A few days ago (May 21) I participated in a seminar on education and teaching of top-notch students in basic subjects sponsored by a domestic university and attended by 17 universities (including China University of Geology (Wuhan).These universities include several leading universities in the basic disciplines of natural science in China.Last year, our school geophysics was selected as the "Basic Subject Top Student Training Program 2.0 Base" by the Ministry of Education, as a "veteran" in the school geophysics discipline, always paying attention to the construction and development of the discipline.To this end, I listened to the report of some universities on the construction of "top-notch student training base".In addition to individual experts introducing the knowledge concept of university talent training, these reports mainly introduce the basic situation of the implementation of the "Top Student Training Base" of the university, including concrete measures and achievements.
"Basic discipline top students training program" is a "tall" topic.There seems to be no ambiguity between the two key words of the plan, "basic discipline" and the former conceptual meaning of "top students", and the main basic discipline of natural science is "mathematics, heaven and earth".However, the latter's "top students" meaning may be "benevolent and wise".Although explanations for such words can be found in some dictionaries, they are somewhat ambiguous in terms of personal evaluation.Speaking of "top students training", in my impression, some universities in China have implemented youth classes and experimental classes for many years, in fact, belong to the main mode of "top students training".My guess is that this type of student development base is mainly set up by government departments and universities trying to use administrative means to concentrate some resources on cultivating the innovative talents our industry desperately needs.However, who can tell me how many of China's top technologists in all walks of life have been trained through this kind of "talent training model"?Therefore, I think there are a series of concepts involved in modern higher education, whether from the selection, training or evaluation of "top students", and it is worth exploring in depth on the scientific Internet.
This time, the dean of our undergraduate college made a report entitled "Li Si Guang College Science and Education Collaborative Education Practice", which introduced the achievements of the school's 10 years of establishing Li Si Guang College Earth Science Elite Class.From the second year of the establishment of Lee Si-kwang Academy, I have participated in the academic guidance and homeroom teacher work of the Academy.In recent years, I have undertaken the correction of students' "Introduction to Earth Science" reading reports, and have some understanding of the basic situation of Li Si Guang College students.In addition, I have undertaken the academic homeroom teacher of the first students of the school's geophysical experiment class and the six consecutive "geomagnetism" professional courses, "My Academic homeroom experience, April 18, 2022 Science Network."
As far as I know, the types of top-notch student training established by Chinese universities include experimental classes, base classes, excellence classes, youth classes, improvement classes and various title classes.Although some of the students in these classes later developed into academic, professional, or political leaders through their long efforts, the relationship with their learning experience in these classes is only clear to the students themselves.A person's growth is a long life process, and the gains of four years of undergraduate study will vary depending on individual differences and various factors.To whom did I owe my success in The Cowboys?The May 5, 2020 article on Science Network talks a little bit about this topic.
I mentioned in the "I Talk About University Life" social welfare report some of the world's leading universities to cultivate college students' innovative talent programs.These world-famous universities do not seem to be accustomed to the term "top students" in the field of cultivating university students' scientific and technological innovation ability.Those universities still mainly adopt the inclusive education model of science education, and even some gifted young students study and live in ordinary classes without special "resource care".For example, MIT's Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) is characterized by a high level of student participation, which is said to reach 90% for four years of college.Princeton Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (PSURE) focuses on academic research, with specific requirements: 1.Students entering PSURE are required to engage in academic training.All applicants must have a serious and strong interest in obtaining a PhD in the future and be willing to work in teaching and research at universities in the future.All PSURE students should seriously consider the future.The goal of the program is to help these students get into the most competitive (university) graduate schools.Over a two-month period, these undergraduates will be guided by professors to develop individual independent research skills, which are essential for PhD students.Yale University in the United States has arranged for famous professors and freshmen to exchange, obviously, this kind of exchange content may be mainly "science education chicken soup and school history and cultural tradition" to stimulate college students' enthusiasm.Students I teach at some American universities tell me that their universities don't usually have as many "top-notch student training" classes as our universities, yet universities generally have academic tutors to provide inclusive academic guidance to undergraduates.
In my opinion, to improve the quality and effectiveness of our country's top-notch student training base, it mainly involves "selecting people", "cultivating" and "evaluating".
Student selection: I advocate "students apply freely and professors lead the approval."Talent selection is the foundation of quality assurance in the cultivation of top-notch student bases, and students should be selected based on interest rather than college entrance examination results.Students should be warned not to enter the "top student base" with utilitarian psychology.The growth experience of many "successful people" shows that students' heartfelt interest in science is the driving force behind their continued scientific research.Such students deserve to be cultivated in the "Top Student Base".Cambridge University President Robert Lok Sze-tze's statement to an ideal university student is: a high academic talent, the potential to study hard, must have an independent personality, academic ability to think freely, have ambition, and constantly push themselves.
Cultivation measures: In addition to the platform hardware resources, the active participation of teachers and students is the key to achieving good results in the top talent base.Professors with strong moral and artistic responsibility should be selected to take on top talent base mentors, not necessarily those "honorary" professors, because some of them are too busy to pay attention to their students.The one-to-one mentoring system between teachers and students is an important measure in daily management.As the president of Cambridge University in the United Kingdom said about their college system, one-on-one supervision of undergraduates is very important for students' personal development, and full responsibility for their overall development, although expensive.
Achievement evaluation: scientific and fair, realistic evaluation of the training results of the top student base.I noticed that most of the universities in this seminar mainly focus on: 1) publishing high-level journal papers or receiving awards in various competitions; 2) studying for graduate students, especially graduate students from world-renowned universities.These evaluation elements are not to be blamed, because these elements are also the embodiment of students' scientific and technological ability, and students' independent learning and scientific research ability is a long-term process.At the same time, we should also pay attention to the social evaluation of the achievements of "Top Student Training" so that the public can feel that the students trained in "Top Student Training Base" have more family nostalgia and solid professional knowledge.In the article "Why does the university make students proud of their alma mater?", I introduced a student who would later become a senior leadership cadre when he visited his alma mater to visit his teacher.
In conclusion, "top students training" is a kind of talent training model with the characteristics of higher education in China, which requires the cooperation of the government and university students and staff.I believe that after our long-term efforts, we may be able to develop a new way for college students to cultivate innovative talents and provide high-quality human resources for national economic construction and social development.