How to cultivate graduate students' innovation ability?10 years of research comes to this conclusion

Text ｜ Liu Xianwei (Deputy Dean of the Institute of Higher Education of Beijing University of Technology)

As the highest level of national education sequence, the status of graduate education in the cultivation of innovative talents in my country is self -evident.

As the core element of the endowment of postgraduate human capital, and the essential requirements of scientific discovery and invention, whether it can cultivate graduate students with innovative creativity is also one of the key criteria for measuring the quality of education in a country.

Since 2000, several domestic large -scale graduate training quality surveys have more consistently pointed out that the overall situation of the overall innovation ability of graduate students in my country is not optimistic.

This has also triggered the widespread concern of the quality of graduate education from all walks of life.

We analyzed the meta -analysis of the empirical research (involved 79 independent samples and 96,936 graduate students) in the past 10 years, and the impact of key internal and external factors such as tutoring internal and external factors such as active guidance style of mentors on graduate students' innovation capabilities. Research and graduate training quality improvement provides theoretical support and empirical basis.

The "vacuum" environment cannot complete the development of innovation capabilities

In recent years, with the comprehensive advancement of the "double first -class" strategy and the gradual deepening of graduate education reform, a large number of research results on the influencing factors of graduate innovation capabilities have been accumulated in China.

However, due to the lack of the theoretical framework with integration and interpretation, there are few research on the complex relationship mechanism of internal and external factors from the internal and external factors from a comprehensive perspective, and there are often large differences in research conclusions.

The new view of the innovation ability of graduate students believes that the development of innovation ability is not realized in the "social vacuum". One of the prerequisites is the accumulation of innovative social capital.

In other words, graduate students need to constantly obtain academic, scientific research, and practical resources that exist in the academic relationship network, and the mentor is the key source of graduate social capital.

In previous studies, we also further proposed that the development of graduate innovation ability cannot be completed in "psychological vacuum", such as positive psychological capital elements such as innovation effects, motivations, and toughness. At the same time, the key factor in the development of innovation capabilities.

The above content has also become an important background for our research.

Active mentor guidance style has multiple effects

Studies have found that positive or constructive mentor guidance styles have a significant direct impact on graduate innovation social capital, innovative psychological capital and innovation ability.

Specifically, the active guidance style of the instructor is conducive to the important resources and support of the instructor directly or indirectly from the tutor, including academic networks, effective feedback, constructive opinions, practical counseling, etc., to help shape graduate students in daily scientific research in daily research Active innovative value orientation, belief, cognition, and behavior models in the activity realize the accumulation of postgraduate innovation social capital and psychological capital.

At the same time, the instructor can directly motivate graduate students to put forward new views and put into practice in scientific research work in scientific research.

In the process of graduate training, mentors with a positive guidance style will play a role model and demonstration effect on graduate students, so that they can better understand the instructor's innovation ability and influence, thereby promoting the improvement of innovation capabilities.

In short, the instructor's guidance style is a key external cause that affects the innovation ability of graduate students.

However, this guidance style also needs to use the intermediary of psychological capital to indirectly affect the innovation ability of graduate students.

Because objective reality and personal vision of graduate students often have a certain gap, and graduate students, as subjects with energy, this gap will form a force to promote the realization of the realization of the vision of innovation.

This shows that it is not enough to improve the innovative ability of graduate students by providing external conditions such as mentor guidance, support, resources and information.

Only when the graduate students have a high confidence in carrying out innovative activities and have strong internal interest in innovation activities, can they maintain continuous research and transcendence of their beliefs, and can better integrate mentor guidance and innovative resources into innovative tasks in innovation tasks. Go, so as to cope with problems and challenges in daily scientific research, work and learning more creatively.

In addition to the construction of the postgraduate's own psychological capital, the instructor actively guides the style of promoting the ability of graduate innovation, and can also be transmitted through the chain intermediary role of social capital and psychological capital elements.

In other words, the development of individual innovation and creativity and the production and dissemination of new knowledge is the result of the interaction of social capital and psychological capital.

The high -quality interaction between the instructor and the graduate students, the establishment of reliable and supportive relationships with graduate students, and the establishment of a wide range of academic networks and platforms can provide students with the necessary innovation resources, knowledge, information and freedom, and promote the innovative social capital of graduate students. accumulation.

Correspondingly, once graduate students have more accumulation of innovative social capital, they will often be confident in the realization of innovation goals, and then actively explore solutions for different issues in specific scientific research work, and fully demonstrate their own innovation and creativity capabilities.

Cultivation of graduate students' innovation ability must be two -pronged

The results of the above research prove that in the process of the training of postgraduate innovation ability, we need to dialectically treat the internal and external role of the innovative talent training mechanism for the innovation ability of graduate students.

First of all, we must resolutely implement the mentor responsibility system and improve the guidance of the instructor. As the first responsible person for graduate training, the mentor is an important knowledge, information and resource source for graduate students to conduct scientific research and innovation activities. Therefore, the instructor guidance must be "famous and realistic", providing substantial support and resources for postgraduate innovation activities, and expanding the scientific research and academic network of graduate students, in order to promote the acquisition and accumulation of postgraduate innovation social capital.

At the same time, the mentor should also play and play the role of "leaders" and the "lighthouse" effect of graduate students to achieve innovation goals.

It should be pointed out that the so -called "mentor responsibility system" does not require the instructor to cultivate the "nanny -style" training of all transactions to the graduate guidance process. The team atmosphere, under the premise of helping to set innovation goals, gives graduate students to carry out the autonomy of research activities.

Secondly, fully attach importance to the construction of innovative psychological capital, and strengthen the internal innovation motivation of graduate students.

Relevant units and departments can include the positive psychological construction and maintenance of graduate students into the graduate training plan and mentor training plan by setting up related courses and activities. Essence

In the process of scientific research and training, the instructor needs to combine the ability and background of graduate students to follow the principles of shallow to deep, from easy to difficult, and arrange and set up research on topics with realistic problems, proper challenges, and high sense of integration, so as to avoid graduate students Due to the difficulty of "frustration" in the task, or the task is prone to "burnout".

At the same time, establish an appropriate reward and punishment mechanism to enhance the sense of responsibility and mission of graduate students, and stimulate the inherent motivation for graduate students to carry out continuous innovation.

In this process, the instructor should accurately grasp the scientific research progress of graduate students, and actively and effective feedback on the needs and confusion of graduate students in scientific research, encourage and help graduate students to put new and feasible views into practice, and enhance the innovation of graduate students' innovation Self -efficacy makes them believe in the challenges and difficulties in the process of innovation.

In general, the development of postgraduate innovation capabilities is the result of the common action of internal and external factors. From the external environmental conditions to the active psychological construction of the inside, and to the final development of innovation capabilities, there is a gradual chain logic relationship.

The guidance and social capital of the instructor and social capital are important scenarios to promote the development of postgraduate innovation capabilities, and innovative psychological capital is fundamental.

Because of this, we need to solve the two core issues in the process of innovation ability of graduate students. One is where the graduate students get from what kind of innovative resources, and the other is whether graduate students can become and how to become a person with innovative ability.

Focusing on the above two issues, the two -pronged approach to build a two -pronged approach through the internal and external resources of graduate students, and actively explore the mechanism and channels of the advantages of external innovation resources into an internal resource advantage of graduate students, enhance the training capabilities of high -level innovative talents, and empower the high -quality development of graduate education. Essence

"China Science News" (2022-06-14 The 3rd edition of the 3rd edition of the original title "The Cultivation of Graduate Innovation Capability Must Internal and Foreign Cause Relationships")

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