Refusing to answer students' questions after class, the university professor made an attempt to change the ethos...

In the short twenty years since entering the 21st century, human knowledge and knowledge structure have undergone great changes, knowledge renewal and iteration have been accelerating, especially new knowledge for old knowledge, not cumulative breakthroughs, but subversive refresh, the important knowledge of the past has even been abandoned without a trace. This is a huge test for the education system that transmits knowledge and nurtures talents.

In universities, the soul of the general studies curriculum is to break through the limitations of the discipline, broaden horizons, integrate and understand creativity.

Why break down disciplinary restrictions? In fact, the so-called discipline is only the perspective of human beings when they understand the world, so as to facilitate professional exploration. Over time, discipline becomes a way to explore, but at the same time it has the side effect of painting the ground. Therefore, on the one hand, people are strengthening the professionalism of the discipline, and on the other hand, they also hope to eliminate the blind spots of the discipline as much as possible.

The general studies curriculum is to allow students to jump out of the narrow discipline and re-understand the world from a larger perspective. It is precisely for this reason that the general studies curriculum often takes the integration of disciplines as the basic concept, requiring the teachers of the History Department not to talk about pure history, and the teachers of the Physics Department are not bound to physics, which has led to the birth of a number of courses such as "The Historical Process of East Asian Civilization" and "Humanistic Physics".

The classroom is silent, and not talking has become the "smartest" choice?

General education opens students' horizons, but students' thinking and actions do not necessarily keep up. Especially after the intensive subject test-taking training in high school, students' minds are tightly "framed", so the key to the general education curriculum is how to stimulate and mobilize students to think and actively explore, rather than passive acceptance, that is, heuristic education.

School education, especially university education, is primarily about teaching students ways of thinking independently, rather than indoctrination of knowledge, so there should be no boxes and restrictions. The infinity of the world determines the diversity of exploration, there is no scope, there is no answer, everything is possible, only the courage to explore, dare to think, not afraid of not doing, afraid of not thinking, the true meaning of education lies in this.

The transmission of knowledge with scope and answers is not education, but training. Replacing education with training is the greatest harm that test-taking education can do to people. Accustomed to the exam-oriented education, the student in the general education class, when he let go of his imagination, he did not dare to move forward, looking at the teacher's face, confused by the endless knowledge, longing for the only correct answer. In public, they only want to say the right words, afraid of deducting points for wrong answers, and even being looked down upon by teachers and classmates. At this time, not speaking became the "smartest" choice, and the hall was silent.

Don't ask questions in class? It's time to break the "fear" of asking questions

Are students really brains blank? Probably not.

I found that when the teacher was not present, the students spoke enthusiastically; after class, there were many problems. How to mobilize them to dare to think and dare to say is the learning ability and exploration spirit that urgently need to be repaired and stimulated after the test-taking education.

I think there should be a requirement for students: if there is a problem, ask it in class. I also tried to refuse to answer my classmates' questions after class. In fact, individual students' problems are likely to be common to everyone, and even individual problems may stimulate students' thinking and cause discussion. As long as some students ask questions, the fear of other students is broken, and the atmosphere of asking questions in class is formed.

Students dare to ask questions, they have something they don't understand, or have any ideas, and raise their hands at any time in class to speak. The teacher explains according to the content of the course, and feels that the explanation is very clear, what is the actual effect? I once asked my classmates to repeat the content of the lecture, and found that it was quite different from what I said. Obviously, what the teacher said does not mean what the classmates heard. Therefore, allowing students to speak at any time can narrow the error between the speaker and the listener, and make the knowledge spread more accurately.

More importantly, the focus of education is on inspiration, so teachers must grasp what students are thinking in order to be targeted. The success of a class lies in whether it can solve the students' thoughts and arouse his curiosity and enthusiasm for exploration. The teacher is the initiator of the problem and should be the facilitator of the exploration, not the omniscient "saint". A full hall is tantamount to crossing the line, the speaker is sincere, and the listener is dizzy.

Let more students "enter the room" inspired by teachers

Mobilizing students to think and speak in class is a severe test for teachers. Students will find and present many blind spots, unexpectedly, and catch teachers off guard. At this time, if the teacher changes roles and explores side by side with the students, he can get good results. It should be noted that the "trainer" who is high above is far less cordial than the guide of his peers, and gives people more inspiration.

Looking back on our lives, do you remember what knowledge the teacher once taught? Mostly forget. However, the inspiration that makes our eyes shine may be just that, but we have stepped into the door of the temple of knowledge, and our lives have been different ever since. Because of that word that is engraved in our hearts, the teacher becomes the guide of our lives.

Inspired to enter the room, so what to inspire? The ability to comprehend knowledge.

The key to understanding knowledge is to understand the ins and outs of knowledge, which is nothing more than "what is born, how it exists, and where it goes." First, all knowledge is the conclusion of the past. Therefore, do not regard knowledge as a definite truth and swallow dates, time has passed, knowledge is also changing, we must understand the environment and conditions for the formation of knowledge. People who do not understand this and memorize by rote, the more they remember, the more stubborn they become, the more conformist they become, and even become an obstacle to moving forward. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly explain the background of how knowledge is generated, and at the same time understand where the key to knowledge change is, and to grasp knowledge flexibly and developably, which needs to be enlightened.

Second, why does the knowledge of the past still make sense today? That is because of the commonality of the environment and conditions that ancient and modern times have, and their changes are caused by conditions, so as to understand the internal structure of knowledge and its adaptability, so as to learn how to apply knowledge and further expand the ability of knowledge. All knowledge is advancing with the times, innovating, and avoid being complacent and boasting.

Why are science and engineering changing so fast while the humanities are changing slowly? That is because the conditions of scientific research are changing at an accelerating pace, and therefore the renewal of its knowledge is also accelerating; the humanities study people and their qualities change very little, and thus show relative stability. Therefore, change does not happen for no reason, and change based on fantasy can only be a catastrophic failure. To understand the state of knowledge in today's existence is also crucial to the understanding of man himself.

Third, today's knowledge is used to solve what problems will be solved in the future, and how it will change with time and space, which is the perspective of knowledge, so as to understand the trend of development. The continuity and even subversiveness of knowledge are traceable, so its future development is also based on predictions. However, knowledge can only be deepened, not absolutely dead or alive. Much of the regeneration of knowledge benefits from breaking down the disciplinary limitations that have worked well for human beings, so the prospects for interdisciplinarity are very broad, and what needs to be changed is our solidified thinking box.

Break the box to burst out of the whimsy

All knowledge is man's observation and interpretation of himself and the world from his point of view, as well as man's regulation of the world according to his own will. In the face of human thinking, all disciplines are essentially the same, and they all have the same destination. The distinction between liberal arts and sciences shows that all kinds of people are better at observing the world from what angle. In the sense of subject limitations, as students say, "general knowledge, general knowledge", what is not known is the box in our minds, and what we see is closer to the whole world.

When the box is broken, whimsy bursts forth, and discussion lessons are therefore very important.

The key to a good discussion class is to guide, determine a good topic, and conduct an unfettered exchange of ideas and even confrontation. In this process, we must give full play to the role of teaching assistants. Of course, teachers should not leave the teaching assistant alone, but should communicate closely with the teaching assistant, determine the theme and direction of the discussion, and leave it to the teaching assistant to preside. Without the presence of a teacher with the power to judge points, the atmosphere became very relaxed, and the discussion of knowledge became active.

The discussion must do a good job of homework in advance, must have a preview of the topic, and be accompanied by a lot of thematic reading, do enough work, otherwise it will become a temporary rambling. In particular, it is very beneficial for students to make special topic PPT before class, so that students can prepare lessons like teachers, organize knowledge, learn layers of in-depth explanation methods, and be a teacher. Knowledge can only be mastered when it is clearly explained, and the so-called understanding is not really understood. A general education course must break the limitations of the discipline, but also break the distinction between reading and practice, and even the classroom and society, in order to go deeper and through layer by layer, which is the real sense of the general education course.

Author: Han Sheng (The author is a professor in the Department of History, Fudan University)

Editor: Chu Shuting