The dean of a leading college in the school read my article, "Master Teacher Out of Gao Tzu, September 8, 2021 Science Network" and sent his after-reading feeling.He is familiar with Professor ZMF of the University of Hong Kong, mentioned in the article, saying: "Professor ZMF has put a lot of effort into developing students, the key is that he loves students and is highly responsible for them.Some of our professors are reluctant to spend time with their students and are busy with activities and socializing all day.Some are 'arranged' or volunteered to work in some management positions, where cumbersome management takes up most of their time and wants to train students with more than enough energy, which is the status quo."As a decades-old teacher at the university, I am well aware of the phenomenon the dean refers to and the reasons for this phenomenon.
Recently, a young returnee professor at a major university sent an e-mail to him from a well-known professor at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Computer School in Singapore.The young professor is two years younger than NTU professor, scientific research results are fruitful, they are good friends for more than 10 years, scientific cooperation for many years, the two people know each other trust each other.The young professor would like to ask him to take some time to listen to the research group's graduate students' academic presentations online, and then make targeted suggestions on the problems in graduate study research.NTU replied, "I am so sorry. I am currently bloodily overwhelmed with so many teaching and editorial works。This means that because the current editor-in-chief of teaching and journalism (he is the editor-in-chief of an international professional journal) is too busy to meet the professor's request.Teaching belongs to the professional work of university professors, and journal editors belong to the nature of social (academic) service.NTU professor's letter expresses the basic work that a famous university professor should undertake on a daily basis.I have visited NTU twice and had contact with their professors to learn about the teaching and related work of their university professors, and especially appreciate NTU professors' conscientiousness in undergraduate education.In fact, as far as I know, universities in Europe and the United States generally attach more importance to professors' participation in undergraduate education (not just classroom teaching).Because the level of undergraduate education is related to the future of a country's scientific and technological development, its importance is self-evident.
The daily work of our university professors seems to me to be a life of conscience, in addition to the rigid tasks of classroom teaching arranged by the school, a large number of other things related to the growth of undergraduate students.Some well-known professors are also reluctant to take on undergraduate classroom teaching tasks, and participating in guiding some undergraduate activities outside the classroom (an important position in student growth education) is considered "foreign affairs".At present, the performance evaluation mechanism of "research-oriented and teaching-oriented" is a great challenge for undergraduate education.The professors' daily work is mainly a "three struggles" with some utilitarian colors: struggle for scientific research projects, struggle for SCI papers, struggle for academic honors (including awards)."Three Struggles" can bring many benefits to professors, and schools can also obtain the indicators needed for various social rankings, which seem to be a "win-win."Most of the things related to undergraduate growth are flexible "extra" jobs that are not binding on teacher performance reviews and job title promotion.Such a university educational environment is unlikely to produce what we claim to be a "moral, intellectual, physical and cultural" all-round development of college students.
Sir Robert Borisevic, President of Cambridge University, put forward a fundamental element of an ideal university student: "Extreme academic talent, the potential to study hard must be independent, academically free-thinking, ambitious, world-changing" (Science Network, 4 August 2012).I think such a high school student training goal would not have been possible without their college system of one-on-one guidance and exchange mechanism.As Yale's president said in a speech marking Tsinghua's centennial, "Our undergraduate freshmen are lucky because we schedule them to have an hour a week to talk to our renowned professors."Clearly, these casual exchanges with freshmen cover many aspects of Yale's undergraduate growth, such as how college students cultivate integrity, responsibility, enterprise, independent thinking and alternative thinking in their professors' guidance and practice.
Modern university education philosophy tells us that the learning growth of undergraduate students is not limited to professional learning, that is, we often say: classroom teaching, experimental teaching, practical teaching and graduation design.Especially for those key universities in China who claim to impact the world-class level, they need to pay more attention to guiding students' learning outside the classroom, especially general knowledge learning.As the president of Harvard University said, college students learn more outside the classroom than in the classroom.Richard Levin, president of Yale University from 1993 to 2013, said: "If a student graduates from Yale University with some kind of professional knowledge and skills, this is the biggest failure of Yale education."The core of undergraduate education is general knowledge, which fosters students' ability to think critically and independently and lays the foundation for lifelong learning.The university does not teach knowledge and skills, but it can make people competent in any subject and profession, freely exert their personal potential, freely choose their learning direction, and contribute to social and human progress."These university education concepts require our university administrators and faculty, especially renowned professors, to take time out of their busy schedule to learn about higher education and to have the awareness and capital to serve students fully."
Professors' participation in the growth education of college students is rich and colorful, which can be reflected in classroom teaching, such as my university physics teacher, Mr. Jiang Zhi, often teaches us to think more about learning in the classroom.I said in the article "A number of senior teachers on the gratitude academic road, Science Network, August 10, 2018": "In the classroom, Mr. Jiang often emphasized that our students should 'think more' in their studies. Because Mr. Jiang said a lot of things, even after class our classmates gave him the nickname of "Teacher Doth."Some students may think that this is just a joke title, but I will remember Mr. Jiang's 'teaching of many thoughts' in my heart."Dothis" has become a habit of thinking in my long-standing scientific research."Professors guide the growth of undergraduate students more reflected outside the classroom.When I was in office, undergraduates and graduate students from our university or foreign university often came to the office to talk, and I never refused.I remember one time a graduate student of a college of the school came to me and said, "Mr. Liu, my mentor suggested that I talk to you," I said welcome, then put down the "work" and the students on his concerns about my understanding for his reference.The school management institution shall reasonably set up a regular exchange system between professors and students, including the basic contents and time guarantee of the exchange.For example, the Southern University of Science and Technology College system requires each professor to participate in student exchanges for no less than 50 hours per year.Therefore, our professors should not easily refuse requests for active door-to-door exchanges, change their minds, and do not think that spending a little time with students is a waste of time, but recognize that this is the profession of professors.I believe that university professors actively participate in the many teachings and beautiful scenes of college students' growth education will surely become their "Today I am proud of my alma mater" glorious memory, which is an immeasurable good.
Submission completed on 13 February 2023