Recently, a news about a 211 normal college requiring students to copy their graduation theses by hand has sparked heated discussions on the Internet.
The incident originated on April 23, a netizen posted that the School of Liberal Arts of a 211 normal college required students to copy their graduation theses by hand after passing the defense, and put forward many specific requirements, such as stipulating the paper format and writing pen.
According to netizens, the college regards hand-copied papers as a "tradition" and "feature", and uses credits and graduation as threats to force students to obey.
After verification, the school is the famous university South China Normal University College of Liberal Arts.
The college insists that fourth-year normal students copy all graduation theses by hand, unless the number of words exceeds 30,000 words. Although non-normal students are not included in the mandatory scope, some students are required to comply with this regulation.
This is difficult for students to understand. As an academic piece of writing, the dissertation should be more focused on the quality of the content than on the form of writing. Moreover, copying papers by hand is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also out of step with the trend of the times.
Some voices pointed out that the normal profession already has a special writing course and assessment link, and there is no need to emphasize the importance of handwriting in the graduation thesis.
It is worth noting that the college regards the hand-copied paper as a "process document" for the certification of normal students, insisting that it has been uploaded to the system, and failure to comply with it will affect the acquisition of relevant certificates. However, some students questioned whether this move was reasonable and compliant, believing that hand-copied papers and normal student qualifications were really far-fetched.
In the face of students' misgivings, the college has been defending itself on the grounds of "tradition" and "distinctiveness". On April 23, the college held a special meeting to respond to the matter.
At the meeting, the leaders of the institute reiterated that hand-copied papers have been an established part of the institute since 1994, aiming to comprehensively test students' writing ability and reflect the comprehensiveness of the assessment.
Puzzled, however, ECNU does not seem to be the only university doing so.
Some people believe that this obviously runs counter to the trend of educational modernization and informatization, and also runs counter to the current efforts to build the style of study in colleges and universities.
In this regard, colleges and universities should have a countermeasure. On the one hand, we can learn from the experience and practices of other universities to optimize the relevant regulations of graduation theses and give teachers and students more autonomy.
On the other hand, we should also strengthen communication with teachers and students, listen to different voices, and keep up with the times while taking into account traditions.
In general, universities must keep pace with social development when formulating policies, dare to innovate, dare to change, and reflect an inclusive and open mind.
The controversy over hand-copied graduation theses reflects precisely the confusion of universities about how to balance tradition and innovation. It is expected that the relevant universities will assess the situation and make the best choice based on students.