Issue50 【LOVEAW小组】第七次作业

katrinajjUID: 2242021

字数太少,好多都没有论证充分~~
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."

It has been a received and uncontroversial opinion that colleges and universities should provide necessary knowledge and skills for individuals to enter professional careers. The author concludes that to better strengthen the quality of instruction, all faculty should work in professions relevant to the course they teacher for some time. While I agree that to some area, extracting working experience outside academic area is of importance to further research and teaching, yet I think that suggesting all faculty to take part in outside work is unrealistic and unnecessary.

Firstly, I admit in some areas relevant to daily use, working outside are beneficial to improve the quality of instruction. Working outside can help these teachers understand how to better interpret the dull knowledge to students and know the major difference of research directions in industrial world and academic world. By mastering these information, when they come back to school, they may modify their teaching methods and contents to better guide students. For example, some new technologies, ask for many proper training people with ability while eliminate many low-skilled jobs. Many skills, which were thought to be of importance in the past, now became out-of-date. Only by mastering the latest skills needed in these technology areas now, can these students become more competitive in job market. When teachers come back from the work, the fresh ideas brought into teaching must make good effect.

On the other hand, to some area, especially in the realm of science, working outside the academic world will do little help to their academic ability. To illustrate, here is a case in point that is very compelling. Astronomy, which needs precise calculation and observation, has no connection with outside work. To this kind of subject, the teachers should concentrate their attention on the research and instruction work in school.  Any useless work only could distract their attention, waste their time, not to mention the instruction quality. In my view, instructing the students familiar with the research methods and providing them the basic professional knowledge may contribute to the instruction quality in school.

Finally, some teachers would not content with the compulsory working in professions outside academic world would. As we all know, in colleges and universities, some teachers major in the research about the latest theory, and some more emphasize the ability that apply the theory to practice. For the first kind of teacher, they care little about how to put the theory into practice, compulsory working would easy make them malcontent with the colleges and universities. Once they can not bear the work, they may choose to leave the college to another. It must be a great loss to the college. If the scientific research in one college drops behind other, the reputation and influence of the college in the society must be affected. Undoubtedly, without good teachers, the quality of instruction must be doubted.

In sum, from my point of view, I do not approve the idea to compel all faculty to contact with the professions relevant to the courses they teach outside the academic world. It depends on whether the course has close relation to practice.

[ 本帖最后由 katrinajj 于 2007-2-21 10:28 编辑 ]