On The Thoughts And Behaviors Of Current University Students In The Age Of Media Integration

Thoughts and behaviors is one of the basic categories of ideological and political education research as well as its logical starting point,so a comprehensive understanding of the changes and the rules of university students' thoughts and behaviors is what an ideological and political educator in higher education institutions must pay close attention to,and also the premise and basis for an effective ideological and political education.Current university students are distinctly different from their seniors in their thoughts and behaviors.Namely,they uphold multiple values,egoism and utilitarianism,and in an urgent need of guidance.They have multiple beliefs,some of them are mundane and unscientific,and are in need of reinforcing in them the education of Marxism belief.And their aesthetic ideas focus on overall sensations and entertainment.Though they have diversified ways and possibilities of communication,for more relying on indirect contacts,they could not avoid a variety of problems derived from the sharp contrast between the interpersonal relationships in virtuality and in reality.In study,they are open-minded,but usually jump to the conclusions before sufficient arguments,what's the worse,some of them decline in their literacy and writing ability in their tendency of using colloquial language,doing superficial reading,using wrongly written character or ghost character,or the “Martian”(trendy online slang)etc.They have avant-garde consumption concepts which are at the same time individualistic,varied,and they value outer appearance,which stimulate bad consumptions in them driven by the respectabilities of social life,show-off or comparison...Such changes in current university students are factual and perceptible,the reasons for which are deserving of further investigation.Examination reveals that the major reasons lying behind the changes of thoughts and behaviors of current university students are a media-oriented society based on media integration and the changes of social forms.Integrated media is the current form of the media,which as a communicative vehicle could not only affects social development,but also shows in itself a specific living state,a communicative mode and a cultural pattern.People in different eras are under different influences of different media,so they develop their specific living and communicative modes and cultural patterns characteristic of the time,and correspondingly theirspecific and lasting thoughts and behaviors,values and ideological ideas.Just as what we are now experiencing,modern information technological development has set forth a critical change in social characteristics.With the ubiquity of integrated media,the society has shown a media-oriented tendency,together with anti-massification,cultural pluralism and homogenization,which unavoidably will affect everyone in it,including the university students profoundly.A specific media environment affects their cognitive development,and make them uphold multiple values,egoism and utilitarianism;it also affects their thinking,and make them tend to focus more on images,fragmentization and entertainment.University students are going through a radical change in their daily life with the development of digital technology in a media-oriented society,for they have their own brand-new ways of communication,study and life style,but at the same time they have to experience alienation for excessive reliance on media.Then does this mean we have to give up in face of the seemingly overwhelming power of media technology? According to Marxist theory of tools,though media tool is always a double-edged sword,mankind can inevitably put it on the right track by the way of reasoning,and by enhancing its advantages and restraining its disadvantages.The ideas advocated in the media are ultimately under the control of human reason which shines whether in the words helping the ruling class to dominate,or showing the consciences of the people involved in the media.It is with human reason that human being can perceive thought deviation mould by media,whether it is rational thinking decided by word media,or visual thinking by electronic media.A reasonable application of the media after a comprehensive and sufficient cognition is also a process of mankind's resistance against the alienation of the media by reasoning,which is always true,whether in the past,in now or the future.So today when we are faced with all kinds of changes in the university students brought about by media integration,we again could resort to human reason to tackle the problems with the main purpose of overall development of university students,and when we are challenged by media integration,we should include media literacy education in the field of ideological and political education,and make extensive use of advanced media technology to innovate ideological and political education path.Based on the above analyses,the main research ideas in this dissertation are developed within the following framework and logical line.In the first chapter the major concepts such as media,media integration,thoughts and behaviors will be interpreted,and a further explanation about the evolution and the rules of media development will also be made,with the focus on the fact that the current form of the media is integrated media.On this basis,the relationship between the media and thoughts and behaviors will be analyzed to point out that the media,as a product of human practice activities,is reacting on human beings,but its influence should be directed and stipulatedby human reason to exert its positive effect.The second chapter centers on an examination of relevant theories of the school of Media Ecology,and in particular Marxist theory of media which paves the way for a further investigation on the origin of the power of the media,on this basis,the theory of media integration will be formulated as the theoretical framework of the whole dissertation.The third chapter is an empirical investigation and a survey of how current university students apply the media,how the media affects them and the current situation of university students media literacy education.On the basis of the empirical investigation,an exploration on the changes in the thoughts and behaviors of current university students in an environment of media integration will be made in the fourth chapter,with the focuses of changes in thoughts on their values,beliefs and aesthetics,and focuses of changes in their behaviors on their interpersonal communication,study and consumption,which will be further extended to an analysis and conclusion on the rules and tendency of the changes the current university students display in their thoughts and behaviors.In the fifth chapter,the key part of the dissertation,an in-depth analysis on the changes in thoughts and behaviors of current university students will be made based on the phenomenon descriptions in the former chapters with reference to the theory of media integrity from three aspects which are namely media-oriented society,social transition and individual difference.The sixth chapter is set to discuss the corresponding measures.Based on the analyses in the former chapters,it is proposed as a conclusion that in the environment of media integration,the thoughts and behaviors of current university students could be systematically adjusted by relying on human reason.In doing this,the educational idea of overall development of university students should be firstly established,then draw on the experience of advanced countries and areas based on the practical situation in China,and include university students media literacy education in the category of ideological and political education,and the last point is to develop innovations in ideological and political education methods in three aspects,i.e.educational methods,education carriers and educational environment by fully applying the media.