Research On Interdisciplinary Training For Graduate Students In Research Universities

The development of contemporary science and technology tends to become more andmore interdisciplinary, interpenetrative, highly integrated and systematic. Interdisciplinehas become a time characteristic of contemporary science developmen. Under the socialbackground of the transition from subject pattern to interdisciplinary pattern, the graduatecultivation has been accordingly following this mode transformation, in respond to thecoming challenges brought by the complex problems derived from the rapid developmentof social economy, culture and science. Here comes into being a consensus in nationalgraduate education, that constructing corresponding educating environment for compoundinnovative talents who can solve comprehensive and significant technology and socialproblems in the future. It is also an important project for graduate education reformation.Compared with the traditional graduate cultivation, interdisciplinary training forgraduate students characterizes diverse knowledge, problem oriented, and collaborativeinnovation. Driving forces for further progress in interdisciplinary training for graduatestudents include the internal requirements of knowledge fusion, the external drive of socialdevelopment, the important pathway for university development and the deep-level needfor graduate students’ comprehensive growth.This study reviews and summarizes the past and present situation of abroad anddomestic interdisciplinary training for graduate students. Some developed countries suchas America, England and Japan carried out interdisciplinary training for graduate studentsin earlier years. Their training modes have several characteristics, for example, they werepaid high attention by the department of national strategy and got policy and systemsafeguard. Also, they take diversification strategy in the cultivation and achieve effectiveresults. In recent years, our universities made progress in interdisciplinary training forgraduate students, but because of the inveterate cultivating ideas and rigidprofessionalization-oriented cultivating structure, our universities are inevitablyconfronted with many deficiencies in the process of graduate training transformation, suchas blocks in system, organization and support.This empirical study adopts Shanghai Jiao Tong University as a case study toinvestigate the statuses and problems of interdisciplinary training for graduate students inChinese research universities. The main methods used are questionnaires and in-depthinterviews on three different groups, namely, graduate students, tutors and administrative staff. Using the structural equation modeling, the study empirically analyzes therelationship between factors of interdisciplinary training for graduate students and itsquality. The results indicate that scientific research, dissertation, allocation of resources,enrollment manners, training objectives, disciplinary culture, tutor guiding, assessmentand evaluation, academic exchange and teaching courses impact on the quality ofinterdisciplinary training for graduate students. Among these tutor guiding and dissertationplay the most important role. Survey results show that:1) Respondents reached aconsensus on the importance of interdisciplinary training for graduate students and a veryhigh percent of them have paid attention to it;2) Many of them were dissatisfied with theimplementation and effects of the present interdisciplinary training for graduate students;3) Different respondents show distinct divergence on different factors aboutinterdisciplinary training for graduate students;4) Structure interdisciplinary trainingmode for graduate students.Based on the past and current situation of interdisciplinary training for graduatestudents and considering the cultivating course and its characteristics, we can divideinterdisciplinary training for graduate students into five types, which involve:1)Interdisciplinary recruiting mode which is featured by students themselves;2) Curriculumlearning mode which is featured by knowledge diversity;3) Project research mode whichis problem-oriented;4) Double degrees mode which is based on social needs;5)Interdisciplinary degree mode which is featured by the substantial interdisciplinaryintegration. These five modes have different forms and contents, generating paths, maincharacteristics, and ranges of application.In order to further promote interdisciplinary training for graduate students andimprove graduate students training quality, we must systematically optimize its cultivatingmode.1) On training objectives, research universities should carefully chooseinterdisciplinary training directions and reasonably locate training objectives;2) Onenrollment manners, research universities should encourage interdisciplinary enrollmentand formulate a suitable selection mechanism;3) On teaching courses, researchuniversities should make the minimum learning requirements clear, permitting graduatestudents to select interdisciplinary courses and encouraging teachers to set up newinterdisciplinary courses and to enhance the training methods;4) On scientific research,government should set up relative research projects, which actively coordinate with everypart of training process;5) On academic exchange, research universities should make fulluse of resources to build academic exchange platform and reinforce overseas academicexchange, creating an environment and atmosphere to the advantage of academic exchange;6) On professional practice, research universities should highlightresearch-based professional practice and take emphasis on the promotion ofuniversity-industry-science partnership;7) On dissertation, research universities shouldconstruct a dissertation process monitoring system, supervising it in the special zone;8)On tutor guiding in the assurance of the quality, research universities should adopt "dualtutor guiding" or "tutor group guiding" system, enhancing tutors’ guiding ability andefficiency;9) On system and criterion, government should reinforce macro-managementand policy support. Correspondently, research universities should reinforce top-leveldesign and special-zone management;10) On assessment and evaluation, researchuniversities should establish assessment and evaluation system, as well as interdisciplinaryacademic committee or degree evaluation committee;11) On supporting conditions,research universities should open the boundary of different discipline actively fordisciplinary culture, and ensure the system safeguard for disciplinary culture integration,creating conditions for different disciplinary culture exchange;12) On the organization ofdisciplines, research universities should build some cultivation institutional framework;13)On allocation of resources, research universities should have a reasonable allocation andbuild high-quality resources sharing mechanism.The innovative points of this study may reflect in the following three aspects:1)Systematically generalizes the five main modes of interdisciplinary training for graduatestudents and its aspects, including forms and contents, generating paths and maincharacters, compares their advantanges and disadvantages and analyzes their range ofapplication;2) Investigate the statuses and problems of interdisciplinary training forgraduate students in Chinese research universities through the empirical study, involvingquestionnaires and in-depth interviews. Using the structural equation modeling, the studyempirically analyzes the relationship between factors of interdisciplinary training forgraduate students and its quality and builds the training mode. In the meanwhile, differentrespondents show distinct divergence on different factors by data statistics and analysis;3)Systematically optimizes the interdisciplinary training for graduate students in researchuniversities and puts forward some targeted advice, which can act as a very practicalguidance for interdisciplinary training for graduate students in research universities.