如何塑造最棒的大学经历呢？

------''Making the Most of College''（Harvard University Press，2001）

 

 

没办法，只好自己来翻译------说起来，英语是最让我沮丧的东东；这都是几年前的工作了，在另一个博客被[“私密”掉了。转发到这里来.

 检索到纽约时报Kate Zernike写的，对于Richard J. Light的关于哈佛教学的研究的介绍后，原本以为可以直接使用了，因为，恰好也有翻译过来的文字（参看：龙夫. 哈佛成功指南[J].出国与就业:出国专辑，2002.08）。

不过，还是心里有些不踏实，所以，还是认真看了看原文；真是令人恼火。

都说中国教育、中国国民缺少“创造力”，可是，在介绍不同语言、文化之间的资料的时候，翻译人员的“创造力”却常常是“惊人的”。稍不注意，你就会被领到坑里去！

        这篇东西的翻译，八成左右的内容的确是针对原文翻译出来的，可是，还有那重要的一、两成，就成为了翻译者自由发挥的部分。也可以说，中国人“七七八八”的文化，害死人。

         没办法，下学期想用这篇东西的内容，只好自己来翻译了；结果，参看[5]。黑色字体是“龙夫”翻译的文字；蓝色字体为从新整理、翻译的。

        最后，期盼机器翻译技术尽早有一个质量上的突破。

 

参考资料：

[1]  http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/机器翻译  机器翻译

机器翻译（Machine Translation，经常简写为 MT，俗称机翻）属于计算语言学（Computational Linguistics）的范畴，其研究借由计算机程序将文字或演说从一种自然语言翻译成另一种自然语言。简单来说，机器翻译是通过将一个自然语言的字辞取代成另一个语言的字辞。借由使用语料库的技术，可达成更加复杂的自动翻译，包含可更佳的处理不同的文法结构、词汇辨识、惯用语的对应等。

 

[2] http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/约翰·F·肯尼迪政府学院  约翰·F·肯尼迪政府学院

约翰·F·肯尼迪政府学院（John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Kennedy School, 或HKS）是世界顶尖的公共政策学校，也是美国哈佛大学的研究生院之一。学院可授公共政策、公共管理和国际发展等学位，也进行各种与政治和政府有关的研究。

肯尼迪政府学院原先是哈佛大学的公共管理研究生院，始建于1936年。1960年代，为纪念约翰·F·肯尼迪，哈佛政治学院成立，但其主要是培养本科生。1978年，两学院合并。

如今，肯尼迪学院提供四个硕士学位课程计划。公共政策硕士（MPP）主要致力于政策分析、公共经济、公共管理和政策设计等方面。[1]公共管理硕士（MPA）课程分两种：为工作7-15年的职业人开设的为期1年的课程和为毕业不久的职业人开设的为期2年的课程。[2][3]MPP和MPA交叉学习，这也是学院的特色之一。国际发展公共管理硕士（MPA/ID）是肯尼迪学院最新的项目，也是课程最难的一个项目，以学习博士班的高级经济学课程为主。[4][5]肯尼迪学院与哈佛商学院、哈佛法学院、哈佛神学院和哈佛医学院共同开设学位课程，也与哥伦比亚商学院、哥伦比亚法学院、耶鲁法学院、斯坦福商学院和纽约大学法学院联合授学位。肯尼迪学院允许与鼓励学生通修哈佛商学院的课，而且许多肯尼迪学院的课程本身就是由哈佛商学院的教授教的。[6]根据需要，学生亦可以在麻省理工学院斯隆管理学院和塔夫茨大学弗莱彻法律与外交学院选修课程。

截止2011年，学院共有来自137个国家的毕业生逾27,000人，分布在各私人和公共领域的重要位置。[7]

从2002年起，肯尼迪政府学院开始与清华大学公共管理学院及国务院发展研究中心合作举办“公共管理高级培训班”项目，为中国培训300名厅局级以上中高级官员。新华网引述报道称，这是历来最大规模的中国官员海外培训计划，对中国公务员队伍素质的提高产生积极作用。[8][9]不少地方派“一把手”参加培训，包括前江苏省委书记、现任国家副主席的李源潮。[10][11]

 

[3]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_education  school of education

In the United States and Canada, a school of education （or college of education; ed school） is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences encompassing sociology, psychology, linguistics, economics, political science, public policy, history, and others, all applied to the topic of elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education. The U.S. has 1,206 schools, colleges and departments of education and they exist in 78% of all universities and colleges.[1] According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 176,572 individuals were conferred masters’ degrees in education by degree-granting institutions in the United States in 2006-2007. The number of master’s degrees conferred has grown immensely since the 1990s and accounts for one of the discipline areas that awards the highest number of master’s degrees in the United States.[2]

In the United Kingdom, following the recommendation in the 1963 Robbins Report into higher education, teacher training colleges were renamed colleges of education in the UK. For information about academic divisions devoted to this field outside of the United States and Canada, see Postgraduate Training in Education.

 

[4]  http://baike.baidu.com/view/541022.htm  南开大学周恩来政府管理学院

南开大学周恩来政府管理学院（Zhou Enlai School of Government，中文简称“政府学院”，英文简称“ZSG”）于2004年5月成立，由政治学系、社会学系、行政管理系、社会工作与社会政策系、国际关系系、社会心理学系和MPA/MSW/MAP中心等组成，是一个涵盖政治学、社会学、民族学、公共管理和心理学五个一级学科的综合性专业学院。

 

[5]  http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/harvard.html  April 8, 2001, Sunday

 

BOOKS: The Harvard Guide to Happiness

By Kate Zernike

 

Lost in the current obsession to get into The Best U is something most adults readily admit, at least in hindsight: It doesn't matter so much where you go to college, but what you make of the experience.

So how to make the most of it?

进最好的大学是大多数美国高中毕业生的理想。但对许多人来说，问题不是他想读哪所大学，而是他能在大学里学到什么和怎样获得最好的大学生活。

       大多数过来人还是乐于承认的一件事情是，痴迷于进入最好的大学，但是，至少在事后承认：你去读哪所大学没有那么重要，而是你塑造怎样的经历。

那么，如何塑造最棒的大学经历呢？

 

In 1986, Derek Bok, then the president of Harvard, summoned a professor at the Graduate School of Education and asked him to evaluate how well the university educated its students and ways it might improve. Why, Dr. Bok wanted to know, did some students have a great experience while others did not?

The professor, Richard J. Light, a statistician by training, gathered colleagues and deans from 24 other institutions to examine the question and come up with a scientific method to find the answer.

1986年，当时还是哈佛大学校长的得雷科·鲍克很想知道，为什么有些学生在哈佛的经历很成功，而有些学生却平平淡淡。所以他找到哈佛教育研究院的理查德·莱特教授，请他通过研究，评估一下哈佛栽培出来的学生，以及哈佛学子怎样才能让大学生活过得充实而愉快。

任职教育研究院的莱特教授，也是位训练有素的统计学家，他召集了一批来自哈佛大学其他24个机构的同事，就校长的这个问题开始研究，希望从中找到答案。

1986年，德里克·博克，当时哈佛的校长，找来一位教育学研究生院的教授，请他评估一下，大学教育他的学生做的如何，有什么方式可以进一步改进。博克博士想知道，为什么，一些学生有一个出色的大学经历，而其他人平淡无奇？

理查德J. 莱特教授，资深的统计学家，召集同事和来自24个其它机构的院长一起分析这个问题，并提出了找到答案的科学方法。

 

Over 10 years researchers interviewed 1,600 Harvard students, asking a range of questions about everything from what they did in their spare time to the quality of teaching and advising. They looked for patterns -- say, what made certain courses effective. They also correlated students' academic and personal choices with their grades and how happy and intellectually engaged they said they were. The goal was to determine which factors were more likely to improve learning and overall happiness. A factor always linked to success would be rated 1; one with a significant relationship to success would be 0.50; and one with no effect would be 0. （Not every factor got a rating because of inconsistencies in how questions were asked.）

Fifteen years later, Harvard has made policy changes based on the study, like assigning students homework to do in groups and scheduling some classes later in the day so discussions can continue over dinner.

''It turns out there are a whole range of concrete ways students can improve their experience,'' said Professor Light, who teaches at the John F. Kennedy School of Government as well as at the education school. Professor Light has gathered the best ideas in a book, ''Making the Most of College'' （Harvard University Press, 2001）. The suggestions are often simple. Still, he said, ''It's amazing how little thought people give to these decisions.''

自此，莱特教授开始了长达15年的研究。多年来，莱特教授及其同事先后采访了1600多名哈佛学生，同时与100多名专家和教授进行了探讨，就“业余时间干什么”、“哈佛的教学质量如何”、“有何建议”，以及他们本人的情况，进行了广泛的调查和研究。目的是确定哪种因素最有助于学生提高学习成绩，并给他们带来成功快乐的大学生活。

在莱特教授和同仁的研究基础上，哈佛的许多教学方针已作了调整，如现在会安排学生一起做作业、课后进行讨论，等等。目前兼任哈佛肯尼迪政府学院教授的莱特说：“我们的研究结果表明，学生可以有很多方法来提升他们的大学经历。”

莱特教授已经将他们的研发结果和自己的妙点子写成了一本书《创造最棒的大学生活》（Making the Most of College）。这些“成功指南”对即将踏入大学校门或已经置身其中的你，一定有所帮助。

历经十多年，研究人员访问了1,600名哈佛的学生，询问一系列问题，从他们在业余时间做什么到（学校针对同学的）教学和咨询（提供咨询帮助）的质量等所有事情。他们找到了一些模式—也就是说，那些因素可以使某一些课程更为有效。他们还将学生的学业和个人的选择与他们的成绩、有多么快乐以及他们自我评价主动投入状态联系起来。目标是确定哪些因素更有可能提高学习成绩和整体幸福感。总是与成功联系在一起的一个因素设定为1，与成功有显著关系的因素设定为0.50；对成功没有影响的因素设定为0。（因为每次如何提出问题是不一致的，所以，不是每个因素在每次提问的时候都设定一个数值。）

15年后，在研究的基础上，哈佛已经实现了政策的改变。比如安排学生课后功课以小组形式完成；一些课程的时间安排在当天的晚些时候，以便可以在晚餐的时候继续讨论。

“原来，有一整套的具体的方式，学生们可以改善他们的经历，”莱特教授说，就职于约翰·F·肯尼迪政府学院，同时在教育学院任教。莱特教授将最好的想法融会在一本书里，“塑造最棒的大学经历”（哈佛大学出版社，2001年）。这些建议经常很简单。不过，莱特教授说，“让人惊讶的是，想不到人们会给出这些决定。”

 

1. Meet the faculty. Professor Light now tells each of the students he advises the same thing at the beginning of each term: ''Your job is to get to know one faculty member reasonably well and get that faculty member to know you reasonably well. If you do nothing else, do that.'' On the most opportunistic level, this means that at the end of four years -- two semesters each -- the student has eight professors to write recommendations for jobs or for graduate school. But more important, the relationship makes a student feel more connected to the institution.

The most satisfied students in the Harvard interviews sought detailed feedback and asked specific questions of professors and advisers -- not ''Why didn't I get a better grade?'' but ''Point out the paragraphs in this essay where my argument faltered.''

And don't try to hide academic problems. The researchers working for Professor Light interviewed a sample of 40 students who stumbled academically in their first year. The 20 who asked for help improved their grades, the 20 who did not spiraled downward -- isolated, failing and unhappy.

manual六、和老师接触受益匪浅

莱特教授在每个新学期的开始都要对学生提同一个忠告：你们应该主动和老师接触，了解他们，同时也让老师充分了解你。如果你还没有这么做过，那么从现在开始吧，这种接触将会使你受益匪浅。莱特教授说：“想想吧，当你结束4年（8个学期）的大学生活、准备求职或考研究生时，会有至少8名教授为你写推荐信。更重要的是，和教师的这种良好关系会让你感到自己受到重视，被关心。”

莱特教授表示，那些接受采访并过着愉快大学生活的哈佛学生，通常向教师请教的问题不是“为什么我总是考不出好成绩”，而是“我的这篇论文哪一段论述不充分。”

还有，遇到学术问题不要逃避。为莱特教授工作的研究人员在对40个碰到学业难题的新生做的试验表明，主动请教老师的20个学生的成绩提高了，而另外不找老师帮助的20个学生则成绩差，且心情沮丧、不快乐。

1.  多认识教师。现在，在每个学期初，莱特教授告诉每一个他指导的学生同样的事情：“你的一份职责就是深入了解一个教员，同时让那位教员充分了解你。如果你别的什么还没有做，先做那个。”这是一个最取巧的方式，这意味着四年结束后--每年两个学期--这位学生有8个教授写推荐信去找工作或上研究生院。但更重要是，这种关系使学生感到和学校有着更紧密地联系。

在哈佛采访中最满意的学生总是寻求详细的反馈意见，并询问教授和指导教师非常具体的问题--比如，不是：“为什么我不能得到一个更好的成绩？”而是：“请指出在这篇文章中那一段我的论述不充分。”

不要试图隐藏存在的学术疑难。为莱特教授工作的研究人员采访了一个有40名学生的样本，他们在第一年都出现了学业上的磕磕绊绊。 主动请求帮助的20人提高了他们的成绩，没有寻求帮助的20人成绩不断下降--感到孤独、失败和沮丧。

 

2. Take a mix of courses. Nearly without exception, the students in the study who were struggling were taking nothing but large introductory courses that were needed to complete their degree. Why? To get them out of the way. Advice from well-meaning parents often goes something like this: First year, take required courses. Second year, choose a major. Third year, take advanced classes required for your major. Save fun electives, like dessert, for last.

The trouble is, introductory courses range across so much material they often fail to offer students anything to sink their teeth into. So when it comes time to choose a major, students don't know what really interests them. By senior year, when taking courses that stimulate them, they are wondering why they didn't take more courses in Japanese/medieval social history/statistics earlier. Those who treat the early years like a shopping excursion, taking not only required classes but also ones that pique their interest, feel more engaged and happier with their major.

''The less satisfied students were the ones who said, 'My tack was to get all the requirements out of the way,''' Professor Light said. ''The successful students do the exact opposite.''

The corollary to this recommendation: Take small classes, which encourages faculty interaction and a feeling of connectedness. Taking classes with 15 or fewer students had a 0.52 correlation with overall engagement and a 0.24 correlation with good grades -- both considered significant.

manual二、混合选课收获多

在哈佛校园里，许多学生为了拿到学位，选修了大量课程，但他们的收获却不多。这些学生统称这样选课：大一学必修课、大二学主修课、大三学主修课中的高级必修课、最后一年则选择一些兴趣课，就像饭后的甜点似的。

但问题是，大一的基础课涉及范围广，他们来不及咀嚼消化；到大二年级学主修课时又觉得很枯燥；待到高年级选读的兴趣课比较“刺激”时，他们才后悔为什么当初不多选兴趣课，如日语、历史、统计等。而大学生活真正成功的学生，就是从一年级便开始混合选课，既学必修课，又选主修课和兴趣课，就像一个人去购物，不仅买生活必需品，也买其他的东西。这样，几种课程互相调剂，学生学习起来才有兴致，也更专心。相反，每一学年单调地学一种课程的学生，通常都觉得学习乏味，心里不痛快。

当然，如果能在小班（少于15个人）里上课，学生被教师指导的机会较多，学习成绩提高得也会更快。

2.  采取一个混合课程（选择）。几乎没有例外的是，仅仅选择为了完成学位要求的大量的入门课程而没有选择其他课程的课堂上的学生，给人的感觉是在痛苦的挣扎。为什么呢？路选的不对（方向错了、方法有误）。来自于善意的父母的建议往往是这样的：第一年，采取必修的课程。第二年，选择主修课程。第三年，你的主修课程中的高级的必修课程。最后一年是保留的有趣的选修课，如甜点一样。

问题在于，入门课程 的范围跨越这么多的材料，他们往往无法提供学生咀嚼、品位的可能。所以，随着时间流逝需要选择一个专业的时候，学生不知道他们真正感兴趣的是什么。到了高年级的时候，当选择的课程很刺激他们的时候，他们非常想知道他们为什么没有早些时候选择更多的类似于，日本、中世纪社会历史、统计学的课程。那些一开始选课就像购物游览一样，不仅考虑选择所必需的课程，也选择能够激起他们兴趣的课程的同学，对于他们的专业主修课程会感到更有兴趣、幸福。

莱特教授说，“不太满意的学生他会说，‘我的方法把所有的要求偏离了方向。’成功的学生做的正好相反。”

这项建议的推论是：选择小班的课，这里鼓励教师互动和感情的交流。选择有15名同学或更少同学的课堂的话，在全面接触方面的相关性有0.52，和好成绩的相关性有0.24—两者都很重要。

 

3. Study in groups. Doing homework is important, but what really matters is doing it in a way that helps you understand the material. Students who studied on their own and then discussed the work in groups of four to six, even just once a week, understood material better and felt more engaged with their classes. This was especially true with science, which requires so much solitary work and has complicated concepts.

manual四、一起写作业很有帮助

莱特教授指出，学生完成课后作业很重要，但关键是要有一种好的方法，使他（她）能理解作业中所有的问题。所以，当学生独立完成自己的作业后，可以和4到6个同学一起讨论结果，哪怕一个星期只有一次这样的讨论，都能提高他们理解问题的能力，并激发他们学习的兴趣。这种讨论尤其对科学系的学生很有帮助，因为科学是一门更加独立和复杂的课程。

3.  小组学习。做课后作业是重要的，但真正重要的是采用什么方法帮助你理解材料。学生首先独立完成作业，然后小组讨论工作四至六个小时，即使仅仅每周一次，也可以更好理解材料，还会感觉和他们的班级更紧密。对于科学院（自然科学）的同学这特别有效，它需要许多的独立工作，而且还有那么多复杂的概念。

 

4. Write, write, write. Choose courses with many short papers instead of one or two long ones. This means additional work -- more than 12 hours a week versus fewer then 9, or about 40 percent more time -- but it also improves grades. In a class that requires only one 20-page paper at the end of the term, there is no chance of recovering from a poor showing. Courses with four five-page papers offer chances for a midcourse correction.

And the more writing, the better. In all of Professor Light's research, no factor was more important to engagement and good grades than the amount of writing a student did. Students in the study recommended taking courses with a lot of writing in the last two years, when you have adjusted to the challenges of being in college and are preparing to write a long senior thesis.

manual三、课堂笔记训练有素

莱特教授强调，学生上课时应该带上许多小纸片，而不是一两张大纸做课堂笔记。一个星期有9到12个小时，也就是只要有40%的上课时间做笔记，你的学习成绩就会大大提高。莱特教授的研究证明，学生记得越多越好，成绩提高得越快，没有什么方法比记大量课堂笔记更能提高学生成绩的了。如果学生能在最后两年里一直坚持记笔记的习惯，当大学生活结束、该写毕业论文时，训练有素的你就会觉得那是小菜一碟。

4.  写，写，写。选择有许多篇短论文的课程而不是只有一、两个长论文的课程。这意味着额外的工作--每周超过12小时或少于9小时，或大约40%也许更多的时间--但它也可以提高成绩。在学期末只需要一篇20页的论文的一个课堂上，没有机会从表现不佳翻身（难以恢复或者找回自信，所谓，一锤子买卖。）。需要写作四篇五页论文的课程就提供了一个中途修正的机会。

        而且。写作的越多，更好。莱特教授研究的所有因素中，没有任何因素在参与度和取得优异成绩方面，比得上学生的写作数量更重要。最后两年里，同学在学习推荐的选修课程过程中会有很多的写作，而此时，你已经适应了在大学里的挑战，也为撰写一个长的毕业论文做好了准备。

 

5. Speak another language. Foreign language courses are the best-kept secret on campus. Many students arrive with enough skills to test out of a college's language requirement. But language was the most commonly mentioned among ''favorite classes.'' Sixty percent of students put them in the category of ''hard work but pure pleasure''; 57 percent of those interviewed again after leaving college recommended not testing out. Why? Classes are small, instructors insist on participation, students work in groups, and assignments include lots of written work and frequent quizzes, allowing for repeated midcourse corrections. In short, foreign language courses combine all the elements that lead to more learning and more engagement.

manual五、学习外语苦而乐

外语是哈佛人的“拿手戏”，许多新生的外语高考成绩大大超过学校的录取标准。外语也是许多哈佛学子“最喜欢的课程”之一，很多学生形容自己学外语“很艰苦但很愉快”。在接受采访的学生中，57％在毕业求职时获外语免试推荐。

        为什么他们的外语这么优秀？因为他们在小班级里，每一位学生都能得到老师的鼓励，老师安排他们一起写作业，布置大量的习题，并经常搞测验。总之，学好一门或几门外语，就意味着你掌握了更多的技巧，有更多的机会等着你。

5.  讲另一种语言。外语课程是校园里保存最佳的秘密（？）。许多新生的外语高考成绩大大超过学校的录取标准。但是，外语是在“最喜欢的课程”中最常被提及的。60%的学生形容自己学外语“很艰苦但很愉快”；在接受采访的学生中，57％的被采访者在毕业求职时获外语免试推荐。为什么呢？小班授课，教师坚持参与，学生小组合作，并且，包括大量的写作任务和频繁的测验等项目，允许重复的中途更正（？）。总之，外语课程结合了所有导致更多的学习和参与的元素，。

 

6. Consider time. In the Harvard interviews, there was one striking difference between those who did well in their courses and those who did not: Those who did well mentioned the word ''time''; those who did not never used the word. Students reported that they did not succeed when they studied the way they had in high school, squeezing in 25 minutes in a study hall, 35 minutes after sports practice and 45 minutes after dinner. Grades and understanding improved when they set aside an uninterrupted stretch of a few hours. Professor Light even suggests keeping a time log for a few weeks and showing it to an adviser, who can help figure out the best way to allocate time.

manual一、列出一个最佳时间表

在接受莱特教授采访的哈佛学生中，那些学习成绩优秀和成绩差的学生之间有个最大的区别：成绩优秀的学生将“时间”挂在嘴边，而成绩差的学生却从来不说这个词。

一些学生说，当他们在大学里沿用高中时代“在自习室里学习25分钟、运动后学习35分钟、饭后再学习45分钟”的时间安排时，成绩就总上不去。但当他们采取连续学习几个小时的办法后，学习成绩和对课程的理解力都提高了。

莱特教授建议，学习时间安排不合理的学生可以自己做试验，列出一个最佳的时间安排表。

6.  考虑时间。在哈佛采访过程中，那些在他们的课堂上表现优异的和那些成绩较差的同学之间有一个显著的区别：那些做得好的同学提到这个词：“时间”；那些成绩较差的同学从来不使用这个词。一些学生提到说，当他们在大学里沿用高中时代“在自习室里学习25分钟、运动后学习35分钟、饭后再学习45分钟”的时间安排时，无法取得成功。但当他们采取连续（不间断）学习几个小时的办法后，学习成绩和对课程的理解力都提高了。莱特教授甚至建议记录数周的时间日志，然后把它拿给指导教师看，他（她）可以帮助你找出最好的分配时间的方式。

 

7. Hold the drum. Students often flounder in college because they do not have the same social or family support network they had at home. Those who get involved in outside activities, even ones not aimed at padding a resume or a graduate school application, are happiest. Professor Light tells the story of one young woman arriving unhappy in her adviser's office. When the adviser encouraged her to do something beyond her studies, she demurred. She had no talent; she could not play on a team or sing in the choir. ''How about band?'' her adviser prodded. She replied that she did not play an instrument. ''That's O.K.,'' he said. ''Ask them if you can hold the drum.'' Years later, when asked to describe why her college experience had been so positive, she repeatedly referred to the band, which got her involved at pep rallies and football games and introduced her to a diverse range of students. Students who have worked hard to get into college, Professor Light said, tend to arrive and say, ''Academic work is my priority, and doing other things will hurt that.'' In fact, the Harvard research found otherwise.

manual七、重视“窗外生活”

莱特教授认为，多数大学生在大学里都有内心痛苦挣扎的时候，因为他们远离家人和原来的朋友，感到孤独无助。但如果他们经常参加社交活动或校园文娱组织，即使对毕业后是找工作还是读研究生很茫然，他们仍然会快乐。相反，那些内心孤独，却不愿与人交往、不参加社会活动的学生，不仅心情压抑，而且学生成绩也会下降。莱特教授指出，有些学生认为，进了大学，学好专业课才是最重要的，其他事情都是“副业”，会影响学习。

7.  可以打鼓。在大学里，学生经常感觉内心的挣扎，因为他们无法拥有与在家里一样的社会或家庭的支持网络。那些参与课外活动，甚至是那些没有针对填充简历或申请研究所，是最幸福的。莱特教授讲述了一个年轻的女士很失落的来到她的指导教师办公室的故事。当指导教师鼓励她做一些她的研究之外的事情时，她拒绝了。她没有天资；她不能在一个团队或唱诗班里表演、唱歌。“乐队如何？”她的指导教师敦促到。她回答说她不会演奏乐器。“那好吧，”他说。“问一下他们你是否可以打鼓？”几年后，当被要求描述为什么她的大学经历如此的积极，她一再提到的乐队，这让她参与赛前拉拉队（pep rallies）和足球比赛，把她融入了多元的学生生活。

莱特教授说，那些努力学习进入大学的学生，往往倾向于并且说，“学术工作是我的首要任务，而做其它的事情会伤害到学术成绩。”事实上，哈佛大学的研究，发现事情可能正好相反。

 

''What goes on in situations outside of class is just as important, and in some situations, it turns out to be a bigger deal than what happens in class,'' he said. ''Very often an experience outside of class can have a profound effect on the courses students choose and even what they want to do with their lives.''

        The study found that students who worked long hours at a job had the same grades as those who worked a few hours or not at all. Students who volunteered actually had higher grades and reported being happier. The only students whose outside activities hurt their grades were intercollegiate athletes. Still, Professor Light said, they are the happiest students on campus.

        但他的研究小组的研究结果却表明：了解“窗外”的世界与“窗内”学习同样重要，有些时候，“窗外生活”比“窗内学习”对一个学生的影响更大、更深远。他们发现，玩命学习的学生和只学习几个小时然后出去“疯”的学生取得的成绩是一样的。但是，那些参加社交活动的学生，有时候成绩更好。当然，也有学生因为过多地将精力放在社会活动上，影响了学业，但无可否认，他们仍然是哈佛最快乐的一群。

“课堂之外的世界也是是很重要的，而且，在某些情况下，它会产生一个比在课堂上价值更大的意义，”他说。“经常可以看到，课堂以外的经历会对学生的课程选择，甚至在他们的生活中相要去做的事情产生深远的影响。”

研究发现，在一项作业上花费很长时间的同学和那些只工作了几个小时甚至更少的同学取得的成绩是一样的。学生主动投入则实际上会有更好的成绩，也被认为更快乐。只有校际运动员这样的学生的课外活动影响（损害）了他们的学习成绩。不过，莱特教授表示，他们在校园里是最快乐的学生。

Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company

 

http://ishare.iask.sina.com.cn/f/25564409.html    The Harvard Guide to Collegiate Happiness

        A ten-year study reveals how to have a better college experience.

        Kate Zernike, The New York Times Education Life Supplement, April 08, 2001

 

        这里是pdf 格式文件，文章时发表于April 08, 2001，不是2001年6月9日。

 

[6]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pep_rally  pep rally

Pep ralliesare events that occur primarily in the United States and Canada. A pep rally is a gathering of people, typically students of middle school, high school and college age, before a sports event. The purpose of such a gathering is to encourage school spirit and to support members of the team for which the rally is being thrown. The pep rallies are often very loud and have a lot of excitation to keep all the students excited for the upcoming game and to cheer on the team.

At a pep rally, cheerleaders will often lead in boisterous chants and dance moves intended to get the student body involved and supporting the school's team. Games between competing classes with small prizes may be held. The school's band will often play upbeat music in between demonstrations, and the drumline may play. In the case of a homecoming game, the Homecoming "court" may be chosen and announced.

This is also a time for the team captains to let the school know how their team is doing this season. Most schools have pep rallies to honor future and past events.

College basketball teams celebrate the opening of the season with Midnight Madness, an event similar to a pep rally.

 

[7]  http://www.amazon.com/Making-Most-College-Students-Speak/dp/0674004787    书籍介绍

Most Helpful Customer Reviews之一：

As a professor, I found the book excellent, both for its many insightful suggestions and as a reminder of the student experience. If I were evaluating this book for faculty, I'd give it five stars.

But the book's title and marketing indicate that this is a how-to book for college students. That's deceptive: It is a summary of findings by Harvard's self-assessment team. Suggestions for students are good when they come, but they're spread between suggestions more useful to college faculty and administration. As an example, one idea is to schedule discussion classes just before dinner, so that students in the class could eat together afterward and possibly continue discussion. That's a great idea for administrators, but students can't make much use of it. The book would be stronger if it were separated for the two potential audiences.

The book also suffers from not being up-front about its origins: It summarizes findings of an assessment project at Harvard, but you won't find it described until you reach the appendix. I realize that fewer copies would be sold if they admitted this in the introduction. But until I reached the appendix, where the project's major questions were finally described, I was left wondering why the book's organization was so lopsided. Particularly, the part on campus diversity was much longer than I expected; it wasn't until I reached the appendix that I learned why. （The appendix was one of the best parts. In fact, I recommend reading it first.）

I'd certainly recommend the book to faculty and administrators from any college. The work is clearly based on extensive, well-done interviews, and the analysis is both well-organized and rich in ideas. Just recognize it for what it is.