University is a critical stage in life. This is because, after entering the university, you finally put down the burden of the college entrance examination and began to pursue your ideals and interests for the first time. This is the first time you have left your family life and participated in group and social life independently. This is the first time you have the opportunity to learn theory and practice it yourself, instead of simply learning or reciting theoretical knowledge from books. This is the first time that your parents no longer arrange everything in your life and study, but have enough freedom to deal with all kinds of problems in your life, study and control all your time.
University is a critical stage in life. This is because this is your last chance to receive a systematic education in your life. This is the last time you devote yourself to building your own knowledge base. This may be the last stage in your life where you can spend a lot of time studying, or it may be the last stage where you can have high plasticity and concentrate on enriching yourself. This may be the last time you learn how to be a man in a relatively tolerant and ideal environment.
University is a critical stage in life. At this stage, all college students should seriously grasp every "first time" and make it the cornerstone of their future life; At this stage, all college students should cherish every "last time" and don't let themselves regret it in the near future. After four years of college, everyone should try to weave their own dreams of life, make clear the direction of struggle and lay a good foundation for their career.
Four years of college is only once for everyone, and four years of college should be spent like this. ...
The way of self-study: from reasoning to self-teaching.
I remember when I was a teaching assistant at Columbia University, the parents of a China student complained to me, "What exactly do you teach in your university? My child has finished his sophomore computer department, and he can't even use VisiCalc[ 1]. "
I replied at that time: "The development of computers is changing with each passing day. We can't guarantee that any technology taught in universities will still be useful after five years, nor can we guarantee that students can learn every technology and tool. What we can guarantee is that your child will learn to think and master learning methods, so that no matter what new technologies and new tools appear in five years, your child will be able to do it with ease. "
She then asked, "Learning the latest software is not education, so what is the essence of education?"
I replied, "If we forget everything we have learned, what remains is the essence of education.
What I said at that time came from the famous words of educator B.F. Skinner. The so-called "leftovers" are actually the ability of self-study, that is, the ability to draw inferences from others or learn from others. University is not a vocational training course, but a platform for students to adapt to society and different jobs. During college, it is important to learn professional knowledge, but it is more important to learn the method of independent thinking and cultivate the ability to draw inferences from others. Only in this way can college graduates adapt to the rapidly changing future world. I know many friends who came to the United States for graduate studies after finishing college in China. They think that after coming to the United States, whether they study, work or live, what they lack most is the ability to think independently, because they seldom think and make decisions independently at home.
When I was in middle school, my teacher would repeat the key points of each lesson over and over again. However, after entering the university, teachers will only play a guiding role, and students must study, explore and practice independently. After going to work, self-study ability becomes more important. Microsoft has made a statistic: only about 10% of the knowledge that every Microsoft employee has mastered is accumulated by employees in their past study and work, and all other knowledge is re-learned after joining Microsoft. This data fully shows that it is difficult for a person who lacks self-study ability to stand in a modern enterprise like Microsoft.
Self-study ability must be cultivated during college. Many students always complain that teachers don't teach well, don't know much, and the school curriculum is unreasonable. I usually advise these students to say, "It is better to light candles than to curse the darkness". College students should not just follow the footsteps of teachers, but take the initiative to walk in front of them. For example, a class of university teachers usually covers dozens of pages of information in textbooks, and it is impossible to learn all the knowledge by attending classes. The best way to learn is to make clear the relevant problems in the textbook before the teacher gives a lecture, and then make up for the lack of understanding and understanding by comparing the teacher's explanations in class.
Middle school students are more in pursuit of "remembering" knowledge when learning knowledge, while college students should ask themselves to "understand" knowledge and be good at asking questions. Ask more "why" for every knowledge point. Once you really know the ins and outs of a theory or method, you can learn other knowledge by analogy, solve other problems, and even reach the realm of self-study.
In fact, many problems have different ideas or angles. When learning knowledge or solving problems, don't always stick to a mode of thinking, and don't make yourself a slave to textbooks or experience. Only when students dare to innovate and be good at thinking from a new angle can they really stimulate their potential thinking ability, creativity and learning ability.
The Book of Rites says: "Learning alone without friends is ignorance". In other words, college students should make full use of the talent resources in the school and absorb knowledge and methods from various channels. If you meet a good teacher, you can take the initiative to ask them for advice or ask them to recommend some extracurricular reference books. Besides senior professors, young teachers, doctoral students, master students and even their classmates in universities are the best sources of knowledge and learning partners. Everyone's understanding and understanding of the problem is different. Only by helping each other and learning from each other can we make progress together.
A student once told me that I was envious of having a Turing Prize master to teach when I was studying. In fact, although I admire my teacher very much, he didn't teach me much professional knowledge during my college years. He just pointed out the general direction for me, let me share his experience, provide me with research resources and teach me how to be a man. He has no time and no need to guide me to learn specific professional knowledge. The professional knowledge I accumulated during my college years was acquired through self-study. At first, I blushed many times and asked my brother the most basic knowledge. I asked a lot of superficial questions at the meeting and took the initiative to discuss and study with my classmates in my spare time. "There must be a teacher in a threesome", and college students are surrounded by mentors and friends. As long as we cherish these rare opportunities, ask questions boldly and learn from each other often, we can learn the most useful knowledge and methods.
College students should make full use of libraries and the Internet, cultivate the ability of autonomous learning and research, and prepare for future work or further study. First of all, in addition to studying the courses prescribed by teachers, college students must learn to consult books and documents in order to get in touch with a wider range of knowledge and research results. For example, when we find a subject we are interested in in in a class, we should actively go to the library to consult relevant literature to understand the ins and outs of this subject and the current research trends. Skilled and full use of library resources is one of the necessary skills for college students, especially those who are interested in scientific research. When reading, read as many original English textbooks as possible. Some original textbooks are simple to compile and have a large number of examples, which are more suitable for self-study than Chinese textbooks. Secondly, in addition to books, the Internet is also a huge resource pool, and college students can use search engines to find all kinds of information online. Since Kaifu Student Network was opened for half a year, I found that many students have not mastered the Internet search skills well, and sometimes they can easily find the answer by simply searching in the search engine. Some students easily believe online rumors, instead of using search engines to check and verify them themselves. Besides search engines, there are many websites and communities on the Internet, which are also good learning fields.
When you teach yourself, don't be complacent just because you have met the requirements of the school. Don't think that doing well in college is enough. 2 1 century, talent has become an international concept. When you are satisfied with your grades, I suggest you start self-learning some courses of world-class universities. For example, MIT's open classes have been released online for free. You might as well look at MIT's online courses and do MIT's online test questions. When you can master MIT courses freely, you will be more confident to face the challenges of internationalization.
In a word, being good at drawing inferences from others and learning to teach yourself are the best gifts you can give yourself during your four years in college.
Basic knowledge: math, English, computer, Internet.
I once said that one advantage of China students is their solid basic knowledge, such as mathematics and physics. But in recent years, we have witnessed many quick examples (such as Ding Lei, Chen Tianqiao, etc. ), students are also eager to embark on the fast lane of success. This gradually formed an impetuous atmosphere of quick success and instant benefit. Many college students dream of becoming "managers" and "bosses" immediately after graduation, and many college students directly choose "management" as soon as they enter school, because they think that such majors can become managers of enterprises immediately after graduation. However, after many students enter the management major, they find that they have no interest in learning this major. In fact, management majors, like other majors, are places where basic knowledge and methods are taught. No major can guarantee that students can take up leadership positions after graduation. No matter what major students study, graduation from college is the real beginning of their career. Students who want to be leaders or managers of enterprises must also start at the grassroots level. They must first learn to be human in personality and lay a good foundation in their studies.
If a university is a platform for learning and progress, then the foundation of this platform is the basic courses in the university. During college, students must learn basic knowledge, including mathematics, English, the use of computers and the Internet, as well as basic courses required by majors (such as financial courses in business schools). With the rapid development of science and technology, many seemingly advanced technologies in the application field will be replaced by new technologies or tools in a few years. Only the study of basic knowledge can benefit for life. On the other hand, without a good foundation, it is difficult for college students to truly understand advanced applied technology. Finally, in many China universities, professors have more teaching experience in basic courses than in the latest technology.
Mathematics is an indispensable foundation for science and engineering students. Many students think that mathematics is the most difficult thing to learn in high school. Once you find that your major has low requirements for mathematics, you will completely relax your study of mathematics knowledge, and you will not see any practical application or employment prospects of mathematics knowledge. But we should not forget that most of the knowledge systems of science and engineering majors are based on the cornerstone of mathematics. For example, if you want to learn computer engineering well, you should at least learn discrete mathematics (including set theory, graph theory, mathematical logic, etc. ), linear algebra, probability statistics and mathematical analysis; If you want to further study for a master's or doctor's degree in computer science, you may need higher mathematics literacy. At the same time, mathematics is also the crystallization of wisdom accumulated by human beings for thousands of years. Learning mathematics knowledge can cultivate and train people's thinking ability. Through the study of geometry, we can learn to verify and think with deduction and reasoning; By studying probability statistics, we can know how to avoid going into a dead end of thinking and how to maximize the opportunities in front of us. Therefore, everyone must learn math well with heart, and can't be half-hearted. Learning mathematics can't be limited to taking multiple mathematics courses, but we should know why we study mathematics and master the methods of cognition and thinking from the process of learning mathematics.
English is the most important communication tool in 2 1 century. Some students study English only to pass CET-4 and CET-6, some students study English only to find the necessary skills for a job, and some even think that learning and using English is equal to worshipping foreign things and obsessing foreign things. In fact, the fundamental purpose of learning English is to master an important learning and communication tool. In the next few decades, the world's most comprehensive news content, the most advanced ideas and the most profound technology, as well as the communication between most intellectuals, will be conducted in English. Therefore, unless you are willing to be a person out of touch with the international community, English learning is very important. In the software industry, not only the programming language is designed based on English, but also the most important resources such as textbooks, papers, reference materials and user manuals are mostly written in English. Learning English is by no means equal to worshipping foreign things and obsessing foreign things. China is going to the world, and China needs to learn advanced western ideas and advanced science and technology. Learning English well is true patriotism.
Many foreign students in China have achieved good results in English tests. They have passed CET-4, CET-6 and TOEFL. However, after studying in the United States, it is difficult to understand the course content in class, and it is even more difficult to communicate with foreign students. How can I learn English well? Since English is the most important communication tool, the most important way to learn English is to combine it with practice as much as possible. You can't just "learn" without "using", let alone learn English by reciting. When reading, try to read the original professional textbooks (if English is not good enough, you can start with bilingual textbooks) and read some professional papers that you are interested in, so as to improve the knowledge level of English and related majors at the same time. Secondly, the best way to improve English listening and speaking ability is to talk directly with foreigners whose mother tongue is English. At present, there are many foreigners studying and working in China. Many of them are willing to talk and communicate with China students to learn Chinese. This is a good learning opportunity. Besides, you shouldn't take learning English as a hard job. You can learn English in an interesting way. For example, you can watch more dialogues or speeches by celebrities, and read more novels, plays and even cartoons. Beginners can find the original English teaching programs and videos to learn, and those who have a certain foundation can watch English TV or movies. When watching English movies, it is best to watch them first when there are subtitles, and at the same time check the candidates' words to be familiar with sentence patterns. When there are no subtitles, watch them again and listen only with your ears. Listening to English radio is also a good way to practice English listening. You'd better set aside half an hour to an hour every day to listen to the radio and try to understand its contents. You can record it and listen to it again and again if necessary. There are also many interactive English learning websites on the Internet. You can use games, self-test and bilingual reading to improve your English. In a word, the only way to learn English is to be brave in practice and persevere.
The information age has arrived, and college students' information science and information technology literacy has become one of the necessary foundations for them to step into society. Although not every college student needs to know computer principles and programming knowledge, all college students should be proficient.