A Study On The Current Progress Of Teaching Methods In Undergraduate Classes Of Research Universities

Quality is the foundation of the university.With the expansion of higher education,the high-level and high-demanding classroom teaching for undergraduates have been diluted.Since the selection and adoption of teaching methods exerts a crucial effect on the quality of classroom teaching,only through the reform of teaching methods in universities can innovative talents be cultivated to better meet the challenge of the knowledge economy era.The previous studies on the teaching methods in universities put more emphasis on the level of theoretical speculation,thus there was lack of empirical studies.In this thesis,on the basis of reviewing the research results of existing teaching methods in universities,through self-made questionnaires,interviews and classroom observation,the author carries out a study on the current progress of teaching methods in undergraduate classes of research universities.Based on the research results,the author aims at finding out the various subjective and objective problems existing in undergraduate classroom teaching methods of L University and also probing into the reasons behind those problems.The research results show that in L University,the most frequently-used teaching methods in undergraduate classroom instruction are still lecturing method as well as the question and answer method;while the application of other teaching methods is relatively less.Most teachers could be aware of the significance of teaching methods,yet they lack the corresponding awareness of research on teaching method in teaching practice.Teachers are willing to work hard in teaching.However,on account of the policy orientation,most teachers are more inclined to scientific research in practice.They are confident that they are competent to adopt teaching methods and their teaching objectives can cultivate students in various aspects,which,as a result,may lead to complacency and self-satisfaction of the teachers.Thus it is highly required of such teachers to correct their attitudes towards teaching.In addition,there is quite a large proportion of teachers who adopt a single teaching method,incapable of flexibly using a variety of teaching methods.Most of them just repeat what the book says.Therefore,there is an urgent need of them to enhance the abilities of utilizing skills in adopting the teaching methods.Besides,both teachers and students have a high level of satisfaction,and students also have a strong ability to adapt to the teaching methods adopted by their teachers.Nevertheless,the criteria of teachers' judgment is not consistent with what the students think over the objectives of their teachers.Since quite a number of students who are more satisfied with and easily adapt to their teachers “cramming education” approach,are simply because of their indolence and reluctance to give full play to their subjective initiatives.What's more,a vast majority of classes lack interaction,thus the adoption of teaching methods has not achieved good results.In the end,the author puts forward some feasible and practical countermeasures and suggestions from three aspects,namely awareness,attitude and skill in the adoption of teaching methods.