one less year of study! many universities have officially announced the shortening of the academic system. what signal does it reveal?
2024-10-01
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huasheng online all-media reporter liu jiaxuan correspondent yu jingyi
recently, many universities have intensively announced the results of the adjustment of undergraduate majors in 2024. according to incomplete statistics, more than 10 universities currently plan to shorten the length of study for architecture-related majors such as architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning from 5 years to 4 years.
what signals are revealed behind the shortening of the schooling system? the reporter conducted the interview.
in order to adapt to market changes, architectural majors have shortened their academic duration.
this batch of majors with shortened academic periods are concentrated in architecture majors. according to the "application for adjusting the academic system of landscape architecture major in 2024" released by kunming university of science and technology, the landscape architecture major in more than 20 universities has a four-year academic system. among universities in hunan province, the landscape architecture major of changsha university of science and technology and the architecture major of hunan university of science and technology are both planned to be changed from 5-year to 4-year programs.
in the past, the academic system of architecture majors was relatively long, mainly due to two aspects.
on the one hand, in order to integrate with international standards, in 2008, the architectural professional education assessment and certification agencies of china, the united states, canada and other countries jointly signed the canberra architectural education agreement, which stipulates that only five years of professional education can be completed to achieve international mutual recognition.
on the other hand, since architecture majors cover many fields such as science, engineering, liberal arts, and art, the knowledge system is extensive and learning is difficult. its basic teaching content and training objectives require a longer learning cycle.
however, affected by various factors such as the downturn in the real estate industry in recent years, traditional civil engineering majors are in a dilemma. facing the competitive pressure of employment, shortening the schooling period and graduating early has become a coping strategy.
"if you graduate early and find employment early, you can accumulate practical project experience as early as possible." li ziqing joined hunan construction investment group after graduating from the construction major. she believes that the construction engineering industry needs to rely on projects to accumulate experience, and a long academic system is not conducive to the cultivation of professional talents. entering the workplace early means being exposed to actual projects earlier, thereby gaining a head start in your career.
in addition, the high cost of study time can also cause anxiety among students.
"if it takes five years to study for an undergraduate degree and three years for a master's degree, and it takes eight years to get a master's degree to get a job, the time cost for the students is too high." professor zhou chen, deputy dean of the school of architecture at changsha university of science and technology, believes that architecture-related majors the undergraduate system is shortened to four years, which effectively shortens the time cost for students to receive undergraduate education, which is conducive to alleviating students' employment pressure and increasing their enthusiasm for further studies.
xiong bingqi, director of the 21st century education research institute, believes that the most important issue in my country's education is not the academic system, but how to ensure the quality of talent training based on the current academic system. "in other words, because the quality of talents has not been effectively guaranteed, and there is no close positive correlation between the number of years of education and the quality of talents, there have been calls from society to shorten the academic system. since studying for two more years has not improved students' abilities, why why not shorten the schooling system and allow students to enter school and graduate early to find employment?”
to speed up education, we must also “improve quality”
in march this year, the ministry of education announced the registration and approval results of undergraduate majors in general colleges and universities in 2023. the addition, cancellation, and adjustment of undergraduate majors involved a total of 3,389 majors, which is the largest in history.
the reform of the academic system affects the whole body, involving adjustments in many aspects such as curriculum design, curriculum standards, textbook preparation, and knowledge system construction.
how to shorten the academic system while ensuring the quality of teaching and talent training? universities in hunan province are taking active actions to find an optimal balance point.
zhou chen believes that after the academic system is shortened, through a more compact and efficient teaching model, it is still possible to cultivate compound talents with both a solid theoretical foundation and strong practical abilities.
"for example, in professional practice, our landscape architecture students need to conduct extensive field trips to rivers, forests and other landscapes. in the past, the outing internship for a single course would last a week; but now, we plan to combine two courses in the same semester. the internship of the course is integrated into a total of 10 days, instead of the previous 14 days. this way, the four days saved can be spent on teaching practice. "zhou chen said that the school's landscape architecture major plans to introduce online courses and projects. new teaching methods such as form-based learning can effectively improve teaching efficiency and quality by reasonably optimizing curriculum settings and teaching methods.
zhou ji, dean of the school of civil and environmental engineering at hunan university of science and technology, believes that in the process of shortening the academic system, more attention should be paid to the rationality of course design and the effectiveness of practical teaching. the school’s department of architecture has comprehensively adjusted and optimized the teaching plan, course content and teaching methods in accordance with the requirements of new engineering construction and professional evaluation, integrating digital protection of traditional buildings, intelligent mapping and monitoring of masonry cultural relics, and building information modeling technology. cutting-edge technologies such as digital twin technology and digital twin technology are integrated into teaching content to enhance students' technological innovation capabilities and market adaptability, and stimulate students' subjective initiative.
however, many students interviewed believe that from an employment perspective, there is not much difference between a five-year undergraduate program and a four-year undergraduate program.
he lingyun, a graduate student majoring in bridge and tunnel engineering at hunan university, recently participated in job fairs for various civil engineering positions. during the job search process, he observed that the key factors that really affect the competitiveness of job search are the students' comprehensive quality, personal ability, and the reputation and level of the graduating institution, while the small differences in academic system are relatively minor.
in order to adapt to professional characteristics, industry trends and student needs, undergraduate education in architecture majors is "speeding up". but no matter how the academic system changes, its final destination should be student-centered high-quality undergraduate education, teaching and talent cultivation. therefore, how to ensure the quality of talent training while shortening the academic system has become an important issue faced by colleges and universities.
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