Research On The Reform Of Full - Time Master 's Degree Training Program In Subject Teaching (Biology)

Since 2009, the Ministry of Education has enlarged the enrollment of the Full-time Education Master(Ed.M) which is mainly made up of fresh graduates. In 2013, in order to improve the education quality of postgraduates, the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance jointly put forward “The Proposal on Deepening the Reform of Postgraduate Education”, in which the realization of “Four Transformation” was specially stressed. Since S University started the enrollment of the Full-time Ed.M Degree of Biology Teaching Methodology in 2011, 91.67% of graduates have become teachers in primary or middle school over these years. This thesis aims to propose advice for the reform of training scheme for this degree, with the requirements of the time, the current situation, the training scheme for relative subjects home and abroad as well as newly promoted proposals. This thesis attempts to put forward suggestions for the reform of higher education in the 13 th Five Year Plan with the intention of cultivating more excellent biology teachers and managers for basic education.Documentary methods, questionnaire surveys and methods of comparative analysis are applied in the outcome of this research.In order to understand the status quo of this degree, the author made the survey on the Ed.M graduates of Education from four aspects: the learning motivation of the graduates, current development stage, the curriculum and teaching, as well as the faculty. It is the hope of the author to offer some realistic reference to the training scheme reform of this Full-time Ed.M Degree Program.By comparing the training schemes of Master Degree in Education of The Hong Kong Institution of Education, Singapore National Institution of Education, and Bristol University in Britain, and by referring to the training schemes of Master Degree in Education in the U.S, Japan, Korea and other developed countries, the author summarizes their three features: putting emphasis on unique features and practice to meet the individual needs of students; making the curriculum more inclusive and related in order to improve the overall competency; giving the training schemes more phases and flexibility to offer students more space for independent development.In accordance with the state requirements, the thesis compares the specific training schemes of ten universities in China and finds out that Normal Universities are generally required to formulate its own training schemes. Innovative measures mainly include providing courses on biology curriculum and biological experiments, inviting the experienced top primary and middle school teachers into the class; setting internship basement in primary and middle schools and adopting the double-tutor system. However, the problems many higher education institutions face now concerning the heavy burden on cultivation, relative small proportion of practice-based courses, relative short semester system and low entrance rate of top professors, remain hard to be changed.At last, the author concludes that this this Full-time Ed.M Degree Program has both its strengths and shortcomings on the basis of the survey and both the vertical and horizontal comparison of different training schemes. The strengths include the clear learning motivation of the students, with a high employment rate in the relative fields; the effectiveness of the double-tutor system, which yields benefits to the students. The shortcomings include the difficulty for students to assimilate, as a result of rich cultivating contents yet short semesters; the inefficiency of the biology teaching curriculum; and the lack of course resources on cultivating school managerial capability.In view of this status quo, the author offers four reasonable and feasible suggestions on curriculum designing, teaching methods, faculty assignment, as well as semester system and incentive system. Specifically, intergrade resources to optimize the contents of curriculum; implement pilot teaching programs online with the use of up-to-date Medias; Recruit talented faculties, improve the double-tutor system and extend the semesters; establish the incentive system aimed at facilitating this Full-time Ed.M Degree Program to cultivate biology teachers that better catering to the needs of society.