physics, Tsinghua University
Yuan Dening, Deputy Director and Associate Professor, Office of Academic Affairs, Tsinghua University
Zhang Zaixing, deputy professor and associate professor of the Department of Computer Science, Tsinghua University
First, the main impression
The university campuses have a deeper impression of education: 1 Each university has a clear basic requirement for the cultivation of college students, including natural sciences, mathematics, humanities, technology, and writing, accounting for about half of the university's credits. 2 The flexibility and diversity of teaching encourage students to develop their innovative spirit and personality. 3 Teaching and research are closely combined, teachers are of a high standard, professors must conduct research and must attend classes, there are no professors who do not attend classes; a considerable proportion of university students participate in various research work. 4 Teaching and research facilities are abundant and advanced, and the funding is relatively sufficient, which guarantees the implementation of the credit system and free course selection and various teaching research and experiments. The details are as follows.
1. Credit system implementation and mentor guidance.
Each school has a credit system. Its elasticity is mainly manifested in: science, humanities, medicine, law and other major categories have their common foundation. On this basis, students can freely choose majors and change the majors more easily. Of course, in the above Conversion between major classes is allowed, but not easy. The selection of courses and the selection of courses are closely related. Students choose courses for each semester according to their chosen department, and finally achieve the goal of selecting departments through the selection of courses in each semester.
For example, the MIT University Department has a total of 380 credits in four years, of which 75% are required for courses and compulsory courses, and 25% are for limited and non-restrictive electives. The first year is not divided into departments, mainly to complete the required courses required by the college, including: physical, calculus, chemistry, biology, humanities and social sciences limited courses; natural sciences limited courses; laboratory work requirements; writing requirements. At the end of the first year, I chose the Department of Science and the basic academic system for 4 years. There is no limit to the amount of time each student can complete the required credits. In the middle of the course, you can re-elect other departmental courses. In addition to the mutual recognition of the common courses, you need to restart the accumulated credits. Therefore, the transfer means that students will spend more time and pay more tuition fees. According to the statistics of the past years, about one-third of the students have changed the department once, and a few have changed it twice. The vast majority of students at these prestigious schools graduated within four years.
The number of students in each department is not fixed. It is entirely up to the students to choose according to their own needs for employment and personal interests. There is no upper limit on the number of popular professionals in the school. MIT's EE&CS is the hottest, with about 300 people per session. The department head said that the big class is no problem, the experiment can be arranged all day, afternoon and evening, and there is no situation that the number of people can't cope with it; There are only about 10 people majoring in the program; there are only 2 students in the ocean engineering course, and 20 professors are in the department, but there are 100 graduate students.
The setting of the tutor: 85% of the more than 1,000 freshmen in each session set the tutor in a ratio of 1:7. They also guide the new student Seminar, carry out various group activities, have reports, have small lab questions, and have field tests. Through these activities, students are encouraged to choose courses. 15% require new students who have more care, and the ratio of tutors is 1:2 to 3. The total number of tutors is 207, of which 117 are teachers, 80 are researchers and administrative staff, and 10 are graduate students. There are also 300 high school students as deputy mentors.
Harvard University, the earliest credit system, has changed a lot since the early credit system. Students can choose their own “professional field”. However, the courses required for each “professional field”, the duration of study, and the number of courses to be completed per semester are strictly regulated. In the first year of the new year, students will study the courses required by the same year. In the second year, they will start classes according to the “professional field”. For example, the liberal arts college currently has 41 “professional fields”, and each “professional field” has prescribed courses. About 25% of students change their Concentration choices, either in the natural sciences, in the humanities, or in completely different fields. About 25% of students leave school each year, or go to other places to earn credits, work, travel for one semester, one academic year, or register for non-credit courses. It is stipulated that the normal course speed is 4 doors per semester, not less than 3 doors, and more than 5 doors must be approved. Students who have graduated less than 8 semester in advance, or are outstanding students who are identified, or transfer students who have transferred credits, or students who have been enrolled in more than 4 classes per semester. Those who have not obtained a degree within the 8 semester of registration may be added a “ninth semester” with the approval of the relevant department, but no housing and scholarships will be provided during the ninth semester. Regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the credit system, the school believes that this system itself has its drawbacks. For example, some students choose easy courses and “mixed credits”. Fortunately, most of Harvard University is engaged in learning, and the tuition is expensive. A few can not be counted. In addition, credits cannot distinguish the difficulty of the course, and it is not reasonable.
In the method of course selection, each school has not yet established a computerized course selection system directly used by students. Instead, students fill out the course selection form in advance, and the teaching staff use the computer to guide students to select the class schedule. For example, the University of Michigan's elective center has 26 terminals with 26 academic staff. Each student chooses 15 minutes each time for a total of 11 days. Under the manual intervention, the selection of the next semester is completed. In order to improve efficiency and facilitate students, the school can start classes by telephone in the next semester, and students do not need to queue for classes. Some schools plan to establish a computer-based course selection system that students use directly in the next few years.
2. A variety of special programs that motivate the pioneering spirit and develop hands-on skills.
The school provides a wide range of opportunities for university students to participate in research work and set up various educational research projects that embody many novel and distinctive educational ideas, such as interdisciplinary teaching, self-study, research, discussion, and synthesis of various teaching methods. Use, students each take the initiative to develop according to certain steps. For example, special programs like MIT include:
UROP provides opportunities for university students to participate in research work. This is a large-scale project of MIT in the university education. Each student's 3/4 has participated in UROP in 4 years. It has 24 Year history. Each department and each inter-disciplinary laboratory are open to students, and students are allowed to intervene at each stage of the research work, including the writing of the proposal, overall program design, research and test work, data analysis, and summary report. There are three ways to participate in UROP: earn credits, get paid, and participate freely and without compensation. A large number of students are in the second and third grades, 10-12 hours/week in spring and autumn, and 10 weeks in summer. There are a small number of students in the first grade, and a few papers are still in the fourth grade. In 1982, 40% of the participants were credited, 50% were paid, and 10% were volunteers; in 1992, 20% for the creditors and 80% for the payers. In 1993, the UROP expenditures of the whole school totaled more than 40 million yuan. Most of the rest were from research funding. The UROP office has mastered some of the school's funds to support difficult projects.
The Concourse program belongs to the College of Engineering. Each class receives 60 students per class, and students voluntarily sign up. Teachers come from various departments and Harvard University, and most of them are senior professors. For example, the leader of Program is a senior professor of chemistry, and he combines generalization with solid chemistry. The physics, calculus, chemistry, and humanities courses all adopt completely different teaching methods. In the teaching process, in a small scope, teachers and students face-to-face exchanges, seminars, lectures, and classes. Museum, writing papers. The participation of students in the teaching process is very broad and very strong. For example, in the independent activities of January 1992, a group of students newly rewrote the lectures of the chemistry class.
The ISP is a college of literature and history, with 40 students in one class. Its purpose is to add humanities to science, think about adding hands, culture plus technology, theory plus practice. The moderator believes that “only students can understand the relationship between science and humanity, and they can grow into a responsible engineer”. The ISP Humanities Course is a separate class. Three teachers with expertise in history, physics and electronic technology organize students' self-study and discussion on American automobile history, communication history and textile history, while physics, chemistry, mathematics, etc. participate in the teaching of ordinary large classes, but Because ISP teachers organize discussions, there are dedicated classrooms where students are required to participate in technical studies. ISPs especially welcome students who love to do it.
ESG is a science school. Group leaders are senior professors in biology, and the group's biology classes range from generalization to molecular biology. Receive 1 class, 40 to 45 students. Each class in the class emphasizes self-study. Students can study and discuss in groups, or they can discuss them separately with teachers. The class offers high-level elective courses such as special relativity, ordinary differential equations, complex functions, and organic chemistry. If students have new ideas, ESG helps to find a mentor, find information, find funds, and the relationship between teachers and students is very close. Even students call for the name of Professor and have lunch once a week. There are also many graduate students and high class students in the group.
Among them, there are three teaching research projects specifically for new students.
3. Strengthen contact and cooperation with industry.
In recent years, engineering education and research in various schools have begun to emphasize the importance of engineering and industry. This has much to do with the current US science and technology policy that emphasizes technology for economic development services. In this regard, the University of Michigan's movements are eye-catching. The school is increasingly close to the industry, and the main form of integration is the joint application of the school and the engineering research project. The main content of the research is the very practical technology currently used in industrial enterprises. A number of enterprises and schools related to the research project jointly apply to the government for project establishment, and the funds are 50% invested by the government departments and the participating enterprises. The enterprise department also sends people and schools to participate in the research work, and the research results are shared by the factory. The project is completed 1~ Within two years, the technology is a patent enjoyed by participating companies. The school is awarded a certain percentage of the income. It can be disclosed or transferred to the public after 1 to 2 years. The research process can be carried out at the intersection of the school and the factory, making full use of the equipment and equipment conditions of both the school and the factory. For example, the Machinery Department and 10 companies such as Chrysler and the Detroit region are conducting research on a “2mm project” project in the above manner. It is required that through this technology, the assembly gap of each part of the car body shall not exceed 2 mm. This is a comprehensive technology involving multiple areas such as contactless measurement, computer control, and machining. Half of the professors, graduate students, etc. who participated in the work carried out research work at the factory. The mechanical laboratory that undertakes this task has also received sufficient research funding. The cost of such research projects for the entire engineering school is $7 million, and the laboratory accounts for 3.5 million. The form of this research project is quite special in current US universities, but it reflects a new trend.
Although the above-mentioned trend toward engineering practice has not directly affected the university education in the face, it has already been reflected. For example, in the engineering research project of cooperation between factories and schools, there are already a small number of senior university students participating in the work; the University of Michigan teaching plan does not require factory internships, but undergraduates can go to the factory for half a year, and then go back to school to continue learning. On the one hand, through practical internships, on the one hand, students and factories can understand each other and make two-way choices, laying a foundation for employment after graduation. The school has a dedicated office to contact students for a half-year internship at the factory. In addition, all departments of the College of Engineering have URE programs, namely the “University Student Research Practices” program, which uses 10 months of summer work each year to study the practical issues raised by some factories, funded by various research groups and states. The relevant government departments provide students, in addition to the university students in the department of science and engineering, to participate in other departments and other college students in the state. Each student who participates must make a summary and report the results. Students who are doing particularly well can give priority to this project next time. Each year, the school produces a “results report set” and selects outstanding results to participate in national exchanges. Some students earn $2,500 to $3,000 for 10 weeks of work. Students with this experience are very happy to accept the employer when they are employed.
4. A team of teachers combined with teaching and research.
MIT and Harvard University have a lean team of highly qualified teachers. The ratio of teachers to students in both schools is about 1:10. The total number of students in MIT 5 colleges in 1993-1994 is 9778, undergraduate students: graduate students 1:1.2; 966 teachers, including 616 professors, 182 associate professors, 168 assistant professors, all of whom are mobile TAs, all The professor teaches at the same time as the research work, usually 6 hours a week. Half of the professor's salary comes from scientific research, and half of it is paid by the school according to the teaching work undertaken. The lower grade basic courses are generally required to be held by senior high-level professors. Many school professors do not have a retirement age unless they voluntarily retire. There are some senior professors who work on various educational research projects after they stop working on research and thesis. The main criteria for selecting a professor is the current achievement, attaching importance to the “level of a recent good paper”, attaching importance to research activities, and letting young people grow.
The total number of students in 10 colleges of Harvard University is 18,694, and the associate professor is 1990. The principle of selecting professors is to recruit a wide range of celebrities in various fields with high pay and high salaries.
5. More adequate funding.
Although all schools claim to face financial constraints and complain that the funds are decreasing year by year, the current funding is still sufficient, which guarantees quite good teaching and research conditions.
MIT's total funding in 1993 was 1.13 billion US dollars, and the average student population was about 100,000 US dollars. Harvard University's total funding in 1993 was 1.3 billion US dollars, with an average of 19,000 students, and the average per capita was about 70,000 US dollars. The University of Michigan has a total annual funding of $2.5 billion, averaging 35,000 students, and a per capita income of about $70,000. Stanford University has a total funding of $2.4 billion.
It is worth noting that regardless of public or private institutions, student tuition income accounts for a considerable share of total funding. For example, in Harvard University's total investment in 1993, tuition income accounted for 31%, research income accounted for 25%, and endowment funds accounted for 20%. The presidents of the school have launched several fund-raising campaigns, and the school has raised a fixed fund of 5 to 6 billion US dollars. Now Harvard is one of the highest tuition institutions in the United States. The annual tuition fee is more than US$20,000, and the fees for law and medicine are higher. The University of Michigan has a total annual expenditure of 2.5 billion US dollars, medical school income of 700 million, accounting for 28%; tuition fees 350 million, accounting for 14%; scientific research 400 million, accounting for 16%; government grant 300 million, accounting for 12%; Donations for alumni, social donations and others. Tuition fees are $4,800 per student per year, $17,000 per year for out-of-state students, and $20,000 for medical school.
6. The combination of modern teaching methods is an important trend that is currently emerging.
With the development of informatization, the relationship between the various departments and departments of the school, the barriers between schools and enterprises, and the global shared information that transcends the border are being formed. Some advanced colleges and corporate education centers in the United States have adopted or are adopting comprehensive modern teaching methods, integrating computer, control, audio and video, books, multimedia communication, and television teaching. For example, the University of Michigan is establishing an Information Integration Research Center that uses computers, audiovisuals, books, multimedia communications, and other technologies to network libraries, computer centers, and other information departments across the school. MIT has a number of large classrooms with a capacity of 400 people, including a variety of computer-controlled audio-visual equipment, activity blackboards and color dust-free chalk, and can be recorded instantly. Video tapes of some important courses can be borrowed from the library. The Tandem Computer Education Center in Shibuya has an advanced multimedia education information network. It can use the computer network and satellite education film to call the relevant courses and textbooks of universities such as Stanford University, as well as technical information and information related to many countries and regions in the world. . The trend of the development of national economies towards globalization and informatization will inevitably further influence the structure of education and the way of education.
Second, some views
The impression of comprehensive investigation, combined with China's national conditions, we put forward the following points:
1. Adapt to new changes and establish a new balance. The MIT principal believes that "American higher education is in a changing era: the end of the Cold War, the challenges of economic competition are more prominent; the proportion of ethnic minorities and female students is increasing; the speed of science and technology is accelerating, and knowledge often undergoes 'sudden changes'. Adapting to change requires knowledge. A new balance between structure and organizational structure should emphasize the importance of integration." Many of the above changes are global and common. Both MIT research and education emphasize the need to adapt to the development of the market economy. Harvard research emphasizes the long-term and does not emphasize the dependence on current science and technology and society. American futurist Alvin Toffler wrote in the book The Third Wave: "We are on the verge of a new comprehensive era today." From the transition of the planning economy to the socialist market economy, the cultivation of undergraduate students must adapt to the needs of social development and economic system changes. The discipline construction, talent training mode and organizational structure of the school should pay more attention to the intersection of multiple disciplines and multi-faceted knowledge, organize multi-disciplinary research, develop interdisciplinary teaching, and broaden professionalism. In teaching, more emphasis should be placed on unity. If there are conditions, the organizational structure can be adjusted. Some can also be carried out under the existing system. Common courses will be opened, general courses will be opened according to major categories, and courses will be expanded. Gradually, the transition to professional students should be carried out, and the professional direction should be further diluted, and should be chosen by students.
2. Vigorously strengthen the cultivation of innovative spirit and hands-on ability. Tsinghua University's rigorous teaching and solid foundation of students are our strengths and advantages, and the accumulation of teaching reforms over the past decades. But at the same time, our weaknesses are precisely hidden in this strength. Overall, our students are not creative enough. The American society encourages invention and creation, and attaches importance to the cultivation of young people's initiative. It is worthwhile for us to borrow. We should make up for the shortcomings, and provide opportunities and conditions for the cultivation of students' innovative spirit and ability while strengthening the foundation and strict teaching. The key points of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude should also be placed on the spirit of innovation and ability development. They should not simply rely on classes, problems, reading, and examinations. It is necessary to improve various practical plans for cultivating the creative consciousness and hands-on ability of university students, and to form a system. For example, if students participate in research work, extracurricular science and technology activities, creative design courses, several design competitions, etc., they can also organize experimental groups of discussion-based and research-based teaching methods. These links should be summarized and made into a mechanism. ". This work can be hosted by some senior retired professors who are interested in cultivating students. In the teaching and guiding ideology, there must be new changes, and the corresponding teaching reforms must also have new directions. On the other hand, we have also noticed that American colleges and universities that emphasize personality development now also propose to strengthen the cultivation of students' sense of social responsibility and group consciousness in order to meet the needs of the times. We have the characteristics and advantages of the training of students' team spirit. Under the conditions of implementing the credit system, we should continue to maintain and carry forward, and further strengthen and improve under the new situation of "implementing the credit system and retaining the class system". Moral education, the realization of all-round development and the unity of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude.
3. Stabilize the university department and coordinate development. Among several research universities in the United States, the proportion of scientific research and postgraduate is relatively large, the requirements for postgraduate training are relatively high, and the education of the university department is relatively weak. The problem of “re-scientific research and light teaching” is reflected to varying degrees. The school has taken various measures to ensure the teaching of the university department. The scale and status of the education of the university department of our university is more important. Only by fundamentally stabilizing the teaching of the university department can we improve the level of graduate students and develop scientific research so that the various undertakings of the school can develop in a coordinated manner. Stabilizing the university department is the foundation for a world-class university.
4. Improve the talent training model. American colleges and universities do not emphasize professional training during their school years. The important background is that private enterprises in the economic structure are highly closed, and the company has strong professional training institutions. China's national conditions are different. The main body of the enterprise is the ownership of the whole people and the collective ownership, and most of them do not have the professional training conditions. A certain amount of professional training is required during school. However, the narrow counterpart professional education formed under the economic system of the plan makes students' knowledge narrow and adaptable, and cannot meet the requirements of talent development under the conditions of social development and socialist market economy. The talent training model will be constrained by the “downstream” situation in the future. Under the current conditions in China, it is impossible to adhere to the training model of counterpart professionals in the original sense, nor to blindly accept the proposal to change to "generalist". Instead, we should strengthen the cultivation of ability and innovation awareness on the basis of preservation and strengthen engineering. Practice and scientific experimental training. Teaching should insist on broadening the knowledge. In the future, whether the departments of Tsinghua University should no longer be divided into majors in principle, and a number of professional directions can be set up. The basic courses of similar majors will be further opened, and the professional direction courses should be diluted. Strengthen the combination of teaching, use the flexible environment created by credits, realize the sharing of resources in schools, and improve the efficiency of running schools.
5. Improve the credit system and enhance flexibility. An important feature of the credit system in American universities is that the selection is liberalized, providing each student with opportunities and means to meet their needs and aspirations. We can't do this at the moment. At present, the courses can only be selected under the premise that the department and the post-expansion profession have been determined. The enthusiasm of the teachers is mobilized with great strength, and the reform of the curriculum system, content and methods is well done. At the same time, the second degree, minor degree, minor course, and inter-department elective course will be further opened as a supplementary measure for students' professional choice. Schools must take measures to increase the amount of funding to ensure that popular courses can expand capacity and meet student requirements. To what extent the first-year public foundation course introduces elective mechanisms remains to be further refined through practice.
6. Do a good job in building a faculty team according to new ideas. The implementation of the credit system requires the teachers to have a corresponding structure and working mechanism. An important condition for the selection of courses in American colleges and universities to fully meet the needs of students is that the teachers required for teaching are guaranteed. The basic structure is a lean team of teaching and research, plus a considerable amount of mobility. Assistant professor. Our school must meet the needs of scientific research and postgraduate development and the opening of the credit system in the university department. On the whole, the construction of the teaching staff cannot adopt the method of “extension and self-similar amplification” according to the existing structural model, but there should be new ideas. Teaching and research should be combined, professors should go to class, hire famous teachers and professors with rich teaching experience to go to the podium, and let young people come up as soon as possible, gradually reform the teaching and research group system, form two fixed and mobile teaching teams, etc., all of which need to be in new Study carefully under the line of thought.
Yu Shouwen Vice President and Professor of Tsinghua University
Zhang Mei, deputy director and professor of the Department of Physics, Tsinghua University
Yuan Dening, Deputy Director and Associate Professor, Office of Academic Affairs, Tsinghua University
Zhang Zaixing, deputy professor and associate professor of the Department of Computer Science, Tsinghua University
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