Along with cultural literacy is scientific literacy.If China is to stand in the world's forests, it cannot do so without advanced science and technology.Scientific literacy should be divided into two aspects: first, the scientific literacy of the masses, and second, the cultivation of cutting-edge scientific and technological talents.The first is to educate the public about science and knowledge from elementary to high school, and the second is to develop popular science and culture education, from astronomical geography to fertilized farmland.By the way, 100,000 Whys is a great series, and every family should buy one.
University education includes master's and doctoral education in order to train cutting-edge talents, including high-tech talents, cultural educators and leadership management talents.Why is there no Nobel Prize in Science in China?In addition to historical and cultural factors, China's educational model is undoubtedly a major obstacle.As we all know, most of China's education is cramming for the examination.Although "quality education" and "creativity" are often talked about, in fact, directors, principals, teachers, parents and students are "long live the high score."At the end of June, I returned home at the time of the announcement of the college entrance examination, and I don't know when China's summer will be more scenic, streets and alleys, and there will be big red news everywhere in front of the school gate.It is certainly worth celebrating, but overplaying the first place is undoubtedly an intangible disparagement of many other good students.Looking at the tabloids in the big newspapers, there are two kinds of top candidates every year, one is that they have always been good, and they are always in the top five.It's usually good, but this time it's too late.The so-called leader is to play better in an examination.The chief executive can naturally be interviewed, and there is always experience worth teaching, but the whole society should treat the chief executive with a sense of normalcy.In my opinion, a province's college entrance examination before the level of one or two thousand students may not be much different, although the test scores may vary by a few tens.I heard that a candidate who has more than 650 points can go to the top ten universities, and actually has to retake the examination, and then take the examination of Qinghua University in the next year.This is ridiculous!Are grades and prestigious schools more important than youth and wisdom?I work as a professor at an American university and also participate in the graduate admissions committee.As long as the applicant crosses a line between TOEFL and GRE and is 10 or 30 points higher, the committee does not pay much attention.More important than the score are the student's work and research experience, whether they have special skills, writing and presentation skills, and psychological maturity.I hope that some Chinese college students will stop wasting months of their youth on the GRE test and spend their time studying real skills.What is true skill?True skills are the knowledge and skills gained through study and research that will have a long-term impact on or help with life, study and work in the future.A person with high scientific literacy is not necessarily someone who is particularly good at exams, but someone with solid expertise, a tenacious spirit of exploration, and an ability to think independently.
China's "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" puts forward the strategic goal of building an innovative society.Every Chinese has a high five.However, China's current education system severely restricts this goal, because test-taking education and high scores can never produce innovative talents.Compared with Chinese education and American education, the slightly extreme view is that American education produces genius and stupidity, and Chinese education produces a large number of mediocre talents.Why do you say that?Education in the United States is relatively lax, relatively laissez-faire, and students who do not work hard can not learn a lot of knowledge.But gifted students have plenty of independent learning and independent thinking time, and in their spare time they can read a lot of books they want to read, learn what they want to learn, and do what they want to do.Education in the United States is often closely related to the reality of life, so American students often wonder whether what they learn and do can develop into an industry.Bill Gates is afraid to count the classic representation of this educational model.Many Chinese university students want to follow Gates' example, but when Gates was at Harvard, he had more knowledge and ideas than the professors who taught him at the time, and he quit the company with a clear goal and solid knowledge.Every year in the United States, many college students drop out of school, success is rare, the rest of the first to rely on their parents, some may be on the streets.America's education is elite, and it is advanced and powerful by a small number of elites, as well as by elites drawn from all over the world.Such a model may not be suitable for other countries, but many advanced ideas are worth learning from.
In contrast to American education, Chinese education has put a tight leash on every student, with teachers filling and irrigating the podium, and students sitting there listening, writing and listening.From morning to night, class exams, sea tactics, rote memorization, where do students have time to think independently?Why not think about innovation?If Bill Gates were educated in elementary and secondary schools today in China, would he have the independent idea to create Microsoft even if he had won the top prize in Harvard?Will the sun not come out from the west?My nephew once complained that sometimes ten minutes between classes were occupied by the teacher, and even the time to go to the bathroom was not given, and some students wanted to cry.At noon, you must go home to eat and jog, parents must have prepared the food and cool down a little, students gobble up when they get home, and then run back to school immediately.If you are late for school, you may be scolded or even kicked.Of course, this kind of education will produce many scholars and even young people!How can we ask these students to be extraordinarily creative in the future when they are not taught creatively from elementary to high school?Why do you ask them to win the Nobel Prize?Such an educational model is impossible to create an innovative society.
Although there are also some middle schools and teachers in China who teach according to their talents and stimulate students' potential, I can see from the tabloids, relatives and friends, teachers and students and some educational reviews.How can Chinese universities create their own Nobel Prize winners?How does China create an innovative society?Only by changing the existing educational model can the whole nation's creative wisdom be stimulated.