A new school year is beginning and the COVID-19 situation remains serious in many countries — Taiwan is lucky that its students and staff can return to school. After the frustration of not being able to study normally, students will surely value the opportunity of returning to school so that they can stop squandering their youth.
Over the past few years, universities have shifted from simply being ivory towers of academic knowledge to cooperating with industry. Having gradually broken down departmental barriers, they stress adaptive, student-oriented education, and encourage students to explore studies across domains, learn from experiences outside school and develop their own unique skillsets.
Students need to do more than absorb the knowledge and skills of an individual department.
They must abandon the mistaken idea that general education classes are simply a way to pad their credit total, and instead make a deliberate effort to explore various academic fields and use that fundamental knowledge to nurture cross-domain understanding.
General education classes often include basic Chinese and English requirements that are easily overlooked by students.
A student who understands expert knowledge, but does not know how to express their ideas in an article, might fill their writing with misused expressions and faulty logic. A student who cannot communicate an understanding of their own society to foreign students places a limit on human development.
Evolving scholarship and technological advancement causes new knowledge to quickly age, but people capable of combining ideas and skills across the domains of general education can use the new ideas to establish their own niche in their chosen career.
Students find themselves in a difficult environment, but those who are lucky enough to be studying at university should make an effort to listen to what other people have to say.
They should be capable of “resetting” themselves: Rather than being quick to point out what they know, they should be aware of what is new to them and reflect on that. Like sponges, they should absorb more knowledge, extracting views and opinions from this ongoing dialogue that are practical and applicable.
Practicing this approach requires students to constantly explore and discuss issues with teachers and fellow students. It also requires the willingness to apply what is learned in daily life so that its effectiveness and usefulness is readily apparent.
University students should contribute their knowledge and skills to society by frequently participating in community service organized by their schools, whether helping children in remote areas catch up on their studies or teaching seniors how to use digital tools.
Students can also serve in social welfare organizations and special education schools, or work with people with special needs.
All of these activities will help students discover the richness of the social resources that they have been given, and it will give them a sense of social responsibility and show them what to do to pay it back.
Chen Fu is a professor at National Dong Hwa University and director of the university’s General Education Center.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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