After taking several courses with graduate students in different majors, I found that the use of computer software in basic assignments causes hard time for some students. The reason is that they do not understand fundamental theories in mathematics. Most of the engineering graduate students are very good at using commercial software on their assignments and homework, which is fast, efficient and accurate, but it should not be the main way for graduate students in science and engineering to learn mathematics. Why? If they only use software without knowing the calculating procedures they will not have the ability to analyze the process. While science students might be good at essential concept that can be tedious for a difficult process, it still provides the basic theory. Theory is like a seed of knowledge, and learning how to use theory is watering the seed. Although each department has distinct characteristics, it is good to create similar abilities for those graduate students.
In some cases students might not be able to understand the fundamental theories, or obtain proper practice from the assignments of their courses. In order to submit the assignment on time, they rely on computers to help them solve the problems. I believe that some students think learning theories is difficult and boring, but it is a critical path to understanding the basic knowledge and making connection to the real scientific problems. Without a doubt computers will save students a lot of time, and there may be several reasons for engineers to create a program. The most important thing is to comprehend the text or underlying purpose of those software programs.
No matter how difficult students may find homework assignments, working by themselves helps them try to use knowledge they have learned before relying on computers. If students can spend time getting the main idea of fundamental theory prior to using the software, they will improve their reasoning skills. Computer simulations can be used to get results, but do not help the understanding of theory. As a result, only reading the instructions for the software does not help students gain the big picture or the whole concept. Maybe instructors can ask students to answer the assignment without using software. After students really understand the meaning of the program, they will find out that a lot of difficulties have to be overcome during the hands-on section. Otherwise, they might use the software only to check the results, but would not use the software’s full capabilities.
It is not only important to get more advanced education, but also to help students prepare for applying what they have learned in the near future. Students should apply those theories in the industry. If they learn theories, they will have the advantage to create and solve problem in scientific ways. If they only experience using software, they will only have ideas of using similar software. They will not be prepared for the real world. When students follow the concept while solving problems, they might be able to think of a new solution. Nevertheless, it is good to use the software program as a tool. So after thoroughly understanding the procedures, they would not spend time on those routines. They can connect the education to the application. The industry would welcome those intelligent students. For example, Microsoft Excel can give users different kinds of graphs or tables, and MATLAB is also a powerful and popular software designed to solve a variety of problems. Both engineering and science students might use them all the time, but by only plugging input data into the program will not help students to understand the meaning of the concept.
In order to resolving the issue of learning fundamental and software, I would suggest changing the education policy, and making the requirement to not use software in the beginning stages of learning advanced theories. For instance, each department can set up training courses with only hand-on development. At that time students might have to learn how to solve questions step by step in the beginning, and the following term would be good time for them to try useful software programs. Maybe they could take the course learning how to use MATLAB, and their computer laboratory would get the software ready for them. If the software company would like to make more user-friendly programs, users can discover it easily by themselves, or the software company can offer free test programs to students. Therefore the user can learn it by just trying it. After students are given some training in the academic world, they will have the chance to use those skills in their work.
Some people learn by experiment and others learn by experience. If students are given opportunities to learn new software, they will have chances to learn by experience, and professors can improve their teaching methods. When the software contains much useful information, students will like to use it; moreover, it might lighten the load of the assignment. Maybe learning theories is a very tedious process, but it is the way to understand concepts; therefore students could use software to save time; nevertheless, basic knowledge of how to solve mathematical equations is vitally necessary. If students only get the results from software calculating, they will never fully understand the process. When the instructors ask for more details, students have difficulty in analyzing the process. Furthermore the fundamental theories can help students gain more knowledge in problem solutions.
In conclusion, I would like to suggest this changes to the educational policy, and encourage students to analyze the result by using software. After they overcome the tedious learning process, they will have abilities to follow the consequence to problem solving process. When students know about theories, then will come the time to use computer simulations to advance the understanding of theories. They will find out that they can do the work to the best of their abilities. It will be a win-win situation for students and companies. Also companies may have their own software for new employees to use when they begin a new position. If students have used the school’s software, they will find out their learning weakness, and they will not be afraid they cannot solve problems with the basic equational knowledge they have obtained. In the end they will be ready for their future jobs.
當初花時間這篇文章是要申請獎學金用的，因為是再不同領域的人都可以提出申請的獎學金，所以競爭有夠激烈，想當然菜鳥如我就有心裡準備會收到下面的訊息～這次志在參加，只能告訴自己當作是吸取經驗囉！
Thank you for your participation in the NSF Innovation in Graduate Education Challenge. The judges have spoken. After reviewing all the entries, they have chosen a select number to advance to the next round of judging. Unfortunately, your entry was not among those advanced by the judges. The competition was extremely tough and there were many fine and thoughtful essays submitted.
We know you spent a significant amount of time and effort in crystalizing your thoughts and communicating them in a way that would resonate with this challenge. We sincerely appreciate the hard work invested in sharing personal insights and innovative ideas for improving graduate education.
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