Q&A
In this Quantum Mechanics class, the teacher talked about the Quantum Mechanics theory of superconductivity. He kept lecturing and spoke very fast.
Some students looked completely bewildered, while others understood or partially understood.
A diligent and inquisitive student asked in class, "Teacher, why is the trapping magnetic flux always an integer multiple of 2π/q? Teacher, could you explain the Schrödinger Equation in the classical case again?"
The teacher immediately provided an answer, but his explanation did not completely dispel the student's doubts.
Some students pretended to know what they didn't, while others persisted in asking questions until they got to the bottom of it.
"Actually, it's all written in the textbook. You can study this problem in depth after class. Time is limited, so let's move on to the next part of the lesson." The physics teacher seemed to be in a hurry; he would only answer any question once, never a second time.
The bell rang, and the physics teacher used Flash, disappearing in an instant.
The honest students stayed in the classroom to study on their own and digest the important knowledge points.
One playful student complained, "This class was a complete waste of time," and then left the classroom in twos and threes to find some fun.
Over the next few days, Shen Qi attended several physics lectures, toured various corners of the campus, and made unannounced visits to several surrounding universities, summarizing several key issues and providing feedback to Academician Shi:
1. The teacher is rigorous and conscientious in teaching, but the student attendance rate is low, especially for "Mathematical Physics Methods", where the attendance rate is only 17.3%. The reason for this is that there is little interaction between the teacher and students. If the course is taught by simply reading from the textbook, students will eventually lose their enthusiasm for learning.
2. When students encounter problems they don't understand, they don't know who to ask, and teachers have virtually no contact with students after class.
3. Our college subscribes to internationally renowned physics journals such as PRL and PT, but undergraduate students do not have access to these journals; only graduate and doctoral students have the opportunity to read them.
4. I secretly interviewed several senior students in the Physics Department, and they said their graduation thesis designs were very shoddy. They said it didn't matter, since their advisors said that as long as they wrote the thesis according to the standard format, they would definitely graduate. This makes me worried.
5. In terms of scientific research, we did not delve into the various project groups and laboratories. Through a search of papers, we found that our institute published hundreds of physics papers last year, but the homogeneity of these papers was serious, and it was common for papers to be written simply to complete assignments.
6. Students have complained that the food in our school cafeteria is terrible and expensive. In an attempt to improve their meals, a male physics major illegally connected wires to install high-power electrical appliances in his dormitory room and used them to cook pork, chicken, beef tendon balls, and other foods, nearly causing a fire and posing a significant safety hazard.
After reviewing Shen Qi's summary of the problems, Academician Shi appeared grave. "Shen Qi, you've hit the nail on the head regarding our common problems. We've been trying to improve points 1 and 2, requiring teachers to strengthen interaction and communication with students and to emphasize the 'answering questions' process, but the results haven't been ideal. Just as you said, students encounter difficult problems after class and don't know who to ask for help. Some teachers disappear after class; not only can't students find them, but even I can't find them."
Shen Qi said, "I think our college and university's emphasis on undergraduate education ranks relatively low in the entire university town. The best are Southern Normal University and Sun Yat-sen University. Only when the undergraduate education level is high can a university truly deserve the title of a prestigious university. Why is Princeton so strong? Their undergraduate level is equivalent to that of graduate students in most American universities, which is closely related to the resources and emphasis the university invests in undergraduate education."
"Shen Qi, do you have any specific suggestions?" Academician Shi asked.
Shen Qi offered a suggestion. "The undergraduate tutoring system like Princeton's is not something that can be implemented overnight in Chinese universities. Take, for example, our neighboring Southern Normal University. Their instructors have a fixed Q&A session every week and actively create WeChat groups with students, which has been highly praised. In undergraduate teaching, we can learn from Southern Normal University's successful experience and add a provision that student evaluations of instructors are included in teachers' annual performance appraisals."
Academician Shi immediately approved the suggestion. "I fully accept this suggestion and will implement it in the School of Physics first. As for issues such as opening up subscription access to professional journals to undergraduates, the low quality of papers by our researchers, and the perfunctory nature of undergraduate graduation projects, these will also be addressed later, which will take some time."
"Regarding the issue of the unpalatable food and high prices in our school cafeteria, I will truthfully report the situation to the Vice Principal in charge of logistics... To be honest, this cafeteria contractor is indeed doing a terrible job, much worse than the one last year. I bought a bowl of pickled vegetable and pork bone porridge, and it was all pickled vegetables, no pork bones at all." It seems that Academician Shi has also eaten in the cafeteria, and he also complained that the newly signed cafeteria contractor only cares about making money and doesn't care about conscience.
This kind of common problem has existed for a long time, and it's not something that can be easily solved in any university.
It was Shen Qi's fame that led to the collaboration between Academician Shi, who was also interested in reform. The two quickly reached an agreement: to err is human, to forgive divine.
As a specially appointed professor at the School of Physics of Nangang University of Technology, Shen Qi volunteered to take the lead and personally presided over the study room, answering questions from all undergraduate students of the School of Physics across the entire field of physics.
Academician Shi thanked Shen Qi for his kindness. Shen Qi had set a good example; which other professor or lecturer in the Physics Department would dare to disobey?
The news spread quickly at Nangang University of Technology.
"Fields Medal laureate Shen Qi is on-site at the Physics Department, answering students' questions!"
"Why is the Fields Medal winner at the Physics Institute?"
"Shen Qi is a specially appointed professor in our Physics Department."
"He also understands physics?"
"He's a big shot who's published physics papers in PRL and Science!"
"Wow, a dual cultivation master! Let's go, let's go pay our respects to the master!"
The students of the Physics Department spread the word that the study rooms were packed on the first day of Shen Qi's Q&A session.
Because so many students came to seek his guidance, Academician Shi specially arranged for a teaching assistant to assist Shen Qi.
The teaching assistant collected the students' questions, sorted them, and answered the most frequently asked and most difficult questions first.
The students were enthusiastic, raising hundreds of questions within just one hour. After being sorted by the teaching assistants, these questions were categorized into ten common questions and two special questions, covering almost all the core courses for undergraduate physics majors, including classical mechanics, Quantum Mechanics, electrodynamics, optics, thermodynamics, and Mathematical Physics Methods.
"Okay, everyone, please be quiet for a moment. I will now answer your questions one by one." Shen Qi that it wasn't that the college students didn't like to study or weren't good at thinking; they were all good students with a strong desire to learn. What they lacked was an academic atmosphere where everyone participated.
"The number one problem is the solution to the Schrödinger Equation. Okay, let's start with the Schrödinger Equation."