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22 Mar 2020

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Fudan Character

Fudan stellar professor inspires students

By Yan Chengyi

In the new semester, the course “Critical Thinking & Innovation” taught by Professor Xiong Hao from Law School, has once again become one of the most popular courses at Fudan University.

Professor Xiong Hao

What happens when the novel A Dream in Red Mansions meets architectural psychology? How does a coffee shop inspire your imagination? Seeming odd at first sight, these are the questions discussed in Critical Thinking & Innovation, a course taught by Professor Xiong of the Fudan Law School.

The aim is not so much to pass on knowledge and techniques as to transmit the dao,” said Xiong. Dao (道) is a fundamental concept in Chinese Taoist philosophy, which literally means way”, referring to the principles that guide every aspect of peoples life. Xiong believes that the key to the dao of creativity and innovation is critical thinking skills, which can be acquired through mental exercises such as debate, research, conflict-solving, etc.

For a scholar of dispute resolution like Xiong, critical thinking in and of itself is an indispensable part of life that brings him tremendous joy. After obtaining his PhD from the University of Hong Kong, he joined Fudans Law School and participated in popular TV debates and talk shows. He is well known for his witty remarks, quick response, composure on stage. People are often restrained by conventions and norms. But innovation is about thinking out of the box. Xiong highlighted the significance of thinking differently, which is why he opened the course in the first place.

Students are also attracted to the course for the student-friendly learning experience he offers in class, which he has also brought online during the COVID-19 epidemic.


Moving Online

Previously, the course was run on an e-platform with offline seminars as a supplement. In the past 8 semesters, over 270,000 students enrolled in the course and spoke highly of it.


The course was awarded Top 100 course by Zhihuishu, an e-learning platform

This semester, however, as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19, Xiong has to make several adjustments. The course is divided into 60 sections by topic and each lasts only 6 minutes to cope with shortened attention spans as students watch the videos unsupervised.

“Pre-recorded teaching videos is one-directional. As a teacher, I don't know how well students are processing the information because I can’t see their face. For students, they may get bored or tired easily for the lack of interaction.” To make up for it, Xiong inserts questions into the course and the students will have to choose the right answer before they proceed.

Quiz questions pop out in the video

Whats more, to make sure that students have a clear idea of the roles of and links between different parts of knowledge, Xiong constantly leads students through knowledge mapping to review what knowledge resides where in a bigger picture.

Offline seminars have been moved online as well. Questions from students are collected in advance via E-learning and Wechat group chats to be answered.


The more feedback, the better

The expressions used by the professor are very elegant.The speed of teaching is just right.Would you illustrate that with more examples?”Can you elaborate on the terminologies you mention?”I hope the professor can slow down a bit. I need more time to process. These are some of the comments Xiong has received from his students.

I want my students to know that Id like them to participate in class and their responses are valued,” said Xiong. Since the first class, Xiong has been asking the students what they really thought about the class and he was happy to hear suggestions from the students.  Knowing how they really feel is more useful to my teaching than just receiving full-on praise.

As a result, Xiong decided to invite all students to fill in a simple feedback questionnaire after class. The first questionnaire received a high response rate of over 70%. Teachers should learn from digital product managers who encourage feedback from their customers to make improvement on their products step by step,” said Xiong.


Feedback from students

Building a consensus with students

Xiong compares the role of a teacher to that of a fishing captain. The captain establishes the fishing goal for the day before setting out, updates the crew of their current location and how many fish they have caught on sea, and discuss the operation and review their harvest together back onshore. Xiong believes, by comparing notes from time to time, the teacher and students will develop a consensus of where they are and what their goal is. With the effort of the whole class, the course will be shaped into its optimal state.


Editor: Deng Jianguo, Li Yijie

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