lanxiyuting
Mar 28, 2011
Grammar, Usage / Faculty outside the academic world in professions relevant to the courses they teach? [2]
50、In order to improve the quality of instruction at the college and university level, all faculty should be required to spend time working outside the academic world in professions relevant to the courses they teach
hi，now I am prepared GRE Issue. The following is what i have written, please give some revision suggestions,thanks!
That whether the teachers should be required to spend time working outside the academic world in professions relevant to the courses they teach hinges on the academic fields in which the teachers are engaged. For some field, like history, mathematics, archeology, etc, which are more theoretical, it is unlikely that the teachers engage in activities outside the academic world. For other fields, like the engineering, it is completely necessary for the teachers to participate some engineering practice.
As we know, historians study the history which tells the stories in the past. What the historians should do is to find out the development law of the countries and the society, who plays the most important role in the long river of the history, etc. As a teacher teaching students history, it is possibly that stimulating the interest of the students to history is their major task, which is done mostly in class. Most of the knowledge that the historians know come from the books, the papers, and the magazines, etc. Maybe, in the process of research, it is sometimes necessary for them to go out to investigate the ordinary people about something that cannot be found in the books; yet, the investigation is within the academic field.
For the engineering field, it is significantly necessary for the teachers to join practical activities as well as doing academic research. To begin with, engineering fields, like the construction industry, are practical compared with history, art, and so forth. If the teachers have no experience in the practice, then they may be confused sometimes in that theory differs from practice considerably. Possibly, the knowledge in the book cannot be applied directly, we have to optimize it in action. Secondly, theories come from the practice. For example, in the construction of the Shanghai Hongqiao Integrated Hub, the biggest transportation hub in the world, some new techniques and theories both in the hard and soft aspects are created. Hard here means the techniques concerning with the operating, e.g. the parallel and cross work of different projects. Soft here reflects the program management thoughts used in the mega construction programs. As a matter of fact, China has formed its unique mode of the program management in the development of the mega projects. In addition, from the perspective of teaching, practical cases in the class will make the students more interested in the course, which is also my own experience.
However, we have to concede that many teachers in China have paid most of their attention to participating practice for money and ignore their chief role as a teacher to impart the students, which is really disappointing. Take my university as an example, most professors have their own companies, and the students of those professors have to work there, sometimes working at weekends, though with little payment. In this regard, the teachers have become "boss" rather than teachers, while the students have become the employees who are cheap labor force. Here, we advocate that the teachers spend more time and energy to cultivate the students.
Finally, we should consider the willingness of the teachers to spend more time engaging the activities outside the academy, because, to some extent, they are free to do anything they like outside the classes.
In sum, whether the teachers should be required to work outside the academic field depends on the field the teachers are.
50、In order to improve the quality of instruction at the college and university level, all faculty should be required to spend time working outside the academic world in professions relevant to the courses they teach
hi，now I am prepared GRE Issue. The following is what i have written, please give some revision suggestions,thanks!
That whether the teachers should be required to spend time working outside the academic world in professions relevant to the courses they teach hinges on the academic fields in which the teachers are engaged. For some field, like history, mathematics, archeology, etc, which are more theoretical, it is unlikely that the teachers engage in activities outside the academic world. For other fields, like the engineering, it is completely necessary for the teachers to participate some engineering practice.
As we know, historians study the history which tells the stories in the past. What the historians should do is to find out the development law of the countries and the society, who plays the most important role in the long river of the history, etc. As a teacher teaching students history, it is possibly that stimulating the interest of the students to history is their major task, which is done mostly in class. Most of the knowledge that the historians know come from the books, the papers, and the magazines, etc. Maybe, in the process of research, it is sometimes necessary for them to go out to investigate the ordinary people about something that cannot be found in the books; yet, the investigation is within the academic field.
For the engineering field, it is significantly necessary for the teachers to join practical activities as well as doing academic research. To begin with, engineering fields, like the construction industry, are practical compared with history, art, and so forth. If the teachers have no experience in the practice, then they may be confused sometimes in that theory differs from practice considerably. Possibly, the knowledge in the book cannot be applied directly, we have to optimize it in action. Secondly, theories come from the practice. For example, in the construction of the Shanghai Hongqiao Integrated Hub, the biggest transportation hub in the world, some new techniques and theories both in the hard and soft aspects are created. Hard here means the techniques concerning with the operating, e.g. the parallel and cross work of different projects. Soft here reflects the program management thoughts used in the mega construction programs. As a matter of fact, China has formed its unique mode of the program management in the development of the mega projects. In addition, from the perspective of teaching, practical cases in the class will make the students more interested in the course, which is also my own experience.
However, we have to concede that many teachers in China have paid most of their attention to participating practice for money and ignore their chief role as a teacher to impart the students, which is really disappointing. Take my university as an example, most professors have their own companies, and the students of those professors have to work there, sometimes working at weekends, though with little payment. In this regard, the teachers have become "boss" rather than teachers, while the students have become the employees who are cheap labor force. Here, we advocate that the teachers spend more time and energy to cultivate the students.
Finally, we should consider the willingness of the teachers to spend more time engaging the activities outside the academy, because, to some extent, they are free to do anything they like outside the classes.
In sum, whether the teachers should be required to work outside the academic field depends on the field the teachers are.