Who will be your fourth city for graduate school: Taiwan?

Taiwan’s graduate education began during the colonial rule of the Japanese invaders in Taiwan, but Taiwan’s current graduate education does not have much inheritance from the Japanese colonial rule. Research institutes began to be established in Taiwan in 1951. In 1961, the Institute of Political Science at National Chengchi University began to recruit doctoral students and established the first doctoral class in Taiwan, opening a new history of doctoral education in Taiwan. Since the mid-1970s, Taiwan's postgraduate education has entered a period of prosperity. The growth in the number of students once exceeded the growth in the number of undergraduate and junior college students, and it has become the focus of Taiwan's higher education. Today, postgraduate education in Taiwan has been very developed, so what is it like to study in Taiwan?

Number1: Useful education

The same concept as that of cultivating applied talents in mainland China , Taiwan’s graduate education also focuses on applying what you have learned. After all, for most students, the master's degree is a transition between undergraduates and entering the workplace. Students expect to acquire the knowledge and skills they will need in the future and improve themselves. At the same time, Taiwan's employment pressure is very high, which has resulted in Taiwan's graduate education focusing on practicality. Take law as an example. Law schools are all about teaching things that can be put into practice. Schools often ask people who work in courts and law firms to give lectures and classes, for fear that students will not know how to practice. Court decisions are often discussed in class, and papers are written on practical issues.

Of course, whether you can learn something useful is a worldwide problem. Schools in the United States and Europe also have a disconnect between theoretical research and practice, and Taiwan is no exception. However, this also has a lot to do with teachers. Teachers who are engaged in applied subjects and have part-time jobs outside will focus on practicality. Teachers who can help students build relationships, find jobs, engage in basic subjects, theoretical research, and teach all day will focus on practicality. The theory is less practical.

Number2: The inheritance of Chinese studies

The relatively good development of Taiwan’s Chinese studies education is closely related to Taiwan’s history and the local education system. Starting from the third or fourth grade of elementary school, students begin to study classical Chinese, including poetry. Students are required to recite classics such as the Three Character Classic, Tang poetry and Song poetry. There are almost no kindergartens and elementary schools in Taiwan that do not read classics and history. In subsequent examinations at various stages of education, typical classics such as The Analects and ancient poetry are also frequently tested.

In university education, Chinese studies are mainly concentrated in the Department of Literature, History and Philosophy, and scholars who speak Chinese philosophy are also concentrated in the Chinese Department. Therefore, the Chinese Department is the concentration of Chinese studies education. When teachers in the Chinese Department teach, they all follow the logical sequence of vocabulary, meaning, and textual research. It can be seen that the Chinese Department is essentially a traditional Chinese Department. National Taiwan University claims to have inherited the tradition of Peking University, that is, the style of reorganizing the national heritage since Hu Shi, while the traditional culture of the National Normal University is more of a continuation of the Qing Dynasty's Pu Xue textual research.

Having a tradition of Chinese studies does not mean that Taiwan’s education is closed and there is little contact with the world. Many schools in Taiwan offer a number of professional courses taught entirely in English at the undergraduate level, so there is not much emphasis on English courses and internationalization at the graduate level. However, Taiwan attaches great importance to the study of second foreign languages, and many instructors also emphasize the importance of second foreign languages. For example, National Taiwan University offers more than 50 public Japanese classes in one semester, with many time slots to choose from to encourage everyone. Elective. There are many academic seminars in Taiwan, especially opportunities for academic exchanges in developed countries. However, its internationalization is currently far less than that of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, but it is much stronger than that of mainland China.

Number 3: Discussion-based learning

Unlike mainland graduate students who have to discuss with their tutors about which courses to take, Taiwan’s graduate courses are relatively free and generally there is no need to discuss course selections with tutors. This actually reflects a characteristic of Taiwan’s graduate education: a gradual shift from teacher-centered to student-centered. Teachers will not teach some old theories according to the script, but will update the teaching content in a timely manner according to the latest subject progress and students' needs. At the same time, the teaching will be more integrated with reality, so that students can effectively learn knowledge while Solve the problem.

The characteristic of Taiwanese tutors “serving students” can also be reflected in another aspect. In top universities in Europe and the United States, teachers will assume that you have learned it in advance when teaching, so the lectures are very fast and contain a lot of information. However, the disadvantage is that students may not be able to digest it in time, and it is not easy to quickly absorb the essence of the class. When teachers in Mainland China teach, they assume that students have already acquired a lot of knowledge, so this part of the content will not be explained in detail in class. The teachers at National Taiwan University are more humane, more patient and attentive, and they go from the easy to the deep in case you don’t understand. In fact, this is also related to the local education situation. There are too many students in Taiwanese schools. Since students have no pressure to advance to higher schools, their basic skills are generally poor. Teachers in ordinary universities are used to such patient and detailed explanations.

Every master’s and doctoral class in Taiwan must take a “research methods” course. This course is about the methods used in writing papers, including quantitative, qualitative and other contents. This course is very formal, unlike in mainland China where most tutors guide students on how to write papers without having a dedicated course. Tutors attach great importance to classmates' reports. In some courses, teachers give lectures for half a semester and students make reports for half a semester. At the same time, the examination format is also more diversified. There are few subjects for written examinations, and most of them are self-selected topics for reporting.

Many majors have few exams, such as the Chinese Literature major at Taiwan Normal University, but many majors have many exams, even mid-term exams, just like the management major at National Normal University.

Number4: Dual-tutor system

Different from the tutor-responsibility system in mainland China, Taiwan’s postgraduate education method is similar to the dual-tutor system. Students will have two tutors. One is a tutor in life and study, which can be referred to as a life tutor. This tutor is mainly responsible for caring about students' life and study, and answering various questions of students. Tutors have the obligation to understand the students' family situation, living conditions and other relevant information so as to provide appropriate help when the students encounter emergencies, such as serious illness, family changes, etc. There are no restrictions on academic qualifications or professional titles for life mentors, and there is no limit on the number of students he is responsible for.

The other is the supervising professor, whose main job is to guide graduate students in their thesis, and can be called a scientific research mentor. Scientific research mentors are generally found only in the second year of graduate school. Their main job is to assist students in conducting scientific research and completing thesis writing. During the first year of graduate school, students have the opportunity to take elective courses taught by their scientific research mentors, and then freely choose their scientific research mentors, who also make two-way choices for students. Of course, some students have already decided which scientific research mentor they want to work with before going to graduate school. During their graduate school period, they will contact the teacher to help the teacher with some projects and research, and the teacher will also give them a certain amount of compensation. Scientific research tutors in science and engineering majors generally have more projects. Generally, tutors will give students about 1,000 to 1,200 yuan a month as compensation for projects and topics. Scientific research tutors in humanities majors have fewer projects, and the subsidies given to students are smaller than those in science and engineering. a lot of.

The enrollment quota for scientific research tutors is limited by the course load and scientific research plan. Generally, scientific research tutors must submit a scientific research plan, which will explain what topics and projects will be researched this academic year, how many graduate students need to be recruited, and then based on the course load and research programs to recruit graduate students. If the tutor has a large course load, that is, he needs to devote a lot of energy to teaching, then the number of graduate students he will recruit will be fewer. If the tutor has more topics and scientific research tasks, he will recruit more graduate students. Generally speaking, a scientific research supervisor can lead about three master's students (excluding working master's students) in one session. In addition, students have strong autonomy in research, and the research topics do not necessarily have to be consistent with the tutor's research topics. They can conduct research within this major based on their own interests and hobbies.

Number5: 100,000-word master's thesis

The graduation thesis is the core of the entire postgraduate stage. It can be said that the entire postgraduate stage revolves around the graduation thesis. You will start selecting topics in the first year of graduate school. The instructor will assist in the selection, and will be strict about the topic selection and will constantly revise it. Postgraduate students in Taiwan have much higher requirements for thesis papers than those on the mainland, and the quality and word count are much stricter. The word count is generally at least twice that of the mainland. The master's thesis of the National Taiwan University School of Law is 100,000 words, which is far more than the 30,000 words required by the mainland. The requirements for a doctorate are generally more than 200,000 words, and all writing is required in English.

The thesis review of Taiwanese graduate students is also more stringent than that of mainland China. The final review of the thesis is a blind review, and the blind review panel is usually a team of experts with real skills. It is also common for students to fail to pass their thesis. For students who fail to pass the thesis review, graduation can only be postponed.

In terms of publishing papers, Taiwanese graduate students, like mainland graduate students, face greater pressure. Generally, school regulations require graduate-level students to publish at least one article in an academic journal. The grade of the academic journal It varies from school to school, but unlike mainland China, many schools require papers to be published entirely in English.

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