Research-Based Learning Remodels the Characters of Undergraduates for Creative and Innovative Personnel

Abstract

Purpose: To explore effective measures to train undergraduates into creative and innovative personnel; Procedures and Methods: Problem-oriented class teaching model infiltrated with critical thinking training (POCTM) in classroom and research-based learning (RBL) in lab have been performed for over ten years to remodel the characteristics of creative and innovative talents; Results: An empirical study of clinical medical students in the past 10 years inspire us to compose a novel and effective training flow to empower undergraduates with the abilities of double talents-Innovation and Creation; Conclusions: ATTBP is an effective RBL model to train innovative and creative talents, which may be of referential value to higher education of other developing countries. Nowadays, the increasing demand for universities to graduate students with higher order problem-solving and critical and creative thinking skills enhances research-based learning (RBL) gradually to stand out among many teaching approaches. RBL is a multifaceted approach for connecting research and instruction, integrating learning, teaching and research. Its central idea is to actively involve students in ongoing research activities and let them develop their own research interests and questions. Accordingly, the research activity is regarded as an important tool for teaching and learning. At least, it contains students’ active involvement, adequate research tools’ application, inclusive research approaches and research outcomes. Here, we would like to share our exploring experiences in this respect with peers as follows: In the past decade, nearly 20 undergraduates have been successfully mentored by our lab, the Key Laboratory of Arrhythmias, Ministry of Education, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. During their time in the lab, most of these undergraduates published their first publications as first author1-5, and most went on to pursue graduate degrees in medical science or medicine. At present, a group of three undergraduates majoring in clinic medicine are being trained in our lab. Since 2008, nearly every tier 1 comprehensive university, including Tongji University, has created a variety of innovative scientific research training programs for undergraduates. Students in these programs are not only valuable human resources but also primary idea providers for research labs. Equally, lab life can help undergraduates become budding researchers and some of them even 5th International Conference on Education Reform and Modern Management (ERMM 2019) Copyright © 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 361