Academician Qian Xuhong: It's time to forge new scientific education!Can no longer "talk about", "chasing ancient Huaiyuan"

Text ｜ Qian Xuhong (Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and President of East China Normal University)

Qian Xuhong

Since the birth of modern science, science education has become an important part of education.

From a historical point of view, the past scientific education of our country has cultivated a large number of industrial workers with certain scientific knowledge and advanced skills, promoted my country to quickly shift from a traditional agricultural country to a large industrial country, and also cultivated the scientific thinking and scientific spirit of the masses from the side. , Achieved positive results.

However, my country's scientific education has become increasingly unable to keep up with the requirements of the development of the times, and new ideas, teachers and systems are urgently needed.

Still focusing on teaching knowledge, even old knowledge

The biggest problem of scientific education in my country is that it is taught by knowledge, far from the latest cutting -edge, and even the old scientific knowledge. When scientific education becomes "old -fashioned" and "chasing the ancients", rather than showing the exciting cutting -edge scientific competition in the world, how can the students feel realistic and the excitement of knowledge?

For example, many teachers teach the plane geometry to students, but they do not know why everyone needs to learn plane geometry. In fact, students need to learn the formal logic, and what to cultivate is the ability to think about formal logic. When the formal logic of the formal professor, the teacher forgot to associate the latest quantum logic. Our long -term professors, classic science and classic thinking represented by Descartes and Newton, have introduced very little about the rapid progress of quantum science. In fact, in this regard, my country is at the forefront of the world. If it spreads in time, it can give students a sense of freshness, so that they have preliminary quantum concepts and quantum thinking models.

For another example, we have a large number of chemistry professors based on the "static chemistry" based on bottles and cans, and it involves very little about "dynamic chemistry". "Dynamic Chemistry" includes the latest micro -current chemistry, chip laboratory, etc. It is characterized by safe and green environmental protection. It is easy to connect with artificial intelligence and is rapidly changing today's scientific research paradigm and industrial form.

It is undeniable that with the rapid development of science and technology, the scientific education with traditional knowledge as the main content can no longer catch up with the pace of technology update. The knowledge of teaching in the class may have been replaced at the moment of the student graduation.

The negative impact of division education and standardization

The form of scientific education in my country is mainly presented as two characteristics of division education and standardization.

The advantage of division education is that it can maximize the knowledge of disciplines. The disadvantage is that artificially divides the discipline, which is not conducive to students to understand the overall significance of science. The possibility.

The standardization is represented by "curriculum standards" and "knowledge points". All teaching and assessment contents are carried out around the knowledge points, and then set standard answers according to the knowledge point. This model helps students' mastery of knowledge, but split the organic connection between "knowledge" and "real world", and scientific practice is completely ignored.

Science has been promoting new changes, often bringing subversive changes. Standard answers are only basic qualified answers. If there are no non -standard answers, there will never be an excellent and comprehensive answer. Non -standard answers are more precious answers than standard answers, because they are critical, creative, and individual art. Just like all non -standard parts and equipment are expensive, and the standards are cheaper, because the latter can simply large -scale industrial production.

What people think may be just the "corner of the iceberg" in the real world. Science is a dynamic concept, and is a relative concept of continuous progress. The so -called science is to be able to evidence, to clearly inform where the boundary of the failure and effective prerequisites, otherwise it will become theology or superstition. Any simple problem may be complex issues, and any complex problem can also be "avenue to simple".

For example, the well -known thermal expansion and contraction are usually laws, derived from classic thermal and Brown movements. But this is the law of cognitive limitations. At low temperatures, it is cold expansion and heat shrinkage within a certain temperature range close to zero -degree Celsius. The reason why there is a hydrogen bond with quantum bond should have similar laws and phenomena with hydrogen bonds. And if the restricted space reaches below the micro -nano scale, at most temperature, the heat movement and Brown movement of water may disappear, the volume may be reduced, and the energy changes will no longer become far -infrared light, which fully reflects fully reflecting Quantity and phenomenon of ultra -current.

Education and standardization of divisions have brought serious negative impacts on increasingly important disciplines and scientific applications. Scientific education in my country needs to be reshaped urgently.

The true core of science education: thinking and spirit

The core of the current scientific education is to cultivate students' ability to explore the world with scientific methods based on scientific spirit, scientific thinking, and scientific knowledge.

The establishment of the scientific spirit is the soul of scientific education. There are many different explanations of the scientific spirit. In my opinion, in the current cultural context of China, the scientific spirit should include three aspects, that is, the spirit of questioning represented by independent judgment, the spirit of openness represented by humility and tolerance, and the spirit of exploration represented by imagination.

In terms of cultivating the spirit of training science, it is necessary to find a suitable entry point. For example, stories or observation of stories or observation of the story or observation of the stories or experiments from witch gods, plague, microscope, viruses and other experiments from the earth's heart, the sun, and the black hole saying, which is some desirable ways.

The development of scientific thinking is the core of scientific education. Scientific thinking includes multiple aspects. I think there are mainly logical thinking and image thinking, as well as critical thinking and creative thinking on this basis. The first two are the foundation, and the latter two are improved above this. These four are indispensable -only logic and no image, they will lack creation; only the image and no logic are imaginative. This is not science. Of course, scientific thinking should also include the most cutting -edge quantum logic. The mastery of scientific methods is the key to scientific education. Scientific education should not only be theoretical education, but also the education of scientific practice. In particular, we must encourage themselves and observe themselves, and use things around them as objects and materials. Scientific spirit, scientific thinking, and scientific knowledge can only reflect value only when they are applied to scientific practice. Scientific practice, including but not limited to scientific experiments, invention creation, innovation and entrepreneurship, etc. Only by allowing students to actively participate in scientific practice can they be regarded as a complete scientific education, so that they can enter creative society and research society. And this is the most lacking part of our current scientific education.

In terms of scientific practice education, we can learn from the relatively mature STEM/STEAM education. STEM is the abbreviations of four words: Science (science), technology (technology), Engineering (engineering), and Maths (mathematics). STEM education originated in the United States, and it focuses on the STEM literacy composed of scientific literacy, technical literacy, engineering literacy and mathematical literacy. The ability to solve problems in the situation.

In the second decade of the new century, people increasingly recognized the close relationship between science and technology and humanities, so they put Art into it. The 30 -year STEAM development in the United States has shown two major trends: one is from higher education to basic education; the other is from division to integration. "2015 Earth and Planet Report: K12 Edition" proposes that "the rise of STEAM learning" will become "an important trend of technology -driven K12 education in the next one to two years". These trends have a great reference for the development of scientific education in my country.

It is worth noting that science education not only involves natural sciences, but also includes engineering sciences, as well as social sciences and humanities, and is an important content and important way to achieve the goal of talent training.

On the one hand, from the perspective of the development of modern society, nature, society, humanities, and engineering have become more and more closely integrated. For example, starting an engineering project to conduct environmental assessment and solicit opinions from the masses. On the other hand, social humanities have an important impact on the development of nature and engineering. The core of science and technology and artistic development is creativity, and creation comes from imagination. Humanities and art can provide people with endless imagination. At the same time, science and technology also need humanities to restrict balance, otherwise it will become a loyal horses, bringing serious ethical problems.

Training of scientific education teachers: take a new road

Science education and talent training are a systematic project that requires us to study the laws of talent growth, the laws of scientific education, develop high -quality scientific education resources, and train scientific education teachers.

Specific methods of training related teachers in science education should pay attention to two aspects of education, one is thinking education, and the other is innovation and entrepreneurial education.

Thinking education, different from general general education, should pay more attention to students' mastery of various thinking models formed in the process of science and cultural development. East China Normal University offers a series of courses of "Human Thinking and Disciplinary History Theory", which is to allow students to understand the significance breakthroughs and turning of the historical development of various disciplines, let students know the thinking of a discipline development, and then refine the summary summary Scientific laws and methods to improve students' thinking skills. We must face the innovation and creation needs of the whole society, and cultivate future new teachers with thinking education and general education capabilities for the basic stages of the university and the basic education of primary and secondary schools.

Innovation and entrepreneurial education, the purpose is not to make innovations for children's entrepreneurship or really, but to stimulate children's exploration spirit, especially in the fields of exploration related to basic science, and prevent simply limited to traditional scientific divisions, make up for single subjects, to make up for single subjects, and make up for single subjects. The lack of education in division has formed an atmosphere of general and interdisciplinary disciplines. The focus is on discovering students' interests and experiments, practice and hands -on ability. It is necessary to prevent the division education with universities simply repeated or corresponding, while inspiring theoretical thinking, exercise the ability to exercise.

Based on the existing innovation and entrepreneurial education, it is necessary to form a comprehensive and project scientific innovation course, and use scientific education as a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, interest and ability training project system. The outstanding teachers of the family spirit, the ability of scientists, and educators are not as many as the number of people, but in the essence. East China Normal University began to attach great importance to innovation and entrepreneurial education in 2018. Later, he ranked first, not only ranked first in normal universities, but also among the top of various universities across the country.

On this basis, innovation and entrepreneurial education can be moderately extended to basic education. For example, the second attached middle school of the East China Normal University proposed that all students in the school must participate in small subject research, which is a good content of innovation and entrepreneurship education in the field of basic education.

"China Science News" (2022-06-21 The 1st edition of the 1st edition)

Edit | Zhao Lu

Capture | Zhihai

- END -