"College students can be anywhere, but not necessarily in the classroom. ”
Some time ago, a number of university teachers reported that there have been fewer and fewer students in class in recent years, and even in class, most of them are playing with mobile phones and looking at computers.
College students don't like to go to class, should college students be blamed?"A lot of people are upset about college studentsIt's no wonder that college classes are too watery and not attractive enough to attract students.
Say "class is too watery".In fact, it is said that the teacher is not serious and perfunctory in class, and the content is boring, boring, and unnutritiousThere are mainly several major factions:
"The Long Standing":As soon as I started class, I took out the PPT that has been riding the wind and waves for 20 years, and read it word by word, so that students can feel the dizziness brought by massive knowledge in the dense text;
"Life Coach School":Never prepare for class, share life anecdotes, parenting experience, talk about international politics, spicy comments on entertainment stars, and give students the illusion of "Daigo empowerment" in the midst of all the nonsense;"Love is a hands-off pie":Each class is presented by groups of students in turn, and all issues are discussed by students independently, which not only liberates themselves, but also allows students to grow up in self-study.
There is no water class, only a water teacher", a class becomes water, and the teacher is naturally inseparable. However, can the pot of the "water class" in the university be deducted from the teacher's head?
"No matter how good the class is, it's useless".
If you want to figure out how the "water class" came about, you must first look at how the university evaluates teachers.
Nowadays, colleges and universities generally implement quantitative managementIt's a bit like the "division of work" system in the last century, where teachers need to complete a specific "workload" each year.
Each school has its own conversion mechanism, such as 800 required workloads per year, 80 courses for teaching two classes of 48 hours, 18 for taking one undergraduate graduate, 2 for reviewing an undergraduate graduation, and various education reform projects. ”
Mr. Zhang, an associate professor at a university in southwest China, said that if teachers fail to meet the requirements, performance bonuses and professional title evaluations will be affected.
According to Professor Li Qi of the Institute of Higher Education of Beijing Normal University, he has been engaged in research on the quality management of higher education for a long timeThe workload of colleges and universities mainly includes scientific research, teaching and social services. Scientific research is easy to calculate, ** sent a few articles, what grade;How much the project has done, what level, and how much money ...... madeThese can all be translated into numbers.
The teaching workload is only counted as the amount of class hours. Although there are student evaluations and supervision spot checks for each course, only the teachers with the lowest evaluation ranking are generally interviewed and warned.
That is to say,No matter whether the teacher is good in class or not, as long as he has enough time and does not have teaching accidents, he can make a difference in teaching. This is also believed to be a major cause of "water lessons" in universities.
I have 6-8 classes a week, and it takes about 2 days to prepare for the lessons. But no matter how good I am in class, no matter how high the students' evaluations are, it has nothing to do with the performance at the end of the year. So,If I can't keep up, I'll have to sacrifice my time to do research. Teacher Zhang said frankly.
After all, schools have rigid requirements for scientific research output, and there is a lot of flexibility in whether classes are good or not.
Teaching is labor-intensive, and spending a lot of time and energy preparing lessons is not necessarily seen and appreciated. Young teachers in some colleges and universities are still facing the pressure of 'either promoting or leaving', and they have to leave if they can't get their professional titles in a few years. ”
Professor Richie arguesIn this assessment mode, it is reasonable for some teachers to emphasize scientific research and ignore teaching.
Of course, there are differences between university teachers. As Professor Hong Chengwen of the Institute of Higher Education of Beijing Normal University said, some teachers regard class as "being a monk for a day and hitting the clock for a day", and naturally there will be "water class";Some teachers regard teaching and educating people as their vocation and still teach well.
This year is the 7th year that Mr. Yuan has joined a university in Southeast China, and according to his observation, there are indeed some "water classes" in the university, but most of the teachers still have professional ethics. He himself will also send a questionnaire to the students at the end of the course to adjust the teaching schedule according to the feedback.
"In college, attending classes became a matter of conscience. No matter how you are assessed, as long as you prepare carefully and the students don't scold you after class, you are worthy of yourself. ”
Whether it is a "water lesson" or not, who has the final say?
It seems unreasonable at first glance to use the amount of class hours to evaluate teachers, but the reason for this is that colleges and universities also have helplessness.
* Whether the hair is sent or not, the experiment is not successful, it is objective;But how well the class is going is a subjective feeling. Teacher Yuan thinksThere is no unified evaluation system for teaching quality that satisfies all parties.
As early as the mid-90s of the last century, Chinese universities introduced a teaching evaluation system from abroad to allow students to make suggestions for courses. Currently,Colleges and universities inspect how teachers are doing in class, mainly in two ways: student evaluation and teaching supervision and spot checks. 
"Students' feelings are important, but students' evaluations do not necessarily represent the true level of the course. ”Not to mention how many of the students' evaluations are sincere. Different from the small class teaching in primary and secondary schools, many general education courses and major courses in universities are large courses with more than 100 students. It is difficult to reconcile the crowd, and each student's situation is different. It's hard to talk about, and some people can't keep up;It's simple, but some people feel that they can't learn knowledge. Moreover, Mr. Yuan said that each course in the university has a lot of content, and to be completed in one semester, the teacher can only pick up the important knowledge points to teach, and sometimes it is inevitable to have a glimpse, which requires students to learn more on their own after class.
However, now college students have to take seven or eight courses at the same time every semester, and even more than a dozen courses, and they are so tired that they have no time to delve into knowledge points and read recommended literature, and the effect of the class is naturally greatly reduced. Can you blame the teacher for not speaking well?”Under pressure, in order to get enough credits and achieve good results, some students deliberately choose "water courses" with simple content and high scores. "It's the same 2 credits, and if you can choose a course that is 'water' and 'good', why should you choose a course that you have worked hard to learn but has a low score?”
In a university, which courses are easy and give high marks has long been a strategy passed down from generation to generation by students. In many cases, "water classes" have to be rushed to enroll, and teachers are more popular. In this way, in order to cater to the students, the teacher also appropriately "releases water". If you don't "release water", no one will choose courses in the next semester, classes will not be opened, and the teaching volume will not meet the standard.
To a certain extent, the "water lesson" is the result of the "two-way running" of teachers and students.
Similarly, supervision and spot checks are also prone to become mere formalities. Ms. Zhang is also the supervisor of the college, and she has to attend 2-4 classes a week. He usually looks at whether the teacher's materials are complete, the teacher's grasp of the class, and the students' feedback, and gives a grade based on his feelings. "Generally, it is excellent or good, there will be no failure, and the score cannot open the gap. ”
If we want to eliminate the 'water lesson', we must first figure out what the 'water lesson' is. Professor Hong Chengwen believesIt is not easy to accurately and clearly assess the quality of the course.
Emphasizing teaching is the first step
In fact, the "water class" in college is an old problem. As early as 2018, the Ministry of Education issued a document calling for the elimination of "water classes" and the creation of "gold courses". After that, colleges and universities across the country are in the first place to eliminate "water classes".
To eliminate the 'water lesson', you have to calm down and think slowly. It's not a campaign or a war of annihilation, and the results will be immediate. Professor Hong Chengwen proposed that recognizing the complexity of the "water class" is the premise of solving the problem.
But in any case, attaching importance to teaching in colleges and universities is always the first step.
Teaching cannot be seen as just teaching, teaching is also part of academics. Some colleges and universities regard teachers engaged in teaching as second-class citizens of the school, and salary increases and promotions are based on scientific research. ”
There has to be enough positive motivation for this. Promote good teachers who are conscientious and give them tangible rewards. Teachers find it beneficial to do a good job in class, and they will naturally be more attentive. "If one day we can also have 'Changjiang Scholars with teaching expertise', there may be more 'golden courses'. ”
In order to resolve the conflict between scientific research and teaching, there are also some experiences from foreign countries that can be used for reference. For example, the University of Queensland in Australia stipulates that teachers who prefer to teach can take more classes and exchange ** and the amount of topicsThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States raises funds in the society to hire "teaching chair professors" who only teach.
In recent years, China's education department has also paid more and more attention to college teachingIt is required to use more teaching assessment teachers, set up teaching-oriented posts, and improve the teaching quality evaluation system. Some colleges and universities are also trying to change the status quo: millions of bonuses are awarded to famous teachers, associate professors who are good in class are promoted to professors, and teaching training is organized regularly.
A university with few good classes can never be a good university. Students who have worked hard for more than ten years and worked hard to get into college deserve to listen to a few more good classes.
References: 1] Hao Longfei, Cao Taisheng. Institutional Attribution of the Problem of "Water Lessons" in Colleges and Universities: Based on the Perspective of Sociological Institutionalism[J].Journal of Soochow University(Educational Sciences),2022,10(02):103-114
2] Guo Yifan, Zheng Yaqian. Fuzzy Signal and Fragmented Execution: Why Water Lessons Are Difficult to Govern: An Analysis Based on the Perspective of Hierarchical Governance[J].Chinese Journal of Higher Education Research, 2022, (10): 35-42
3] Hao Longfei, Wang Yashuang. Clearing the Fog: The Deep Influence Mechanism of the Formation of "Water Lessons" in Colleges and Universities[J].Heilongjiang Higher Education Research,2021,39(12):7-13