Abstract:

The direction of undergraduate education reform in research universities is one of the difficult problems in the reform and exploration of higher education in the past 20 years. This paper takes Tsien Excellence in Engineering Program (TEEP) in Tsinghua university, one of the pilot samples of China’s “Everest Plan”, as the research object, focusing on the pilot course and experience of undergraduate education in research universities in China. Based on a large number of static data such as official documents and meeting records across the past ten years of TEEP reform process, and dynamic data collected by researchers during the past two years including participatory observation, depth interview; etc, this paper comprehensively used the methods of archival research and case study. The study found that: compared with the traditional undergraduate education organization, TEEP has explored the “dual-axis driven” cultivation mode of “intensive course learning + advanced scientific research training” after more than a decade’s pilot practice. This paper reinterprets the core elements and operating mechanism of the “dual-axis driven” cultivation mode from its connotation and four dimensions: “systematic integration of knowledge and experience, logic of students’ time and space, interpersonal interaction between teachers and students, and self-construction of students”. The conclusion of this paper can provide theoretical framework and practical reference from different perspectives and value orientation for further promoting undergraduate education reform in research universities in the new era.

Key words: research university, cultivation of top-notch innovative talents, undergraduate education in science and engineering, Tsien Excellence in Engineering Program in Tsinghua University