2015年6月29日 星期一

BLENDED LEARNING TO BOOST CAPACITY OF COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSE

Thursday, June 18, 2015

BLENDED LEARNING TO BOOST CAPACITY OF COMPUTER SCIENCE COURSE

Google-funded Project Seeks Ways To Meet Growing Demand for Classes

Blended Classroom
By Byron Spice / 412-268-9068 / bspice@cs.cmu.edu
Carnegie Mellon University will begin adding online instructional tools and targeted study groups to a popular introductory computer science course this fall in an effort to accommodate more students while maintaining instructional quality.
The idea behind the multi-year research project, sponsored by Google, is to find a way to leverage existing faculty to meet a growing demand for computer science courses, while also expanding the opportunities for underrepresented minorities, high school students and community college students, said Jacobo Carrasquel, associate teaching professor of computer science.
The approach is not to simply put lectures and course work online, as is typical of massive open online courses, or MOOCs. Rather, Carrasquel will use a blended learning approach that largely replaces formal lectures with videos and optional mini-lectures, and uses an online software application called Classroom Salon to identify concepts that need to be reinforced by instructors in small group meetings with students.
“As we teach a wider diversity of students, with different backgrounds, we can no longer teach to ‘the middle,’” Carrasquel said. “When you do that, you’re not aiming at the 20 percent of the top students or the 20 percent at the bottom.”
Jacobo CarrasquelJacobo Carrasquel is developing videos and mini-lectures and incorporating CMU's Classroom Salon to reach more students in an introductory class for non-computer science majors.
By devoting less time to lectures and by using Classroom Salon to identify groups of students with common instructional needs, it should be possible for existing instructors to target the needs of students across the entire spectrum of capabilities.

Carrasquel will begin this fall to add the new elements to his Data Structures and Algorithms course, which attracts non-computer science majors from across the CMU campus. The changes will be fully implemented in the course next spring.
“As we teach a wider diversity of students, with different backgrounds, we can no longer teach to ‘the middle.’” — Jacobo Carrasquel
He and his collaborators, including Marsha Lovett, director of CMU’s Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence, will be evaluating not only the instructional effectiveness of the changes, but whether these elements are scalable — whether they would make it possible to expand enrollment without increasing the instructional staff or adding classrooms.
The project is receiving $200,000 in its first year through Google’s Computer Science Capacity Awards program, which seeks to identify classroom innovations that help computer science programs manage the growing demands by students for computer science instruction.
With industry demand for computer scientists at an all-time high, it will be difficult to manage the demand for computer science instruction by simply hiring additional faculty, said Ananda Gunawardena, a Princeton University faculty member who is collaborating on the project. But simply videotaping lectures and pushing entire courses online isn’t an answer, either, he added.
“You’re looking for something in between,” said Gunawardena, who worked with English Professor David Kaufer to create Classroom Salon while he was a faculty member in CMU’s Computer Science Department. “You’re looking for that sweet spot.”
Classroom Salon can help by enabling students to share their thoughts and questions about course readings and materials; the app’s analytical tools can identify common issues or subgroups of students who need special help. Faculty members or student teaching assistants can arrange study groups as necessary based on this information.
High school students today rarely have opportunities to take more than one Advanced Placement course in computer science, so Carrasquel will work with a high school consortium to transfer the course materials to their schools in the fall of 2016. Plans call for also sharing the materials with community college instructors.
“We’re not just looking to build enrollment, but also to make computer science instruction accessible to underrepresented minorities and other students who might not have had an opportunity to develop a strong interest or background in computer science,” Carrasquel said.
This is an example of the work being done through CMU’s Simon Initiative. Named for the late Nobel and Turing Award laureate Herbert Simon, this initiative harnesses a cross-disciplinary ecosystem of learning science that has developed over several decades at CMU, with the goal of measurably improving student learning outcomes.

2015年6月27日 星期六

‘Suicide Complex: a narrative and theatrical enquiry on suicide survivors’

Warmest Congratulations to Dr Hsiu-Chuan (Robin) Tu who received confirmation from the University that her PhD thesis ‘Suicide Complex: a narrative and theatrical enquiry on suicide survivors’ has been accepted for the fulfilment of the requirements of a PhD. Dr Tu had been supervised by Professor Renos Papadopoulos. ~ Debbie


Ms Hsiu-Chuan (Robin) Tu

Emailhtu@essex.ac.uk
SupervisorProfessor Papadopoulos
Thesis titleSurviving suicide and autobiographical performance: a Jungian exploration using applied theatre
Abstract
This research is to investigate the experiences of suicide survivors (one has lost someone to suicide). A narrative methodology is used that combines principles of applied theatre and autobiographical performance. The methodology, essentially, will be qualitative based on the analysis of data obtained from semi-structured interviews, the written script, and field notes taken by the researcher. Jungian psychology and Papadopoulos’ ‘Trauma Grid’ serve as the theoretical bases for analysis and interpretation. The empirical work composed an initial interview, a group and a follow-up interview. The central research question, therefore, addresses the following: 
·                What are the unique features of suicide survivors’ journeys and experiences? What contribute to the negative impacts, the positive and the unchanged?
·                How can a combination of Jungian psychology and Papadopoulos’ ‘Trauma Grid’ provide a theoretical framework to put the survivors’ experiences in a unique perspective?
·                How can the principles of applied theatre and autobiographical performance provide a platform for suicide survivors to tell stories which are true to their experiences?
·                In what way does theatre approach differ from a direct approach? Does it provide an effective or necessary distance suitable for this type of bereavement? Does the symbolic exploration through role-play help to  speak the unspeakable?

2015年6月25日 星期四

Alun Evans (英國國家學術院)談大學生活和 Anthony King 教授等


Essex大學的"政府系"排名英國首位。該系系友Alun Evans (1980級)剛當選英國國家學術院British Academy,目的是支持人文學科社會科學的研究)的院長。 Times Higher Education 訪問Alun Evans。他說最難忘的大學時光是大學小鄉的8間 pubs和校內的2間酒吧 ( it involved all eight pubs in Wivenhoe and the two bars on the University of Essex campus.)
他說很佩服系上的Anthony King教授,並建議英國所有部長都該讀King教授共著的The Blunders of our Governments  (我們歷來政府的失誤)。


Q&A with Alun Evans

We speak to the British Academy’s chief executive elect
Alun Evans, director of the UK government's Scotland Office

Alun Evans, director of the UK government’s Scotland Office, takes over as the British Academy’s chief executive this summer, replacing Robin Jackson. Mr Evans, who is working on a PhD, has held several policy roles, including principal private secretary to three secretaries of state and head of strategy at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Where and when were you born?Ashford in Middlesex (now Surrey).
How has this shaped you?Not at all – except to remind me that grammar schools are not all they are cracked up to be, judging by the one I attended.
What is your priority as the British Academy’s new chief?Continuing to raise its profile and maintaining a good financial settlement, despite the difficult public expenditure climate. I want to ensure the health of the humanities and social sciences, communicate their importance and ensure a fair settlement for the British Academy in the forthcoming spending review.
Are the arts, humanities and social sciences as important as their STEM counterparts when it comes to funding research?The Academy exists to inspire, recognise and support high achievement in the humanities and social sciences, and to champion their role and value. Addressing many of the most complex challenges of modern-day society, from tackling Ebola to obesity, from productivity to climate change, requires joined-up policy solutions informed by science, the humanities and social sciences. That is an example of what the Academy can offer.
With your in-depth knowledge of the sector – from both sides of the coin – what is its most pressing concern post-general election?Ensuring that the UK does not slip further behind its international competitors, who are investing far more heavily in science and research than we are. This remains the big challenge for the government, for all institutions, for the research councils and for the national academies alike.
You’re studying for a PhD while also working. What’s it like being a student again and how difficult is it to juggle the two enterprises?Great fun…and very difficult.
How are you faring on the PhD and would you recommend doing one?I have been studying for almost five years (part-time) at Queen Mary University of London. My PhD is about the changing role of ministers’ private offices over the past 50 years. I am making good progress with the writing, although I do have to work hard to find the time to complete a number of interviews with former civil servants and to get to the National Archives to complete the research. That is my major task in the coming months.
As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?To go into politics. But as it happened, I ended up as a civil servant working at different times for ministers from all three major political parties.
What was your most memorable university moment?It’s a long story and not worth telling here, but it involved all eight pubs in Wivenhoe and the two bars on the University of Essex campus.
Tell us about someone you admireAnthony King, professor of government at Essex, taught me politics as an undergraduate some 35 years ago. I am still learning from him. His recent book (with Ivor Crewe), The Blunders of our Governments, should be required reading for every minister.
What do you do for fun?Run marathons – if you call that fun.
If you were the UK universities minister for a day, what policy would you immediately introduce to our sector?A commitment to maintain and as soon as conditions allow to increase investment in all areas of UK science and research, including the humanities and social sciences, as the best way of ensuring that new ideas and innovation can continue to thrive in a dynamic, democratic, fair and prosperous society. And I would issue the same challenge to the private sector to do likewise. Funding research and innovation is a job not just for government but also for industry and society as a whole.

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"Britain: The Search for Leadership" in William G. Andrews, ed., European Politics I (Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand, 1966)
British Politics: People, Parties and Parliament (Boston, MA: D.C. Heath, 1966) (editor)
The British General Election of 1966 (London: Macmillan, 1966) (with D.E. Butler)
"Political Parties in Western Democracies: Some Skeptical Reflections", Polity 2 (1969) 111-41
"Margaret Thatcher: The Style of a Prime Minister" in Anthony King, ed., The British Prime Minister: A Reader (London: Macmillan, 1969) [2nd edn. 1985]
"The Changing Tories" in John D. Lees and Richard Kimber, eds., Political Parties in Modern Britain: An Organizational and Functional Guide (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1972)
"The Chief Whip's Clothes" in Dick Leonard and Valentine Herman, eds., The Backbencher and Parliament: A Reader (London: Macmillan, 1972)
Westminster and Beyond (London: Macmillan, 1973) (with Anne Sloman)
"Ideas, Institutions and the Policies of Governments: A Comparative Analysis", British Journal of Political Science 3 (1973) 291-313, 409-23
British Members of Parliament: A Self-Portrait (London: Macmillan in association with Granada Television, 1974)
"Executives" in Fred I. Greenstein and Nelson W. Polsby, eds., Governmental Institutions and Processes, Vol. 5, Handbook of Political Science (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1975)
"Overload: Problems of Governing in the 1970s", Political Studies 23 (1975) 285-96
"On Studying the Impacts of Public Policies: The Role of the Political Scientist" in Matthew Holden, Jr. and Dennis L. Dresang, eds., What Government Does, Sage Yearbooks in Politics and Public Policy, Vol. 1 (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1975)
"The Election that Everyone Lost" and "The Election that Someone Won -- More or Less" in Howard R. Penniman, ed., Britain at the Polls: The Parliamentary Elections of 1974 (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1975)
"Modes of Executive-Legislative Relations: Great Britain, France, and West Germany", Legislative Studies 1 (1976) 11-36
Why Is Britain Becoming Harder to Govern? (London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1976) (editor)
"Radicals and Whigs in the British Liberal Party, 1906-14" in William Aydelotte, ed., The History of Parliamentary Behavior (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1977) (with Geoffrey Hosking)
Britain Says Yes: The 1975 Referendum on the Common Market (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1977)
The New American Political System (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1978) (editor and contributor)
"Politics, Economics, and the Trade Unions, 1974-1979" in Howard R. Penniman, ed., Britain at the Polls, 1979: A Study of the General Election (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1981)
"Referendums and the European Community" in Austin Ranney, ed., The Referendum Device (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1981)
"What Do Elections Decide?" in David Butler, Howard R. Penniman and Austin Ranney, eds., Democracy at the Polls: A Comparative Study of Competitive National Elections (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1981)
“The Rise of the Career Politician in Britain – And its Consequences", British Journal of Political Science 11 (1981) 249-85
"How to Strengthen Legislatures – Assuming that We Want To" in Norman J. Ornstein, ed., The Role of the Legislature in Western Democracies (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1981)
"How Not to Select Presidential Candidates: A View from Europe" in Austin Ranney, ed., The American Elections of 1980 (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1981)
"Whatever Is Happening to the British Party System?", Parliamentary Affairs 35 (1982), 241-51
Both Ends of the Avenue: Presidential-Congressional Relations in the 1980s (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1983) (editor and contributor)
"The Political Consequences of the Welfare State" in Shimon E. Spiro and Ephraim Yuchtman-Yaar, eds., Evaluating the Welfare State: Social and Political Perspectives (New York: Academic Press, 1983)
"Margaret Thatcher's First Term" in Austin Ranney, ed., Britain at the Polls, 1983 (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1985)
"Governmental Responses to Budget Scarcity: Great Britain", Policy Studies Journal 13 (1985) 476-93
"Sex, Power and Money: Political Scandals in Great Britain and the United States" in James Ceaser and Richard Hodder-Williams, eds., in Politics in Britain and the United States: Comparative Perspectives on Institutions and Political Culture (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1985)
"The View from Europe" in Charles O. Jones, ed., The Reagan Legacy: Promise and Performance (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1988) (with David Sanders)
"Margaret Thatcher as a Political Leader" in Robert Skidelsky, ed., Thatcherism (London: Chatto & Windus, 1988)
The New American Political System, 2nd version (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1990) (editor and contributor)
"The British Prime Minister in the Age of the Career Politician", West European Politics 14 (1991) 25-47
"Good Government and the Politics of High Exposure" in Colin Campbell and Bert A. Rockman, eds., The Bush Presidency: First Appraisals (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1991) (with Giles Alston)
"Political Change in Britain" in Dennis Kavanagh, ed., Electoral Politics (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992)
Britain at the Polls, 1992 (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1992) (editor and contributor)
"Foundations of Power" in George C. Edwards III, John H. Kessel and Bert A. Rockman, eds., Researching the Presidency (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993)
"Cabinet Coordination or Prime Ministerial Dominance? A Conflict of Three Principles of Cabinet Government" in Ian Budge and David McKay, eds., The Developing British Political System: The 1990s (London: Longman, 1993)
"'Chief Executives' in Western Europe" in Ian Budge and David McKay, eds., Developing Democracy: Comparative Research in Honour of J.F.P. Blondel (London: Sage Publications, 1994)
"Ministerial Autonomy in Britain" in Michael Laver and Kenneth A. Shepsle, eds., Cabinet Ministers in Parliamentary Government (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994)
"Did Major Win? Did Kinnock Lose? Leadership Effects in the 1992 Election" in Anthony Heath, Roger Jowell and John Curtice, eds., Labour's Last Chance? The 1992 Election and Beyond (Aldershot, Hants.: Dartmouth, 1994) (with Ivor Crewe)
"Are British Elections Becoming More 'Presidential'?" in M. Kent Jennings and Thomas E. Mann, eds., Elections at Home and Abroad: Essays in Honor of Warren E. Miller (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994) (with Ivor Crewe)
SDP: The Birth, Life and Death of the Social Democratic Party (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995) (with Ivor Crewe) [co-winner of the 1996 W.J.M. Mackenzie Prize awarded by the Political Studies Association for the best book in the field of political science published in the UK during the preceding year]
"The Vulnerable American Politician", British Journal of Political Science 27 (1997) 1-22
Running Scared: Why America's Politicians Campaign Too Much and Govern Too Little (New York: Free Press, 1997)
New Labour Triumphs: Britain at the Polls (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1997) (editor and contributor)
"The Future of the Political Party" in Nelson W. Polsby and Raymond E. Wolfinger, eds., On Parties: Essays Honoring Austin Ranney (Berkeley, CA: Institute of Governmental Studies Press, 1999)
"Distrust of Government: Explaining American Exceptionalism" in Susan J. Pharr and Robert D. Putnam, eds., Disaffected Democracies: What's Troubling the Trilateral Countries? (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000)
Does the United Kingdom Still Have a Constitution?, the 51st Hamlyn Lectures (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2001)
British Political Opinion 1937-2000: The Gallup Polls, compiled by Robert J. Wybrow (London: Politico's, 2001) (editor)
Britain at the Polls, 2001 (New York: Chatham House, 2001) (editor and contributor)
Leaders' Personalities and the Outcomes of Democratic Elections (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002) (editor and contributor)
"The Outsider as Political Leader: The Case of Margaret Thatcher", British Journal of Political Science 32 (2002) 435-54 [reprinted in Larry Berman, ed., The Art of Political Leadership: Essays in Honor of Fred I. Greenstein (Boulder, CO: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005)]
Britain at the Polls, 2005 (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2005) (co-editor and contributor)
“Le Social Democratic Party et le tropisme du centrisme chez les traivaillistes britanniques" in Syllvia Guillaume and Jean Garrigues, eds., Centre et Centrisme en Europe aux XIXe et XXe Siecles (Bruxelles: P.I.E. Peter Lang, 2006)
“An American in England" in Matthew J. Dickinson and Elizabeth A. Neustadt, eds. Guardian of the Presidency: The Legacy of Richard E. Neustadt (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2007)
The British Constitution (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) [paperback edition with
Postscript, 2009]
“In Praise of Vagueness” in Matthew d’Ancona, ed., Being British (Edinburgh: Mainstream, 2009)
“‘Off With their Heads’: British Prime Ministers and the Power to Dismiss’, British Journal of Political Science 40 (2010) 249-78 [with Nicholas Allen]
The Founding Fathers v. the People: Paradoxes of American Democracy (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012)

The Blunders of Our Governments (London: oneworld, 2013) [with. Ivor Crewe]


Alun Evans graduated from our Department of Governement in 1980. He is now the director of the UK government's Scotland Office. This summer he is taking over as the British Academy's chief executive. In this interview with Times Higher Education, he talks about how he admires Professor Anthony King and his most memorable university moment.


We speak to the British Academy’s chief executive elect
TIMESHIGHEREDUCATION.CO.UK

2015年6月23日 星期二

用小學那一套辦大學 (謝朝鐘)


用小學那一套辦大學
大學裡的考試, 許多還是小學式的測驗題, 甚至完全是選擇題. 考試還是很多, 考前依然畫重點. 學生依然只為考試讀書 -- 甚至考也不讀 (彈性疲乏了).
音樂圈最為嚴重: 從小學到研究所, 所有的考試形式都一樣, 內容和程度也差不多. 大學音樂系甄選教師用考試來決定, 考什麼? 與小學生考的一樣. 音樂比賽的評分表像小學成績單一樣有各項分數, 尤其 "儀態" 這項最像小學中強調的.
台灣的學生是彼得潘永遠長不大, 教師也是, 學校也是.

如何培育真正的未來領導者 (周奕成)


 如何培育真正的未來領導者 (周奕成)

周奕成


領導這款代誌,放在臺大做學程是個笑話。放在哈佛、麻省也是笑話。衹要是菁英教育,領導就是假的。有一種假的領導,衹要你順著巨大的體制爬上去,爬到了上層,有了權威和資源,你自然就會領導。不會?也沒關係,總之整個體制會幫助你領導。但那不是真的領導,衹是一種占有、凌駕、剝削。那和真正的領導距離最遙遠。

我自己學會的領導,是在我二十九歲,做過反對黨的主管,在政治圈和新聞界被當作所謂明日之星,從政治大學新聞所碩士班被退學,不能服預官役而和十九歲提早入伍,全連一半有刺青或前科的一般兵,一起被操被整,然後下部隊被分發到紅土臺地的裝甲兵教勤營,保養可以動但不能打炮的戰車。最大的痛苦不是體能或管教,而是完全沒有意義感和榮譽感,經歷所有基層部隊小士兵遭遇的荒謬。


那不僅沒有任何政治特權,甚至做為高教育程度的大專兵在基層部隊裡可以享有的一些行政閑差,我也沒份。和所有二兵一律平等。所有工作都是體能勞動。從那一切歸零的狀態,我曾在沮喪到極點的莒光日上午,突然體會到對自我的觀照。我也曾在最無意義的權威之下,反覆深度思索領導與被領導的哲學。我也從值得尊敬的基層軍人身上,看到因為高度自律而散發能夠管理衆人的力量。

退伍之時,我是全國軍頭號的BC份子(政治異議者,但不明其代號用意;比我資深或有名的學運政運前輩那時都退伍了)。奇妙地,我以基層士兵的身份,毫無權力毫無地位,在荒蕪的紅土臺地之上,建立了一種特殊的文化領導權。整個部隊從戰鬥科到政戰的軍官以及士官士兵們,都對我非常佩服和友善。好笑的是,我還被推選為六軍團模範士官兵。

在歸零從頭的經歷之後,我覺得懂了一點點領導。當然,我的小故事對於某些汲汲要培養領袖或出任領袖的師生們未必有說服力。畢竟我也沒有成為什麼跨國集團總裁。但我在臺灣和世界各個角落裡,認識過許多很了不起的領導者,他們在基層社區、農田廠房、中小企業、山間海濱,發揮對人群的領導力。他們有的在每天平淡不自覺的實踐中持續展現毅力,有的在緊急危難的片刻發揮驚人的勇氣。這些人才是真正的領導者。

要和朋友們分享的觀點是:菁英學校教育培養出來的領導者,多衹是在體制内攫取較高地位的既得利益者。他們大部分其實沒有在做領導這件事,衹是藉著體制的力量在享有領導的地位。要培育真正的未來領導者,我們不需教育青年人往上爬,不需製造他們認爲自己是天生領導者的心理現象。應該鼓勵他們忘記自己的優勢,放下差別心,做些看起來最不像是領導者在做的事。然後這裡面會有最棒的領導者誕生。

2015年6月22日 星期一

美國代課/兼課老師之苦

有意思的是,力陳美國代課/兼課老師之苦、飽受剝削的文章刊登在英國報紙。評論者Reich教授約20年前當過美國勞工部部長,致力於為多數人The Many福祉的政策之追求。
這問題在美國至少已半世紀了,在台灣則是近20多年前的事,都須很嚴肅面對。


The degradation of the American workforce is happening across occupations and professions, and across all sectors of the economy -- profit-making companies as well as nonprofit institutions.The middle class is not only losing pay; it's losing job security, predictable hours, and respect.
The central economic goal of our era must be to restore dignity, security, and good wages to American work.

My situation is not unique. 76% of instructional staff appointments in US...
THEGUARDIAN.COM|由 LEE HALL 上傳

哈佛大學1939級Leonard Bernstein感念通識教育的重要與影響(1967)


Leonard Bernstein graduated cum laude in Music from Harvard University on this day in 1939.
Bernstein always regarded his diverse education at Harvard with great fondness, as described in this excerpt from the April 1967 issue of Etude Magazine.
"I have always counted my years at Harvard among my greatest musical assets, for the general non-musical training given to me there opened my mind to the world's work in different fields, to the human thinking and . . . feeling that went into ‪#‎poems‬ and plays and science and inventions, to the particular kinds of thinking and feeling that built various ages and periods and styles. And what has this to do with music? Everything! For music is but one part of the various and particular kinds of thought and feeling; and how are you to know the kind of tone, of ‪#‎expression‬, of phrasing, of thought to bring out of a score if you have not steeped yourself in the characteristics of the age that produced it?"
-Leonard Bernstein (Etude Magazine, April 1967)

2015年6月20日 星期六

GIX (全球創新學院) University of Washington and Chinese University Unite to Form Technology Institute


清華大學與華盛頓大學在西雅圖合作辦學
NICK WINGFIELD 2015年06月19日
華盛頓大學和清華大學合作的新學院將建在華盛頓貝爾維尤。 圖為學院大樓的透視圖。
華盛頓大學和清華大學合作的新學院將建在華盛頓貝爾維尤。圖為學院大樓的透視圖。
Wright Runstad
西雅圖——作為亞馬遜(Amazon)和微軟(Microsoft)等公司的家鄉,位於普及灣(Puget Sound)的這個繁榮區域,可以輕鬆躋身美國一流科技中心之列。
但與美國其他大型科技中心相比,它有一個明顯的薄弱環節:這裡只有一所重要的研究型大學,即華盛頓大學(University of Washington),而其他中心至少有兩所這種檔次的大學。
多年來,這個薄弱環節令當地人感到不安,因為這裡對計算機相關人才的需求激增,而對人才的培養卻不足,其差距有可能會阻礙該地區的經濟發展。“我們早就意識到,在高等教育方面,我們相對處在劣勢,”微軟總法律顧問布拉德福德·L·史密斯(Bradford L. Smith)說。
本週四,西雅圖學術界和商業界的領袖,公佈了建立一所新高校的計劃,目的是加強該地區高科技經濟的教育基礎。這所機構名為全球創新學院(Global Innovation Exchange),是華盛頓大學和中國一流的研究型院校清華大學合作成立的,將在2016年秋季開學,開設技術創新相關的碩士學位課程。
微軟將出資4000萬美元(約合2.5億元人民幣)幫助該學院起步,其中部分資金將用於為該學院修建基地。這將是一個新的大型城市開發項目,位於華盛頓州貝爾維尤,距離華盛頓大學主校區大約10英里(約合16公里)。全球創新學院的教師將來自華盛頓大學、清華大學,以及該院期望吸引參與合作的其他幾所國際性大學。
它最初只招收幾十名學生,但計劃在十年裡增加到逾3000名。清華大學將幫助該學院招收中國學生,這提供了一個重要的全球性維度,華盛頓大學的臨時校長安娜·瑪麗·科斯(Ana Mari Cauce)表示。
“這是中國大學首次在美國擁有了一個實體立足點,”在公開宣布該學院成立的消息之前,科斯博士在接受采訪時說。“這是一件大事。”
該學院最初不會授予本科學位,這將限制其改善該地區技術人才缺口的潛力,至少在短期內是這樣。但該項目的參與者說,現在為時尚早,還無法預言該機構最終會達到怎樣的狀態。“根本而言,它面向的是未來10年、100年。”史密斯說。
華盛頓州學生成就理事會(Washington Student Achievement Council)是該州政府一所關注教育的機構,其2013年的一份報告稱,該州每年需要另外再培養2700名計算機科學學士,才能滿足該地區雇主2021年前的預計需求量。華盛頓大學目前每年向大約300名學生授予計算機科學學位。
總部位於西雅圖的在線房地產公司Redfin的首席執行官格倫·凱爾曼(Glenn Kelman)表示,他從未見過一個地區如此單一地只依賴一所研究機構。“來到這裡的時候我震驚了,”凱爾曼說。“真的,微軟、亞馬遜、十幾家和我們規模一樣大,以及數百家規模更小的公司,都在從同一批計算機科學畢業生中選人。畢業生少得令人難以置信。”
矽谷的發展和兩家高等教育機構的實力密切相關,它們分別是公立的加州大學伯克利分校(University of California, Berkeley)和私立的斯坦福大學(Stanford)。作為一所公立大學,華盛頓大學有在全美名列前茅的計算機科學課程。但因為沒有足夠的資金擴充教學能力,學校會拒絕大量申請計算機科學的學生。
華盛頓大學正尋求通過全球創新學院之外的另一個項目,培養更多計算機科學專業的學生。上週,該校宣布,將花費1.1億美元修建一座13萬平方英尺(約合1.2萬平方米)的計算機科學大樓,微軟作為主要捐贈方,將出資1000萬美元。新樓將使該校每年的計算機科學畢業生人數翻倍,增至600人。
全球創新學院初期不會把精力集中在長期研究上,而是會關注於“基於項目的學習”,期間學生會參與大量高強度的短期項目。第一批學生將參與和可穿戴技術及物聯網有關的項目。
“中國和美國這兩個主要經濟體在科技創新方面都有巨大的優勢,”清華大學校長邱勇說。“兩國之間的高等教育合作會促進全世界的科技進步和社會發展。”
全球創新學院的設想,在一定程度上是受了康奈爾科技學院(Cornell Tech)的啟發。該項目計劃在紐約的羅斯福島上創辦一個主要服務於計算機科學的新校區。已於本週動工的該項目,也有一個國際合作夥伴,以色列理工學院(Technion-Israel Institute of Technology)。康奈爾的項目將包括與科技公司的密切協作,這在一定程度上是為了讓自己能更敏捷地應對行業趨勢。
康奈爾科技學院的院長丹尼爾·P·胡滕洛赫爾(Daniel P. Huttenlocher)表示,看到西雅圖地區這個項目啟動,他感到很興奮。
“在如何為新世界培養學生方面,這些都是前沿試驗,”胡滕洛赫爾說。華盛頓大學的教師在對項目進行規劃時,胡滕洛赫爾曾與他們有過交流。
創始人已經開始習慣用首字母縮寫GIX來指代全球創新學院了,這是在效仿以MIT來指代美國首屈一指的科技類院校麻省理工學院(Massachusetts Institute of Technology)。他們甚至偶爾還會把這個名字讀作geeks(意為“極客”——譯註)。
“現如今是極客的世界,”科斯說。
翻譯:陳亦亭