At the graduation ceremony, Wang Fei, Associate Professor from Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, presented his sincere blessings and best wishes to graduates of 2016 with a poem; in classes, approachable and erudite, he imparts professional knowledge and resolves students’ doubts with superb teaching skills, receiving praise from teachers and students. Recently, he won 2016 “Distinguished Teaching Award” of SUSTech. Though only 33 years old, he likes to humorously say he is an “old” teacher. What characteristics does he possess? Recently, he accepted an interview of student reporters and shared his way of teaching and life experience.
Seeing Prof. Wang wearing a white T-shirt and jeans when we entered the office, we felt intimate with him at once. He was brilliant and vigorous, showing exactly the characteristics of SUSTech faculty.
“When taking part in the contest, I never thought I would win because there are so many outstanding teachers in SUSTech, including some well-known national-level teachers such as Professor Huo Jianqing. They all have much more teaching experience than me.” Prof. Wang said with a smile. “I didn’t expect that many senior professors did not participate in the contest, which gave the opportunity to the young teachers like me.”
Impart Professional Knowledge: Teach According to Different Courses and Combine Education with Fun
As an “old” teacher, when asked what courses had he taught, Prof. Wang talked vividly about every course he had taught in Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and SUSTech.
He said that DTU sets high demands for the teaching skills of the faculty: all teachers have to take a 250-hour training course with four levels to obtain the teacher’s certificate. The training involves how to set curricula and training programs, improve teaching techniques and utilize students’ feedback. “I think I learned a lot in those 250 hours. Training courses provided many interesting teaching methods that I will try in SUSTech in the future.” Prof. Wang said. “I worked in Denmark for five years and taught several courses. One of them was a three-week course for the undergraduates and required students to do many hands-on activities. For example, to practice photolithography, the students were required to make a cake and then drew pictures on it through various ways, as these methods were very similar with the lithography process of the semiconductor technology. In this way, students learned knowledge while playing games.”
In SUSTech, Prof. Wang taught the courses of Microelectronics for the sophomores and juniors, including Digital Circuit, Principles of Integrated Circuit Technology and Introduction to Micro-electromechanical Systems. Prof. Wang said, “Introduction to Micro-electromechanical Systems is actually a graduate course which involves the cutting-edge micro-nanofabrication and nano-mechanical micro-electronic devices. As far as I know, only handful universities in China, such as Peking University and Tsinghua University, offer the course for undergraduates and many colleges and universities cannot offer this course because they do not possess professors in related research.”
“Confucius emphasized to teach according to students’ aptitude. I believe the courses and timing also need to be considered.” Prof. Wang expressed, “many people do not totally understand the ‘all-in-English’ teaching mode of SUSTech. They believe we deliver all of the courses in English. In fact, we adopt flexible teaching modes that match different courses and levels of students. Take Digital Circuit for an example. It is a basic course for sophomores with a lot of abstruse concepts. We believe it is more important for the students to gain a solid foundation during this course, so we deliver the course in Chinese. We also try everything to stimulate students’ interests in learning, so as to enable them to be more active to learn rather than simply following teachers’ instructions. Therefore, apart from the traditional experimental courses, teachers also add some DIY experiments for different groups. The students think it is interesting. Four or five students will group a team to write the opening report and do the procurement plan together. When encountering problems, they actively search information and discuss solutions. They do their own projects while taking classes. By the end of the year, there will be a public defense to demonstrate their projects. During the process, the overall abilities of students can all be promoted.”
“As for courses for higher levels, such as Principles of Integrated Circuit Technology, which concerns cutting-edge technologies, we should keep up with the latest advances. Therefore, these courses are all delivered in English. Students also write reports and do presentations in English, during which they gradually improve their language skills. We also adopt many assessment methods. Apart from the traditional written examination, we add the oral test and short essay. Prof. Wang said: “Students can learn about 10% of what they have ‘read’; 20% of what they have ‘heard’; 30% of what they have ‘seen’; 70% of what they have ‘discussed’ with others, and about 95% of what they have ‘taught’ to other students. Therefore, students who take the course of Introduction to Micro-electromechanical Systems have to give a lecture in class. During preparation, they can master most of what they teach.”
Resolve Doubts: Differences Between Chinese and Foreign Students
Speaking of differences between Chinese and foreign students, Prof. Wang expressed that Chinese and foreign students differ a lot. “As for basic knowledge, Chinese high school students boast a solid foundation. Foreign students are much worse. However, foreign students are very active to ask questions. When teaching abroad, I seldom gave a lesson without interruption. Students asked questions in class every five to six minutes. However, Chinese students quietly listen to the teacher from the beginning to the end. Seldom do they ask questions during the lesson, and only a few ask questions after class. I hope Chinese students can be more proactive to ask questions.”
Propagate Philosophy of Life: Interest, Space and Family First
At the graduation ceremony, Prof. Wang made a speech on behalf of the faculty and shared his insights on choices at different stages of life.
Speaking of interest, Prof. Wang stated, “Interest is not something that can be imposed on students, but something that can only be discovered by students themselves. Students should try different things, and that is an important reason why SUSTech students receive universal education in the first year. I hope the students can try broader fields to explore their own interests. As a tutor at Shuren College, I advise students to know about the research fields of professors of different departments, and then take the initiative to contact and consult related professors through e-mails. Every professor of SUSTech expects the students to be interested in his research field and contact him actively. Of course, the premise is that the students can balance the academic courses and research.”
“Whether you will become a poet or a business leader in the future, you need to explore yourself. Professors cannot find the interests for you, but they are glad to help students. When you find your interests, you are always welcome to consult the professors. We are concerned that some students do not take their initiative to find their own interests and do not seek advice from the supervisors either. They just follow others without their own thoughts. They will miss their best future when they look back and regret for leading an ordinary life. It is bliss to do what you like to do.”
“Years later, work and interest would not be all your life. Family will become the most important. We pay tribute to those who devote themselves to science, but not everyone can win the Nobel Prize and not all people can become the leaders of the world top 500 enterprises. If you want to become that kind of person, you have to make sacrifice in other aspects. Of course, I encourage you all to fight for that.”
Speaking of his hobbies, Prof. Wang said, “I have many hobbies. I like playing table tennis. For a while, I was crazy about photography. At the university, I was obsessed with ancient poetry. Every student should have a few hobbies. I believe hobbies help us release negative emotions, especially when we are under high academic pressure.’’
