Soon, Zhang Yinuo, a student at Hebei University of Technology's Finnish campus (hereinafter referred to as the Finnish campus), will board the plane and fly to Finland, a Nordic country thousands of miles away.There, she will start a new learning and life journey with more than 100 domestic students and more than 100 students from other countries.
As the first undergraduate-level overseas campus established by Chinese universities in developed countries, the Finnish campus will recruit Chinese students through the college entrance examination for the first time in 2020.These students accept the "1+3" training model, in which students study at Hebei University of Technology's Tianjin campus in the first academic year and in Finland in the second to fourth academic years.This also means that after a year of local study, Zhang Yinuo will become the first witness to the opening of overseas undergraduate education at Hebei University of Technology in the true sense of Finnish campus.
Cultivating the "Little Ambassador" of Chinese Culture
Preparations for the Finnish campus began in 2019 in cooperation with Hebei University of Technology and Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT) in Finland.It took less than a year for the program to reach global enrollment for the first time.
"In the foreign exchange of higher education in China, it used to be more 'introduction', that is, the introduction of foreign high-quality educational resources and experience into China.Speaking of the original intention of the establishment, Ma Guowei, vice president of Hebei University of Technology, said.
According to the plan, Finland's campus student sources adopt a "three-three" scheme, that is, 1/3 of domestic students, 1/3 of EU students, and 1/3 of non-EU students.Chinese students adopt the "1+3" training model, while international students adopt the "2.5+0.5" model.
It is worth mentioning that because Finland's undergraduate system is three years, it is not the same as China's four-year system, and if students want to graduate with a degree from two foreign universities, they need to meet the requirements of both countries.What students learn this year in China is a problem that needs to be solved.
"First of all, English learning, the future students face an all-English learning environment; at the same time, according to the state regulations, to complete the study of ideological and political classes, physical education and other related content."Shi Kengshan, dean of the School of International Education, said that in addition to the above-mentioned "prescribed actions", there is another important content - to improve students' understanding, mastery and dissemination of China's excellent local culture.
Chen Hongyan, director of the international exchange and cooperation department of the university, explained that the process of China's higher education to the world should itself be the transmission of China's excellent local culture."To this end, we have a year of dragon boat lessons for our students and are preparing to travel to Finland in August to hold dragon boat races with local residents and LUT students.In addition, we also prepared martial arts classes, Taiji classes, ancient magic classes……while organizing rehearsals of traditional Chinese songs and dances in preparation for the upcoming Chinese Cultural Festival in Finland."We hope to develop a group of 'small ambassadors' of Chinese culture in a year."”
A "small professional" model that is worth learning
In addition to cultural exchanges, the Finnish campus was established with the goal of cultivating a group of high-quality talents with an international perspective and a true global development through the integration of Chinese and Western higher education systems.
According to reports, the Finnish campus has a total of four undergraduate majors, namely mechanical design and manufacturing and automation, electrical engineering and automation, energy and power engineering, and computer science and technology.These majors are mainly set up around the "double first-class" discipline of Hebei University of Technology, but in the specific training mode, they integrate the concepts of talent training of the two universities.
For example, from the perspective of future development trends, excellent talents in engineering majors are no longer a single engineer, but should have corresponding management and service quality at the same time."As one of the main designers of the Finnish campus talent development program, Finnish Campus Executive Principal Li Zirui said.Therefore, in addition to regular professional courses, the Finnish campus has set up relevant management and communication courses for Chinese students, covering various fields such as service, communication, and corporate management.For international students, courses in Chinese, Chinese culture, contemporary Chinese society, and Chinese scientific and technological frontier have been set up.
It is worth noting that these courses, which are dedicated to the development of students' comprehensive ability, are not the same as the "general education courses" in domestic universities, but adopt the "small professional" system commonly practiced in Finnish universities.
"The term 'small major' means that Finnish universities generally require a specific percentage of students' total credits to be obtained by studying specialized courses other than their major.Li Zirui said that the latter is often only one course compared to the general courses of domestic universities, while the former is similar to the curriculum module of a particular profession, which will have six or seven courses.
"The advantages of small majors in building a student's knowledge system compared to a single curriculum are obvious, but in addition to that, this professional setting has given me some thought.Li said that Finnish universities have a wide range of small majors, such as teaching students how to start a company or turn their concepts into products, which require a lot of practice time.Accordingly, Finnish universities only set the total time for students to study per course, while teachers' classroom teaching time is not stipulated, and only a small part of the student's study time, the rest of the time is self-study on the teaching resource platform.
"The biggest advantage of this model is that students are not only able to learn what the curriculum stipulates, but also have the skills to learn independently.By contrast, should our traditional teaching model, which is measured in hours, also be changed?After all, this demand is likely to be met in the future by domestic universities." said Priscilla.
The "win-win" structure is the foundation.
Zhang Yinuo's words are full of expectations for his future studies and life in Finland.
"I'd love to see for myself the aurora and see if the Nordic ecosystem is really as beautiful as it is in the documentary.""In addition, there are basically no Chinese restaurants in Finland, and I heard that LUT has built a Chinese restaurant, and I don't know if the food there is properly cooked."”
Behind Zhang Yinuo's words, China's higher education is moving overseas at a solid pace.
It is understood that an important time node for overseas schools in China is 2014.At that time, China abolished the approval procedure of overseas campuses, and overseas running became an autonomy of universities.
In recent years, the pace of overseas study in our country's universities is accelerating, some of which have been successful and others have been frustrated.In Ma Guowei's view, whether it is the establishment of independent campuses in universities or cooperation with universities in the host countries, some experiences and lessons are common.
"Overall, the general direction of higher education in China is the same, but when the conditions are not met, universities must not blindly impulsive, but must have the right time, location, people and—both the relationship between the two countries.Ma Guowei said that in the specific cooperation, universities can not set too utilitarian goals, but first by showing sincerity, communication and exchanges, the cooperation will be solidified, and subsequent development will often be achieved.
"In fact, in the preparation of the Finnish campus, many ideas of Chinese culture dissemination were first proposed by Finland, such as dragon boat races, Chinese festivals, and Chinese classes for LUT students."Win-win" is also the most important foundation for Chinese universities to continue to go out." said Chen Hongyan.