Students prefer the elective courses of art appreciation
The prizes given to students by the teacher
Flower arrangement course works
Flower arrangement course works
At the beginning of September, universities gradually got on the right track, and how the new semester is opened is often closely related to whether they chose the favorite elective courses in the last semester. Beijing Youth Daily reporters found that from Harry Potter Science, Detective Conan and Chemistry Discovery to Tree Climbing Classes, Motorcycle Driving Classes, to Hot Pot Classes, and Wine Tasting Classes... In recent years, colleges and universities have continued to become popular and followed by a "war" of class grabbing classes that are staged every semester. Those highly popular elective classes are often "hard to find a lesson". Why are elective courses in colleges and universities so popular among students? What are the gains after the class? Beijing Youth Daily reporter interviewed students from 7 universities and followed them to find out.
More than a thousand people compete for
. Two or three hundred places.
. You can play with your mobile phone in class, and get points for the final exam... In the past, the "skip" elective courses that meet the above three points were almost regarded as "rest classes" by students, and some even think that such classes are "can be taken or not". In the past two years, the situation has changed drastically, elective courses have become interesting quietly, and the scene of grabbing classes has become really intense.
mentioned the "Analysis of International Relations" by Teacher Yan Xuetong , and almost everyone knows it. It can be said that this is the most popular public selection course in Tsinghua. When the course selection system is open every semester, the number of people who choose this course far exceeds the actual course capacity. In the eyes of others, the students who choose it in one fell swoop are simply "European Emperor". The same is true for the elective course "Western Music Appreciation" of Peking University . The quota for classes is two or three hundred, and the course selection system shows that more than a thousand people competed during the pre-select.
Xiao Jian (pseudonym) is the name of Peking University . Each person has 99 willing points per semester. Students must randomly assign these willing points to all the courses they want to choose. The more willing points the course they want, the more chance of choosing, Xiao Jian invested all 99 willing points into "Western Music Appreciation" at that time, and then he chose it as he wished.
Zhang Yunnan from Xi'an Jiaotong University is a science student. Out of a fanatical interest in art, he chose a very popular art elective course - "Introduction to Art". Unexpectedly, the students who took this course are basically science students, and students who did not choose the course often come to take the course for a special trip. The "Appreciation of Flower Arrangement Art" class at Zhejiang University of Science and Technology is so popular that it attracts teachers in the office next to the teacher to the classroom.
Teaching style Course content
are all "plus points" items for elective courses
"Teacher Yan is very charming, funny and very friendly. He will specially prepare some interesting jokes or stories to tell everyone, which often makes everyone laugh." Qu Wenkai commented on the teacher of the elective course "International Relations Analysis" in this way. How good is Teacher Yan’s lecture? When taking elective courses, Qu Wenkai usually does not choose a more conspicuous position, but occasionally sits in the corner and can "touch the fish". However, in Teacher Yan's class, he kept rushing to sit in the middle of the front.
Wu Siting is from Sichuan Foreign Languages University English Language and Literature major. Before, she never thought she could sing with the teacher in an elective class. The course is called "Visual Culture Research", which mainly studies the history and theory of art development such as painting, photography, and film. The teacher Duan is a gentleman and elegant man. In order to relax the students and immerse themselves in their works of art, he often sings songs during the lecture and invites everyone to sing together. She remembered that when explaining the painting of Van Gogh's , Teacher Duan recited the guitar and sang the particularly classic "vincent". When singing the chorus part, everyone couldn't help but get along.
In addition to singing in class, Teacher Duan’s unique teaching style is also reflected in the organization of photography, singing and painting competitions in the class from time to time.After the game, an award ceremony was also set up. The prizes given to the students were books bought by Teacher Duan himself. On the title page, he wrote: "When words fail, music spokes." (When words fail, music spokes." (When words cannot be expressed, the concert will lead you). The content of the course and the atmosphere of the
also determine whether an elective course can be sought after by students. Like Peking University, the elective courses of South China Agricultural University are also "investment points". Each person has 100 points per semester and can vote for the courses they want to take at will, and most people will vote for all 100 points to "Health Fruits and Vegetables".
In the elective course "Introduction to Art" of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Zhang Yunnan was surprised to find that Teacher Li Li had unique insights into many things and the teaching content was rich and diverse, from historical interesting stories such as "Digging more than 1,300 tombs in Xi'an", to literary stories such as "Haizi Writing the Sun is To Write an Epic", and then to musical knowledge such as "Shakespeare's Four Tragedies", this course made him understand that "the world of literature and art studies is so great."
elective courses bring "unexpected joy" to students
According to the "2022 National College Student Elective Courses Survey Report" released in March this year, college students have the highest preference for art elective courses, accounting for 48.3%. Among freshmen, the proportion of elective courses they are interested in is the highest, and among sophomore to seniors, elective courses that are highly entertaining and leisure-oriented are the most attractive to them. In this regard, some people question that college time is precious and we should learn more hard skills and professional knowledge instead of wasting time on "fancy" elective courses. Is this really the case? A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily found that elective courses not only help students develop their personality, but sometimes, elective courses will also bring them "unexpected joy". After the end of
, Zhang Yunnan was deeply touched. He felt that Teacher Li's "Introduction to Art" not only gave him a strange journey to poetry and fantasy, but also made him, a somewhat straightforward and restrained science student, begin to have some romantic feelings, learn to open up and express himself.
In the view of Qu Wenkai of , Tsinghua University , the course "International Relations Analysis" can be said to be the course that has changed the most since he went to college. Many phenomena in international relations can be directly reflected in daily life. For example, there are many similarities between games between countries and interactions between people, which prompts him to reflect on his way of doing things. In the past, his considerations were more simple and self-centered, but now, he has gradually learned to think about problems from the perspective of others and pay more attention to communication and communication with others.
Shoushou (pseudonym) of Zhejiang University of Science and Technology also shared the romantic details of her elective course "Appreciation of Flower Arrangement Art". In class, students will bring their own flower materials to arrange flowers. After class, everyone can also give these flower arrangement works to others. "The flower gift box I made was given to the yoga teacher, the flower mud flower plate was given to the roommate, and the flower bouquet was given to the university teacher whose wedding date was in November." Shoushou said that this may be the most intuitive manifestation of success in learning.
In addition, the popular elective course "The Art of Love" at Beijing Foreign Studies University is also very special. This course is taught by three teachers from different subject backgrounds. From the perspectives of film, sociology, and drama (drama), it leads students to think deeply about many issues such as love, self, others, gender, desire, and intimacy. There are also many forms of assessment. You can choose to make sociology reports, classroom presentations, or make micro-films by yourself.
student Xiao Wang directed a 5-minute short film at the end of the period, discussing the relationship between "understanding" and "love". Xiao Wang did not expect that his film responded well after being screened in class. The teacher commented that the film was "absurd and skillfully used various artistic languages and expressions", and even called it a "real movie" and encouraged her to vote for the Youth Film Festival. "If other classes are 'sixpence', this lesson is 'moon'." Xiao Wang said that in this class, you can show your personality and talents beyond "the talent that the world claims to be."
Dialogue
Elective courses "weird" is a good thing
Why set up diversified elective courses in universities? What is the significance of elective courses? A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily had a conversation with Mr. Wu Rui, associate professor at the School of International Education of Beijing Foreign Studies University (one of the three teachers of the elective course "The Art of Love".)
Beijing Youth Daily: What is the opportunity for you and two other teachers to develop the elective course "The Art of Love"?
Teacher Wu: The epidemic in early 2020 actually blocked the offline meeting opportunities for many people. Blind dates and marriage introduction activities were cancelled on a large scale, and marriage relationships entered a stage of virtualized online communication. At that time, I discussed this topic with two other teachers and came up with the idea of jointly offering a course. In addition, in 2020, the Ministry of Education happened to have a document to encourage and guide colleges and universities to offer courses related to marriage and love education, so we decided to offer this course. Now is the fourth semester of this course, with about 80 to 90 students choosing courses, which is very popular on campus.
Beijing Youth Daily: Is the classroom effect the same as you expected?
Teacher Wu: The classroom effect is as good as we expected, because we have many ways of assessment, such as guiding students to make movies or documentaries, doing social surveys, and performing scripts... During this period, I found that students have many wonderful ideas, and can often grasp some phenomena that I have not even noticed at the moment. In a sense, it is precisely the students who help our teachers open up their ideas and let us see that there are still many areas that need attention...
Beijing Youth Daily: In your opinion, what is the reason why soft elective courses such as love, literature, and film and television are popular among students?
Teacher Wu: Courses in art, love, literature, and film are very popular, mainly because these courses are in line with the leisure and entertainment methods and daily consumption culture of contemporary young people to a certain extent, such as watching movies, watching TV shows, and reading online novels. But at the same time, we must be vigilant about this. Opening such courses is not simply to let students watch movies and dramas to cater to and satisfy students' tastes, but to return to the general elective courses themselves. The main purpose of general elective courses is to lead everyone to classics, explore classic topics, conduct polyamorous teaching, and cultivate students' general abilities. For example, in the course "The Art of Love", we will guide everyone to read theories and literary criticisms related to love, and conduct conceptual and frame-based critical thinking, rather than simple slogan-style and sentimental discussions such as online literature and consumer popular literature.
Beijing Youth Daily: What do you think is the significance of opening elective courses with some "quirky" names in universities?
Teacher Wu: Elective courses are courses for students to take selectively outside the training program, and they should be diversified and diversified. Why can elective courses be diversified? Because each teacher’s research directions and hobbies are diverse, this is exactly what needs to be combined in the opening of elective courses. In this sense, the "weird" of elective courses is a normal and positive phenomenon. Unlike the regular compulsory courses in the training plan, the elective courses give a more free space where students can access the freshest, most innovative and open knowledge and thinking. It is precisely because of this difference that the meaning of the elective courses is achieved.
This edition text/Reporter Wang Jingyi
(Beijing Youth Daily)
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