On March 23rd, the first day of the fourth session of Fudan University's "Weekend School - Fudan University's Elite High School Preparatory Program," Professor Peng Huisheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor in the Department of Polymer Science, was lecturing on "The Marvels of Polymers" in a classroom in Guanghua Building.
In the audience, Shanghai Experimental School student Lu Yian was listening attentively. She's keen on chemistry, and the fabric display system introduced in the class fascinated her: "In the future, perhaps people won't need to take out their phones to see navigation routes on their clothes. Fabric display systems will undoubtedly bring great convenience to people's lives."
Meanwhile, courses like "Thinking Like an Economist," "Traditional Chinese Legal Culture," and "China and the World in History" were simultaneously taking place in different classrooms. The students enrolled in these courses are all first-year high school students from various schools in Shanghai. They chose their courses based on their interests, aiming to experience the atmosphere of university classes.
Encouraging More Academically Inclined Individuals to Emerge
In recent years, with the improvement of China's overall scientific and technological level and changes in the international situation, the demand for high-end talents in crucial scientific and technological fields has become increasingly urgent. This demand, in turn, poses a series of questions for talent cultivation:
What kind of systematic layout is needed for talent cultivation? What should be done in basic education? What should be done in higher education? What can higher education do for basic education in the process of connection between different stages?
"The fundamental basis for building an education-strong, technology-strong, and talent-strong nation lies in talent cultivation, which is a systematic project," said Lin Wei, director of the Office of Academic Affairs at Fudan University, in an interview with the China Science Daily. "As the 'leader' of the education system, higher education cannot simply close the door and train talents within the 'ivory tower,' which is far from enough."
In years of teaching practice, Fudan's teaching team has found some problems in the education connection between secondary schools and universities. The most critical point is that after students enter university, they do not understand their majors and lack academic interests in related fields.
The "Weekend School" is an exploration and attempt under this background.
In 2021, relying on the 2.0 base of 11 basic disciplines' elite student training plans on campus, Fudan University opened the "Weekend School" for the first time, aiming to provide innovative educational opportunities for Shanghai high school freshmen by offering a series of courses that meet their needs and facilitate the connection between secondary and higher education. There is no related assessment, and students are free to choose and explore on their own, strengthening the connection between basic and higher education, and encouraging talents interested in basic disciplines to emerge.
Among the students who graduated from the first session of the "Weekend School," 49 eventually entered Fudan University, including students with aspirations to major in related fields and those who had chosen subjects consistent with those they studied in the "Weekend School," as well as those who aimed to study in the "Foundation Program" for basic disciplines.
When selecting courses for the "Weekend School," Tao Xinghan chose the course "Chip Technology Changing the World." In the class, he gained a basic understanding of chip technology and learned about crucial technologies such as lithography. Through course learning, he developed a firm love for engineering and entered Fudan University's "Engineering Experimental Class" through the college entrance examination in 2023.
"Our main goal is to cultivate students' academic interests and provide them with a more systematic understanding of these disciplines and majors," Lin Wei told the China Science Daily. "I've noticed some students' reactions, such as 'grabbing' front-row seats, expressing on the internet how the course has strengthened their passion for a certain direction, treasuring photos with teachers, or cherishing books given by teachers. These are all excellent feedback."
Taking Various Measures to Cultivate "Academic Interests"
How to offer a set of "high school courses" effectively in university?
Lin Wei emphasized: "We cannot simply transfer knowledge from university but also need to consider the characteristics of high school students. When designing courses, we should help students develop their academic interests and then cultivate their ability to apply knowledge to specific academic practices."
To ensure that the course content meets the requirements for connecting and expanding high school knowledge, Fudan University has established a dedicated team to design the course content. The content is decomposed into different modules of the discipline, forming the knowledge system of the entire discipline through a series of courses, so that students can have a preliminary understanding of professional subjects.
"First-class disciplines and first-class faculty are the prerequisites for our 'Weekend School,'" Lin Wei emphasized.
After more than three years of practice, the "Weekend School" now offers courses in 20 categories including humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, and medicine. The course content is also updated iteratively based on previous teaching practices, not limited to interpreting knowledge points but focusing on explaining the connections between knowledge points, the logical system behind the knowledge, and how to apply them in problem-solving.
As for the lecturers, they include academicians, senior professors in humanities, and social sciences, as well as national high-level talents. In addition to their academic backgrounds, they often have experience teaching lower-grade students and can teach in a way that suits high school students. "Many teachers have been rated as good teachers and teaching masters in students' minds. Their teaching styles are loved by everyone," Lin Wei added.
Zhang Jun, a senior professor in humanities at Fudan University and dean of the School of Economics, has been serving as a teacher for the "Weekend School" for four consecutive years. "In fact, there is no essential difference between high school students and university students. I am very willing to discuss more with them in class and hope to create a classroom atmosphere where teachers and students are on the same wavelength and active." During the teaching process, Zhang Jun felt the strong desire for knowledge from high school students and hoped that some students would open the door to academic research through this course. This year, Fudan University has further introduced modules for summer experience camps, allowing students to "learn by doing and realize through practice." The specific contents of the camps vary according to the courses—science and engineering courses will involve laboratory experiments in national key laboratories and teaching experimental centers, while humanities and social sciences courses will offer opportunities to participate in field surveys or City Walk cultural exploration activities.
Lin Wei looks forward to "students being able to distill meaningful academic questions through a combination of learning and practice, as well as communication with course teachers, and then consciously attempt to solve them using scientific thinking and methods."
Building an "ecosystem" for educational connection
In China, the topic of connecting higher education with basic education has long been discussed. As early as the issuance of the "National Medium- and Long-Term Education Reform and Development Plan (2010-2020)" in 2010, it was proposed to establish a systematic training concept, promote organic connection between primary, secondary, and tertiary education, explore various training methods, and create a situation where various talents emerge and outstanding innovative talents continuously emerge.
In recent years, Fudan University has conducted a series of explorations in implementing this plan.
"We hope to build an ecosystem for the early cultivation of talents, with diversity at its core," says Lin Wei. Compared with previous measures, the coverage of "Weekend Schools" is broader, and any high school student in Shanghai can sign up to participate.
On the one hand, under the background of national talent cultivation, among the students who choose to attend the "Weekend Schools," there will inevitably be some potential "outstanding innovative talents" with a keen insight in a certain discipline. Early discovery of such talents can give them the opportunity to release time and energy from "studying for exams" earlier and focus on long-term academic capacity building, thereby cultivating reserve talents for the development of the country and society.
On the other hand, through course learning, students also have the opportunity to step into university campuses and classrooms, gaining preliminary understanding of academic research.
"Even students with strong abilities may face the risk of being eliminated if they lose direction. By choosing to attend 'Weekend Schools,' students can establish a sense of identity with the university and their chosen majors, stimulate academic interests, and regardless of which university they ultimately attend, it will contribute to their growth," Lin Wei hopes. "In the future, 'Weekend Schools' can have more brand effects and attract more high school students and university teachers to participate."
