University is a critical stage in life. This is because this is your last chance to receive a systematic education in your life. This is the last time you devote yourself to building your own knowledge base. This may be the last stage in your life where you can spend a lot of time studying, or it may be the last stage where you can have high plasticity and concentrate on enriching yourself. This may be the last time you learn how to be a man in a relatively tolerant and ideal environment.
University is a critical stage in life. At this stage, all college students should seriously grasp every "first time" and make it the cornerstone of their future life; At this stage, all college students should cherish every "last time" and don't let themselves regret it in the near future. After four years of college, everyone should try to weave their own dreams of life, make clear the direction of struggle and lay a good foundation for their career.
Four years of college is only once for everyone, and four years of college should be spent like this. ...
The way of self-study: from reasoning to self-teaching.
I remember when I was a teaching assistant at Columbia University, the parents of a China student complained to me, "What exactly do you teach in your university? My child has finished his sophomore computer department, and he can't even use VisiCalc[ 1]. "
I replied at that time: "The development of computers is changing with each passing day. We can't guarantee that any technology taught in universities will still be useful after five years, nor can we guarantee that students can learn every technology and tool. What we can guarantee is that your child will learn to think and master learning methods, so that no matter what new technologies and new tools appear in five years, your child will be able to do it with ease. "
She then asked, "Learning the latest software is not education, so what is the essence of education?"
I replied, "If we forget everything we have learned, what remains is the essence of education.
What I said at that time came from the famous words of educator B.F. Skinner. The so-called "leftovers" are actually the ability of self-study, that is, the ability to draw inferences from others or learn from others. University is not a vocational training course, but a platform for students to adapt to society and different jobs. During college, it is important to learn professional knowledge, but it is more important to learn the method of independent thinking and cultivate the ability to draw inferences from others. Only in this way can college graduates adapt to the rapidly changing future world. I know many friends who came to the United States for graduate studies after finishing college in China. They think that after coming to the United States, whether they study, work or live, what they lack most is the ability to think independently, because they seldom think and make decisions independently at home.
When I was in middle school, my teacher would repeat the key points of each lesson over and over again. However, after entering the university, teachers will only play a guiding role, and students must study, explore and practice independently. After going to work, self-study ability becomes more important. Microsoft has made a statistic: only about 10% of the knowledge that every Microsoft employee has mastered is accumulated by employees in their past study and work, and all other knowledge is re-learned after joining Microsoft. This data fully shows that it is difficult for a person who lacks self-study ability to stand in a modern enterprise like Microsoft.
Self-study ability must be cultivated during college. Many students always complain that teachers don't teach well, don't know much, and the school curriculum is unreasonable. I usually advise these students to say, "It is better to light candles than to curse the darkness". College students should not just follow the footsteps of teachers, but take the initiative to walk in front of them. For example, a class of university teachers usually covers dozens of pages of information in textbooks, and it is impossible to learn all the knowledge by attending classes. The best way to learn is to make clear the relevant problems in the textbook before the teacher gives a lecture, and then make up for the lack of understanding and understanding by comparing the teacher's explanations in class.
Middle school students are more in pursuit of "remembering" knowledge when learning knowledge, while college students should ask themselves to "understand" knowledge and be good at asking questions. Ask more "why" for every knowledge point. Once you really know the ins and outs of a theory or method, you can learn other knowledge by analogy, solve other problems, and even reach the realm of self-study.
In fact, many problems have different ideas or angles. When learning knowledge or solving problems, don't always stick to a mode of thinking, and don't make yourself a slave to textbooks or experience. Only when students dare to innovate and be good at thinking from a new angle can they really stimulate their potential thinking ability, creativity and learning ability.
The Book of Rites says: "Learning alone without friends is ignorance". In other words, college students should make full use of the talent resources in the school and absorb knowledge and methods from various channels. If you meet a good teacher, you can take the initiative to ask them for advice or ask them to recommend some extracurricular reference books. Besides senior professors, young teachers, doctoral students, master students and even their classmates in universities are the best sources of knowledge and learning partners. Everyone's understanding and understanding of the problem is different. Only by helping each other and learning from each other can we make progress together.
A student once told me that I was envious of having a Turing Prize master to teach when I was studying. In fact, although I admire my teacher very much, he didn't teach me much professional knowledge during my college years. He just pointed out the general direction for me, let me share his experience, provide me with research resources and teach me how to be a man. He has no time and no need to guide me to learn specific professional knowledge. The professional knowledge I accumulated during my college years was acquired through self-study. At first, I blushed many times and asked my brother the most basic knowledge. I asked a lot of superficial questions at the meeting and took the initiative to discuss and study with my classmates in my spare time. "There must be a teacher in a threesome", and college students are surrounded by mentors and friends. As long as we cherish these rare opportunities, ask questions boldly and learn from each other often, we can learn the most useful knowledge and methods.
College students should make full use of libraries and the Internet, cultivate the ability of autonomous learning and research, and prepare for future work or further study. First of all, in addition to studying the courses prescribed by teachers, college students must learn to consult books and documents in order to get in touch with a wider range of knowledge and research results. For example, when we find a subject we are interested in in in a class, we should actively go to the library to consult relevant literature to understand the ins and outs of this subject and the current research trends. Skilled and full use of library resources is one of the necessary skills for college students, especially those who are interested in scientific research. When reading, read as many original English textbooks as possible. Some original textbooks are simple to compile and have a large number of examples, which are more suitable for self-study than Chinese textbooks. Secondly, in addition to books, the Internet is also a huge resource pool, and college students can use search engines to find all kinds of information online. Since Kaifu Student Network was opened for half a year, I found that many students have not mastered the Internet search skills well, and sometimes they can easily find the answer by simply searching in the search engine. Some students easily believe online rumors, instead of using search engines to check and verify them themselves. Besides search engines, there are many websites and communities on the Internet, which are also good learning fields.
When you teach yourself, don't be complacent just because you have met the requirements of the school. Don't think that doing well in college is enough. 2 1 century, talent has become an international concept. When you are satisfied with your grades, I suggest that you start to study the courses of some world-class universities by yourself. For example, MIT's open classes have been released online for free. You might as well look at MIT's online courses and do MIT's online test questions. When you can master MIT courses freely, you will be more confident to face the challenges of internationalization.
In a word, being good at drawing inferences from others and learning to teach yourself are the best gifts you can give yourself during your four years in college.