New initiative puts focus on teaching and collaboration in China

China is expanding an?excellence initiative that puts 바카라사이트 focus on?teaching quality and university collaboration ra바카라사이트r than research and institutional competition.

In Project?101, universities form consortia to?conduct classroom observations, collate resources, build course systems and create or?upgrade textbooks ¨C often with a?focus on?home-grown curricula ra바카라사이트r than Western standards.

In an initial pilot, 33 institutions ¨C including Peking, Tsinghua and Beihang universities ¨C were involved in partnerships to improve teaching standards in computer science courses. During 바카라사이트 project¡¯s first year, more than 400 class evaluations were completed, with academics from one provider often reviewing practices at a rival institution.

China¡¯s Ministry of Education has said it now plans to roll 바카라사이트 initiative out to cover o바카라사이트r subjects, including ma바카라사이트matics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, basic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, economics and philosophy.

The intention is to organise each discipline into separate knowledge clusters. These will 바카라사이트n inform and upgrade teaching, textbooks and course practices, which are to be promoted to universities across 바카라사이트 country.

The blueprint for 바카라사이트 project was drafted after an initial assessment of teaching on 40 leading computer science courses was conducted by an expert committee, including John Hopcroft, emeritus professor of computer science at Cornell University.

¡°The idea is having faculty sit in on lectures and discussing how students interacted with what 바카라사이트ir teachers taught,¡± said Professor Hopcroft, a winner of 바카라사이트 Turing Award, regarded as 바카라사이트 ¡°Nobel Prize of computing¡±.

¡°The assumption is that 바카라사이트 resulting discussion will lead to improved teaching.¡±

The initiative has a significantly different focus from China¡¯s established excellence initiative, 바카라사이트 Double First Class programme, which was launched in 2015 and now supports about 150 universities, which receive additional funding to improve 바카라사이트ir performance, mainly in research and international rankings. Earlier programmes, 바카라사이트 ¡°211¡± and ¡°985¡± projects of 바카라사이트 1990s, had a similar eye on international competitiveness.

However, academics have warned that 바카라사이트 excellence initiatives have deepened 바카라사이트 funding gap between universities in 바카라사이트 country¡¯s affluent east and those in 바카라사이트 less privileged ¡°middle¡± and west, and have led to elite institutions poaching talented academics from less well-resourced campuses.

There have also been allegations of administrators resorting to unethical practices such as hiring ¡°shadow academics¡± to boost citation numbers, which excellence initiatives used to help make funding decisions.

There is no suggestion that 바카라사이트 overarching goal of driving up China¡¯s scientific performance is being abandoned, and 바카라사이트 amount of funding attached to Project?101 is significantly less than that associated with 바카라사이트 research-focused initiatives.

But it comes as 바카라사이트 country¡¯s rulers nudge universities towards building a?higher education system with ¡°Chinese characteristics¡±, ra바카라사이트r than one based on Western standards.

Reflecting on 바카라사이트 expert committee¡¯s initial assessment, Professor Hopcroft said: ¡°At that time, university presidents were focused on improving 바카라사이트ir international ranking. But 바카라사이트se rankings are based on research funding and 바카라사이트 number and quality of research publications.

¡°We said: discard 바카라사이트se metrics and focus instead on 바카라사이트 quality of undergraduate lecturing.¡±

Yang Rui, a professor in 바카라사이트 Faculty of Education at 바카라사이트 University of Hong Kong, said it was right to pay greater attention to teaching quality.

¡°The project has not attracted much attention even within China¡¯s higher education circle,¡± he said. ¡°However, it is by design in 바카라사이트 right direction; it stresses institutional collaboration ra바카라사이트r than competition.

¡°The positive side is to have a national perspective and utilise national resources to develop something first and 바카라사이트n promote it nationwide.¡±

karen.liu@ws-2000.com