How Do I Choose the Best University Certificate Program?

University course selection allows students to have certain freedom of choice in the courses offered by the school, including choosing courses, teachers, and class time, choosing the learning volume and learning process that suits them.

University Selection

For college freshmen who are accustomed to the primary and secondary school curriculum (all courses are arranged by the school uniformly and the subjects are continuous from primary to high school), the university courses are dazzling and the classification of the courses is more complicated. It is still a new and strange thing. But university study has a lot to do with course selection, and you must understand it in order to take the initiative. To understand the elective system, we must first have an understanding of the university curriculum.

University courses are generally divided into compulsory courses and elective courses by major categories. Compulsory generally refers to the school or department stipulating that students must take a certain course. Schools generally have uniform requirements and arrangements for compulsory courses. Elective refers to the freedom to choose a course based on the student's personal interests or professional needs. In short, compulsory is necessary to study, and elective is selective. Generally, basic knowledge is taken as a required course. Some knowledge is not basic and is related to interests and research directions. This part of knowledge can be selected. This is the biggest difference between university and middle school.

Let s take a look at each of these courses at the university.

School-wide compulsory courses refer to the courses that all students must take, mainly including political theory courses, foreign language courses, sports and military theory courses, computer courses, and some schools, such as

Peking University: Courses are divided into compulsory professional courses, professional elective courses, general elective courses, public elective courses, and compulsory courses (including politics, sports, English, computer and military theory, etc.). English classes are divided into classes based on the test results after the student's entrance examination, and students can choose English classes online from the second semester. Major compulsory courses are arranged by the system of the student's college. Politics classes, physical education classes, computer courses and public school elective courses are directly selected by students online. General electives take a combination of face-to-face and online electives. During the course selection period, each general course has a fixed course selection room. Students go to the classroom of the course they want to take for the teacher to explain and communicate with the teacher on related issues, and then fill out the elective list. If the student who has left the note exceeds the planned amount, the teacher will decide who can take this course on the spot or within the first week. The rest of the students can only count on the selected students to re-election after they drop out online. Beijing University lights up the "red light" for courses that are full, and once the "red light" is off, it is a good opportunity to "take advantage."

Willing to pay the "price" for freedom

China Youth Daily from sending a course schedule to students choosing their own courses and scheduling, from only queuing to the computer room to choosing courses anywhere, Fudan's course selection system has been tried and changed with the implementation of the credit system To today. Autonomous course selection makes students' learning free, but from time to time, there are various situations that prevent students from taking courses they want to choose, so students often have some "dissatisfaction" with it. But most students say these "dissatisfaction" is the price to pay for "freedom."

Students believe that the current course selection system does have imperfections. The root cause is the problem of scarce educational resources, which is not a short-term solution. However, compared with Fudan in the past, we should cherish the hard-won freedom of learning. If Fudan had followed the practice of distributing curriculums, it would not have spawned many details, but there would be no room for students to choose freely.

So what benefits does the elective system have for students, and is worthy of the school's vigorous promotion, and students are willing to pay for it?

First, we know that a person does not recognize their expertise very early, so for some people a stage of exploration and experimentation is necessary before a final decision is made. At Peking University, it is not uncommon to become interested in this subject by taking a course that is not your major, and then continue your studies (graduate at home or abroad). Therefore, when first-time institutions of higher learning face countless choices, they will adopt an open attitude, open a few more windows to the ocean of knowledge, and try boldly. After they have gradually identified their interests, they will be more successful.

Second, the hobbies and strengths of young people are diverse and different. The education for them should be based on their aptitude and guidance, so as to enable each of them to fully develop their hobbies and strengths. If a set of courses is used to bundle students with different hobbies and different strengths to study together, the result of this is often that love is really harmful, and many students' hobbies and strengths are suppressed and hurt. The elective system allows students to choose according to their own interests, hobbies, talents, and learning levels, with great flexibility, so that students' hobbies and strengths can grow quickly and play better. It can be said that acknowledging students' personality differences and respecting their personality development are the most fundamental reasons for the acceptance and favor of the elective system. It gives students great autonomy in what they learn. Of course, it cannot be said that every student can make good use of the advantages of the elective system, but as long as such a system exists, any student may have the best opportunity for success.

Third, there is another benefit of elective courses, which can be called the "free market effect". Old classmates will introduce you to experience that a certain professor is good at speaking, and he can get high scores for his courses without effort. In this way, students can actively allocate learning energy through elective courses. After all, a person's energy is limited. Spending the same amount of energy in each course is not only exhausted, but also may result in poor learning. And you will lose a lot of life.

Fourth, the existence of the elective system allows students to obtain higher quality education. Standing on the podium is very different from really good lectures. University students generally have better discrimination. How can they spend precious time listening to boring lectures? Moreover, students have to pay tuition fees and naturally have the right to a good education. Therefore, while autonomous course selection meets the different needs of different students, it also forms a competitive mechanism among teachers. Everything is very realistic. Teachers must constantly improve themselves to attract students, and even popular teachers are not at ease. When there is competition, the survival of the fittest will naturally exist, and students who do not like to listen to courses will naturally be eliminated. If you are a smart person, you must know how to pursue the legitimate rights that God has given you.

College students have many courses to choose from, as long as they have enough credits within the range of courses offered by the school, they can get a degree. But at the same time, because of more freedom, course selection has become extremely important. The choice of course selection directly affects the smooth progress of learning. Therefore, choosing a course is a university question. Choosing a good course will not only let you learn a lot, And it is possible to get very good results. An English proverb says it well: Well begun, half done. (Be good at it, it's half done). I remember talking to a student about course selection. He said, "When I first started, I was confused by the timetable and I couldn't see the other side for half a semester. At that time, no one came to tell me, so I let go A lot of detours. " Next, I will introduce some precautions for choosing courses so that you can do more with less while studying.

First note: there must be room for choice in the course selection

Before you finalize your course, try to listen to as many different courses as possible to expand your options. It is neither wise nor reactive to identify one course at the end. Because personal subjective wishes may be far from reality. A course that you think is of great interest may become intriguing after a few lessons, and by then it will be too late to abandon the course or choose another course. Freshmen must avoid this lesson. Schools generally give students time to audition, so you can choose as many as possible before the registration deadline. Specifically, if you decide to take 2 courses in this semester, you can register 4 ~ 5 courses first, and then in the "picking period", rush to each class to audition, see the specific content, the level of professors and Style to select 2 favorite and most competent courses. Of course, for those students who are clear about their own direction and center, they can closely follow their own direction and center and choose relevant courses in a targeted manner to support themselves as some kind of expert.

Second note: Do a good job of investigation to be "know your friend"

Before selecting a course, you must collect information about the content of the course, and understand the performance of the instructor, assessment requirements, difficulty of the assignment, and the amount of reading in the classroom. It is best to know in advance whether the course content is useful to you, your Are you interested, what is the level of teaching and research, how you are a person, and how you teach, etc., so as to "know your friends".

You have to read through the course introductions this semester, next semester, and the previous one or two years. Because the course selection should be based on the entire degree, not a city and a pool of two semesters. The same required courses, taught by different teachers, can be very different. If the second year is a highly respected professor, it is worth waiting for the next year. In addition, there is no need to read the brief introduction of each course, this is basically useless. Each teacher will describe his or her course in beautiful academic language, and you will never see the quality of the course and whether you are on your way. The best shortcut is to find an insightful and enthusiastic senior who can point out the subtlety of a course in a few words because he has either taken the course or learned the skills and style of the professor. Believe that as long as there is communication, there will be gains.

Electives are largely teacher selection. Some class teachers give high grades and make it easy to pass exams; some class teachers have strict control; some teachers have a good reputation, students like his class, feel that they can learn something, and are satisfied with his performance evaluation standards. You can choose according to your actual situation. Sometimes the name and content of a course is quite attractive, but if you find out that the professor is a "Killer", you can't put too much energy on this course and consider giving up the course. The so-called "killer" professor usually has a lot of exams, assignments, and scores are not high, and generally are not welcomed by students. Of course, students who are interested in academic achievements can focus on the academic capabilities and concepts of professors.

After you have a detailed understanding of the subject, you can choose courses of different depth and difficulty according to your individual foundation and potential. In addition, it is important to remind everyone that university examinations are different from middle schools. Middle school examination methods are almost all written examinations. Some of the assessment of university courses are based on examinations, some are based on homework, and some are based on both. Decide on the choice of courses according to the assessment methods used by individuals. It is best to choose the assessment method you like in order to improve your strengths and avoid your weaknesses, and reduce the stress of learning. This is the need for self-knowledge.

Remember: Adequate and informative information can reduce blindness in course selection. Conversely, if you choose to do something based on interest or practicality, do not pay attention to personal conditions and strategies in your studies, and do not do a good survey, you may suffer a lot in subsequent courses and encounter unexpected troubles. You can listen to more people's experience. Before choosing a course, you can ask your brothers and sisters which courses are better spoken by teachers and which courses you can learn from. After all, choosing courses takes time to listen to, and you should get a corresponding return if you pay. In addition, you can learn about the number and difficulty of professional courses from them in order to arrange their own study time. Knowing oneself and knowing one another will be targeted when you choose a class.

Third note: Homework grades are important, but not exclusive

Every year when it comes to selecting courses, many people on the school's BBS will ask which teacher gives high grades and which teacher has a good temper. This seems to be a "complication" of autonomous course selection. Especially now that college students look for work based on their grades, going abroad depends on their grades, and scholarship evaluation depends on grades. Grades are seen as the primary indicator of a student's ability. Therefore, some students locked in the school's famous "good people" after a lot of toss. Whatever interests and usefulness were useless, as long as their grades were high, they would choose and be happy. In the face of pressure, there is nothing wrong with paying attention to grades in course selection, but grades should not be the sole criterion for choosing any course. As the saying goes,

Some students' views on the elective system

Freshman of Philosophy Department

In colleges that give students more choices, studying for courses is an art of operational planning. Only by knowing ourselves and others can we ensure that we have the initiative in learning. I hope the previous introduction and advice will help you. However, don't take my words or the suggestions of others as the golden rule, the key is to be clear about what you really want. Learn what you want to do and do what you want. As long as you have a chance to try something you are interested in, you have to look back, even if you are not outstanding.