According to the "Evening News", is it a bit absurd to ask Fudan professors questions like "who is more powerful, Buddha or Jade Emperor" when selecting academic elites? The interview for the first "Wangdao Plan" of 2012 was held on the 12th. 237 students from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai participated in this interview. After the interview, some students were confused by the questions they couldn't understand from the professors: "Are the professors trying to make it difficult for me?" With these confusions, the reporter interviewed the interview experts from liberal arts, science and medicine to uncover the hidden meanings behind the questions.
Confusion
Why ask physics questions if I'm applying for medical school?
After the interview, a candidate from Zhejiang Province recounted his experience with great frustration: "The professor asked me a question about the difference between rolling friction and sliding friction, which I didn't answer well. Then he asked if I knew about high-temperature superconductivity, to which I replied no because I only know about low-temperature superconductivity. Then the professor asked if I knew about the third type of superconductivity discovered recently, which I also don't know." After saying three "no"s, he couldn't help but complain: "I clearly applied for Fudan's Medical Experimental Class, but I don't know why the four experts who interviewed me asked many questions about physics. It's really strange!"
In response to the doubts, the medical interview expert explained: "We did not ask the student medical knowledge questions because none of the candidates today have a medical background, so it's impossible to ask them medical knowledge. However, we can observe the candidate's analytical and logical thinking abilities, including summarization, analysis, and induction of things, by asking him about other disciplines." He said that medical development has increasingly intersected with more disciplines, and physics is one of those interdisciplinary subjects.
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Wangdao Plan
The "Wangdao Plan" is an experimental program launched by Fudan University in Shanghai aimed at cultivating outstanding students into leading figures in relevant basic disciplines, gradually entering the ranks of world-class scientists.
This plan was introduced nationwide for the first time this year, adopting independent enrollment, fully integrating the recruitment and training phases; implemented in eight basic disciplines including mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, Chinese, history, philosophy, and medicine, eliminating written exams, using the method of secondary school recommendations and university interviews for selection.
Surprise
Is it necessary to ask questions about Journey to the West to test potential?
Another candidate from Jiangsu Province also found the professor's questions incomprehensible. When he mentioned Huaguo Mountain in Lianyungang to the interview expert, the professor suddenly interrupted and asked if he had read "Journey to the West". He answered "yes", then the professor immediately asked him the question "Who is more powerful, Jade Emperor or Buddha?", to which the candidate hesitated and replied: "One is Taoism, the other is Buddhism, they are not comparable."
"If the candidate feels the question is 'absurd', he can raise it on the spot and explain why it is 'absurd'. As long as the argument is reasonable, points can be added," said a science examiner.
"Our current education system has a misconception that every question must have a standard answer, but today's interview is not an exam, there are no correct answers. We prefer to view today's interview as a conversation," explained the liberal arts interview expert. "We will not reject a student just because he cannot answer a question. The student can say that the question is not a real question, or even counter-question the expert. I appreciate students who, after I ask a question, will counter-question me about the conditions. For example, with the question about 'Journey to the West', the student could actually give multiple answers, such as saying that Jade Emperor could not subdue Sun Wukong and had to ask Buddha to subdue him, indicating that Jade Emperor's military power is inferior to Buddha."
[Examiner's Perspective] The utilitarian mindset of students is brought to them by society.
During the interview, the reporter learned that to increase the chances of success, most students had reviewed some interview guides before coming. But with only a short 15-minute interview, would the professors' judgments fail?
"Whenever we feel that the student's performance is too scripted, we cut it off," said the medical interview expert. "Our chat with the students mainly observes their disciplinary background, analytical and logical thinking abilities, and the breadth and depth of their observations. If the student's narrative makes the expert feel that he may have potential in this area, we will follow up on this point and judge the depth of his understanding in this area. If the student knows all the points, we will ask deeper questions to roughly define the scope of his knowledge. Different interviewers might be interested in different aspects of what the student says, therefore, each student's interview process is different, and the so-called interview guide is not very useful."
"I think we shouldn't overly criticize the utilitarianism of students. In fact, much of this mindset is brought to them by teachers, parents, and the whole society. I believe the whole society should focus on providing students with a better environment and guidance. Students, at the age of eighteen or nineteen, should also reflect on themselves and plan for their future paths. From the interview situation, quite a number of students still have a vague idea of their future development," said a liberal arts interviewer.