作者简介 Author
Lee Davis
Deputy Director, Professional Development
Cambridge International Examinations
Lee Davis joined Cambridge International Examinations from The Aga Khan Academies – an agency within the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) – where he held the position of Director of Academic Planning and led the design, development and eventual opening of the network’s third operating Academy in Maputo, Mozambique.
While in East Africa, Lee also established numerous outreach and professional development programmes for local government schools, as part of the Academies’ broader development remit.
Before this, Lee was Head of Online Professional Learning at the International Baccalaureate Organisation and has held senior leadership positions in schools in Argentina and Sri Lanka.
随着中国学生海外留学的意愿不断加强，如何为学生在大学里的学习和生活做好准备成为学生和家长共同关注的问题。一项由美国国家科学院进行的研究表明，就挂科率而言，接受传统课程教育的学生，比起接受鼓励主动学习课程的学生，挂科率高出1.5倍，也就是说，那些懂得主动学习和深度学习的学生在大学里的表现会更胜一筹。
As the desire for students to go to university increases, the need to prepare our students well for university increases too. Studies show that students excel more at university when they are taught to be active and deep learners. A 2014 study from the National Academy of Sciences shows that students in a traditional lecture course are one and a half times more likely to fail, compared to students in courses where active learning is encouraged.
“主动学习”要求学生充分参与到学习的过程当中，发挥分析、评估、解决问题、统筹、批判性思考和创新等个人能力，更加深入地思考问题。这种学习方式能够帮助学生加深对知识的理解，并应用所学知识解决问题。这在学生的大学生活、甚至是职业生涯中，都是一项不可或缺的技能。
Active learning requires students to think harder by engaging in their own learning and utilizing skills of analysis, evaluation, problem solving, synthesis, critical reasoning and creativity. It develops understanding so that students can apply what they have learned to solve problems, which is a necessary skill for students to have as they move on to universities, and then careers.
在中国，很多课堂教学常常要求学生死记硬背，并不鼓励学生主动学习。这种教育方法虽然能使学生牢固地掌握学科知识，但并不能让他们懂得知识背后的“为什么”，也很难帮助他们将学到的知识应用到新的情境当中。与此不同，剑桥国际课程会鼓励学生在课堂上主动学习，以改进学习效果。为此，我们非常注重教学质量的提高。我们的教师不仅重视学习成绩，也十分关注学生的学习过程。他们不断反思总结教学方法，并围绕三大核心理念进行授课：先入之见、深度学习和后设认知。
However, many Chinese students are not encouraged to learn actively in the classroom. They are often taught only to memorize facts. As a result, while they have solid subject knowledge, they fail to understand the ‘why’ behind it and are not capable of applying their knowledge to new situations.
At Cambridge, we aim to improve teaching and learning for Chinese students by encouraging active learning approaches in the classroom. We believe improving teaching is the single most important intervention that a school can make to improve learning and performance. Excellent teachers are highly reflective and focus not only on the outcomes or products of learning, but also on the process of learning. This process at Cambridge circles around three big ideas of learning: preconceptions, deep learning, and metacognition.
先入之见 Preconceptions
所有学生在走进教室之前都或多或少抱有一些先入为主的想法 。先入之见从学生出生、开始了解周围现象，到入学前的几年时间里就已然形成。倘若这些对事物的最初理解是正确的，就可以为他们之后的学习打下良好的基础。但有些不正确的先入之见会误导学生产生错误的想法，这正是教师在教授新内容之前必须要解决的问题。
All students come to the classroom with preconceptions. Preconceptions begin to form in their pre-school years as students try to understand the phenomena around them. These initial understandings, or preconceptions, can sometimes be accurate, providing a foundation for learning to be built on. Sometimes, however, they are not, leading to misconceptions which must be addressed by teachers prior to learning new information.
先入之见对中国学生的影响尤为显著。他们可能会为了取得优异的考试成绩而记住一些新的概念，而一旦离开教室，他们就会马上恢复到之前对事物的认识。因此，有效的教学需要先将学生从对学科的固有理解中脱离出来，然后为他们提供挑战最初想法的机会。举个简单的例子，虽然6大于3是学生具备的基本常识，但是我们要在此基础上帮助他们理解为什么1/6小于1/3。
This is especially true for Chinese students, who may learn new concepts for the purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom. Therefore, effective teaching includes a process of eliciting from students their pre-existing understanding of a subject and providing opportunities to build on, or challenge, that initial understanding. This can be as simple as showing that 1/6 is smaller than 1/3, despite the basic knowledge that 6 is larger than 3.
深度学习 Deep learning
接下来，我们会采用“深度学习”的理念，要求学生不能仅仅满足于事实性知识的获取，更要在理论框架下把握知识和概念，并以方便提取和应用的方式将知识组织起来。
The next step would be to adopt deep learning, which requires the students to go beyond the understanding of factual knowledge. They are encouraged to grasp facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework and to organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.
中国传统教育方式对课本的过分依赖往往造成学生学到大量互不相关的事实与知识，而非实用的技能。但是，学术知识的实际应用以及批判性思维能力对学生来说都至关重要。在剑桥国际课程中，我们鼓励学生将事实性知识转化为可用的知识，实现深度学习。
Traditional Chinese teaching is always based on textbooks, and students often learn a large set of disconnected facts and knowledge instead of skills. However, it is very important to place academic study in a practical, real-world context and encourage students to think critically. At Cambridge, students are given the opportunity to develop deep understanding of the subject matter by transforming factual information into usable information.
因此，学生首先要理解一个知识点，并将其应用到一个特定场景，然后举一反三，将同一知识点应用到其他场景。比如，学生如果知道格兰德河是美国和墨西哥的分界线，同时还知道这条河是怎样联结两个文明、促进两国之间的贸易往来的，那么学生将会对河流作为一个概念进行理解，而不是作为单纯的自然现象。这种学习方式将帮助学生将概念运用到对其他河流的理解。
To do this, students must first understand and apply the information to a certain context, and then relate it and apply it to other contexts. For example, if a student knows that the Rio Grande river separates the Unites States from Mexico, but also understands how it connects these two civilizations and facilitates trade between them, that student can begin to understand rivers as a concept more than just a natural phenomenon. This understanding can then be applied to other rivers all around the world.
后设认知 Metacognition
后设认知，也称为元认知， 简单来说，就是对自己的认知过程（包括：记忆、感知、计算、联想等各项）的思考。在改变先入之见，实现深入学习之后，我们下一步会要求学生加强对学习方法的理解。在学习的过程中，后设认知能够促使学生主动规划学习进度，监督、评估和调整自己的学习行为。后设认知包含两个部分。其一是元认知知识，指学生在面对一项具体任务时，对自己的认知能力以及可用策略的整体把控。其二是后设认知监控，即学生如何监督并控制自己的认知过程。比如，具有后设认知监控能力的学生在发现某个策略无法解决问题的时候，会有意识地去尝试其它策略。
Once a student can apply information in different contexts, they need to improve their understanding of how they learn. Metacognition involves giving students the capacity to be active in planning, monitoring, evaluating, and adjusting their own learning behaviours as they continue to learn. It involves two parts: metacognition knowledge—the students’ knowledge of their own cognitive abilities and strategies available for a specific task—and metacognition regulation, i.e. how the students monitor and control their cognitive process. For example, realising that the strategy they are using to solve a problem isn’t working and trying another one.
在剑桥国际课程中，后设认知理念的推行能够促使学生主动制定学习目标、监督自己的学习进度，真正让学生把学习掌握在自己手中。具有后设认知能力的学生能够更好地预测学习成果，提高理解能力，总结经验教训，激活应用背景知识，提前进行学习规划，合理分配时间和记忆力。
At Cambridge, this approach allows students to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them. These metacognitive strategies work together to allow students the ability to predict outcomes, improve their understanding, learn from failure, activate background knowledge, plan ahead, and apportion time and memory.
先入之见、深度学习和后设认知三大核心理念环环相扣，通过帮助学生加深对知识的理解，融会贯通，监督自己的学习过程，使他们成为主动学习者。随着留学申请人数的大幅增加，大学对新生也越来越挑剔。主动学习能力不仅能够帮助学生收到理想的大学录取通知书，更重要的是，这种学习方式还将帮助学生为大学和今后工作中取得成功做好准备。
These three big ideas of learning build on one another, transforming the student into an active learner with the capacity to deepen their knowledge, understand and apply it in different contexts, and monitor their learning.
Universities are becoming more selective as the pool of applicants increases. By arming our students with these skills, we are not only helping them gain more desirable offers from universities—which is the major aim for most Chinese students and parents—but also preparing them with the skills they need to succeed at university and in life beyond. |
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