An oft-heard media question to participants at the ongoing Third
Chinese-Foreign University Presidents Forum is: "What is your
impression of the Chinese students studying in your
university?"
The forum is being held at the China Executive Leadership
Academy in Shanghai.
And the oft-heard, "standard" answer seems to be: "The Chinese
students work very hard."?
That could be considered a compliment to the students, if it
came from a Chinese teacher. However, the term "hardworking" rather
sounds like a euphemism for "lacking in innovation," particularly
at an international forum such as this one where 143 university
presidents from home and abroad have gathered to discuss
"innovative capacity building" in Chinese universities.
This was the topic of focus at a panel discussion on scientific
and technological innovation and university education held on
Friday, where presidents from more than 30 Chinese
universities -- both liberal arts universities, and science and
engineering ones -- discussed the issue.
"Higher education in China is still teacher- and
curriculum-oriented. As a result, students are heavily burdened
with demanding curricula and their innovative curiosity is stifled.
Students' health conditions deteriorate and they have neither the
time nor energy to conduct truly innovative research on their own,"
Zhu Qingshi, president of the University of Science and Technology
of China (USTC), told his peers.
Zhu has been president of the USTC for eight years. One of his
major tasks has been to reform his university's curriculum
structure and to streamline the compulsory courses package. He said
that he meets with teacher opposition in terms of the curriculum:
"Teachers would tell me that a certain (compulsory) course cannot
be moved because it is an inseparable part of the whole curriculum,
or that cutting a certain course would affect the totality and
continuity of the students' education and knowledge structure
planned by the university."
Zhu said that the practice of cramming and rote learning is
outdated and should be discarded. Quoting a saying by Einstein to
the effect that "university education is not always beneficial,"
Zhu called for the establishment of a student-centered mode of
education, which enables a student to choose whichever courses he
or she is interested in. He maintained that an innovative person is
capable of self-study. Therefore, when a student is freed from
knowledge cramming to pursue his interest, innovation will
naturally follow.
Zhu praised the credit system, which allows students certain
freedom to choose their courses on condition that their total
credits amount to the university's requirement. However, that is
still far from enough.
Besides a student-centered curriculum, Zhu is also committed to
offering students more leeway to change majors: "If a student does
not like his major but is unable to change to others, he would
probably get nothing out of his university education." However, the
choice should be two-way, Zhu added. One year after studying in the
university, a student unhappy with his major is allowed to apply to
study his preferred major. However, the faculty that offers the
major has the final say based on the student's application. Zhu
said that about 20 percent of students apply to change majors every
year at the USTC.
Since the university was set up in 1958, 33,000 students
have graduated with various degrees, and 33 of them became
academicians with either the Chinese Academy of Sciences or the
Chinese Academy of Engineering, a remarkable rate of
success.
Ji Baocheng, president of the Renmin University of China -- a
liberal arts university -- said his university is offering its
humanities majors science and engineering electives. Ji believes
that this helps to build a solid base for innovation. For example,
a student majoring in food quality management would benefit from
courses in applied chemistry, and a sociology major will find
strong statistical skills an advantage to his sociological
research.
John Hennessy, president of Stanford University, strongly favors
a diversified and comprehensive curriculum structure. During
an exclusive interview with China Education TV on July 16,
he said that his university offers its undergraduates a wide
range of courses to help cultivate innovative capacity. A science
and engineering student in Stanford is required to take courses in
humanities, such as social science or philosophy. That would enable
the student to think differently, he said.
Speaking in defense of the teacher- curriculum-oriented system,
Vice Education Minister Zhang Xinsheng told a press conference on
July 17 that significant progress that has been achieved in China's
higher education institutions as a result. Chinese undergraduate
students are generally well received by international universities
for their solid basic knowledge. The most crucial thing is how to
get the most out of the system, while reforming it gradually into a
more pro-innovation one.
Hennessy also employed the term "hardworking" to refer to
Chinese students who first started their study in the American
universities. However, he pointed out that when these Chinese
students graduate, they typically become highly innovative. They
are team players, they engage in discussion, and they embrace new
ideas quickly. This is indicative of the fact that Chinese students
do not lack innovative capacity. Rather, they lack an environment
that can help them realize their full potential.
Another thing in the way of Chinese students realizing their
innovative capacity is the recruiting or enrolment system in
colleges and universities. Every year, millions of Chinese high
school students take the national college entrance examination,
which consists of about four subjects. Admission is determined by
total marks scored on these examinations. Such a system means that
in China, where college education is still regarded as a
prerequisite to a comparatively secure and bright future, the fate
of a student who has undergone 11 years of education -- five years
in primary school and another six years in middle school -- is
decided by one single examination.
This exam-oriented system leaves no room for innovative capacity
building. Moreover, many students crack under the heavy demands and
pressures attached to such an important examination. A girl who
took the national college entrance examination in June reportedly
made a mess of her exam papers on purpose, scribbling everything
but the right answers.
Gu Binglin, president of Tsinghua University, is critical of
this system. Speaking to China Education TV on July 16, he pointed
out that the Chinese education system is too much about rote
learning. The core of education is not how much information a
student can absorb, but whether the student is making constant
progress through education. University presidents from China at
least agree on this point: it is critical that the system be
reformed if China is to realize the innovative capacity of its
students.
(China.org.cn by Wind Gu, July 17, 2006)
