The learning methods and training details of Harvard's top students

Chapter 8 Comprehensive learning and comprehensive development, you will be a winner at any time

(Harvard representative: Tsang Yam-kuen) Pray, and then study.

—Dunst, the second president of Harvard University

【Wonderful Guide】

Biography of Donald Tsang

Tsang Yam-kuen (1944～), born in Hong Kong, ancestral home of Foshan City, Guangdong Province, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. In 1964, he graduated from the preparatory course of Wah Yan College in Hong Kong. In 1981, he went to study at Harvard University in the United States and obtained a master's degree in public administration.

In 1967, he joined the Hong Kong British Government and successively held several important positions, mainly involving finance and trade.In 1991, he was appointed as the director of the Trade Administration, in 1993 as the treasury secretary, and in 1995 as the financial secretary. He was the first Chinese to take up this important position.

1997年7月1日，中央人民政府根据香港特区行政长官董建华的提名，任命曾荫权为香港特区政府首位财政司司长。2001年5月被任命为政务司司长。

In 2002, he was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for "serving Hong Kong wholeheartedly for many years with outstanding achievements".

In 2005, after the State Council approved Tung Chee-hwa's resignation as the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, in accordance with the provisions of the Basic Law of Hong Kong, he served as the acting chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as Chief Secretary for Administration.Soon he was officially elected as the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

【Character Story】

Extensive learning for future success

Tsang Yam-kuen had a wide range of hobbies when he was a child, and he was full of strong curiosity about all kinds of knowledge.He was fascinated by reading at an early age.He not only loves reading, but also collects books. His little house is full of all kinds of books.He is also particularly interested in foreign languages, and many of his behaviors in his childhood surprised adults.When he was a child, he often sat in the church and listened quietly to the congregation. The adults did not understand why this lively and active child could sit quietly.People always saw him reading the Bible, and when they got closer, they realized that what Xiao Yinquan was reading was not the Chinese version of the Bible, but the English version, and sometimes the French version.He is learning English and French in this way.Another purpose for Xiao Yinquan to go to the church is to look at the windows of the church, because there are many geometric figures inlaid on the windows, and he uses those figures to verify the geometric theorems learned in school.

After entering Harvard, he read all kinds of books more eagerly and learned all kinds of knowledge, so that he has very profound knowledge, which also laid a solid knowledge foundation for him to be able to be the chief executive later.

【Harvard view】

Only by solving the "shortest plank" can learning efficiency be accelerated

Learning is like a wooden barrel with iron hoops. As long as one plank is short, its water storage capacity will be limited.In the process of learning, only by finding out what the "shortest piece of wood" is, and concentrating energy and resources on solving this weak link, can the overall effectiveness of learning be significantly improved, and even leap to a new level.

Allport, a doctor of psychology at Harvard University, said: "The biggest natural enemy that prevents us from realizing our potential in learning is often not poor opportunities, but our fear." As a result, I have a fear of this course. Under the control of fear, I avoid learning this course, so I can't realize my potential in this area.As time goes on, it will cause the grades of this course to get worse and worse, forming a phenomenon of partial subjects.

In learning, many students often have a "short board" in learning, which seriously affects their learning.Partial subjects are a fatal weakness for students.If you are biased, there will be defects in knowledge, and there will be a "lame" phenomenon in terms of disciplines.This will not only affect the overall academic performance, but also bring great disadvantages to future work.Partial subjects will also affect the learning of other subjects, because all subjects are interrelated, and if any course is missing, it will feel uncoordinated.Just like when a person lacks a hand or a leg, he will feel very inconvenient.

When learning, everyone has many potentials, some people have music potential, some people have art potential.Many students who are afraid of writing are often afraid when they hear "writing", and they always deny themselves from the beginning, thinking that they are not suitable for learning writing, and neglect their writing potential.In fact, when you are afraid to do something, it does not mean that you lack talent in this area, but that your ability to solve problems in this area is relatively weak.

In the process of learning, we must pay attention to the "barrel principle" in learning, what is lacking, and what to make up.That is to say, grasp both strengths and weaknesses, consolidate one's own superior subjects, gradually make up for one's own deficiencies, and strengthen the integration of knowledge.Using the "bucket theory" can effectively improve learning efficiency.

[Easy interaction]

1. Think about it, do you also have partial subjects in your studies?

2. If you have a weak subject in your homework, think about it carefully and find out why this subject is weak.

3. Think about it, make a reasonable plan, and supplement your weaknesses as soon as possible.

【Parent-child total product】

The American college admissions system has two notable features: one is to avoid the contingency of "one paper determines a lifetime". If you want to go to a university, especially a good university, students must take every exam and assignment seriously and pay attention to consistent performance. The second is to avoid the partiality and one-sided development of students to a large extent. The vast majority of students who want to go to college must take each course more seriously, and try to improve their comprehensive quality and development of comprehensiveness and comprehensiveness. unique.

At Harvard, what kind of students can be called excellent and successful?

Professor Lu Dengting, Honorary President of Harvard University, emphasized that a good student in Harvard's eyes should be "creativity, broad interests, and independent thinking ability". These three points are essential.He believes that to become a Harvard student, it is not enough to study well, but also to see whether he has the creativity to break new ground; knowledge alone is not enough, but also to see whether he has the curiosity to explore the unknown; The professional field is not enough, it depends on whether he has broad interests in other aspects.

【Harvard view】

Expand your knowledge, the future will be even more magnificent

Learning is everywhere, and it expands our knowledge everywhere.The learning resources in life are not just some trivial details, but also include many things in life that have been ignored by people.As long as you use your heart in the learning process, you can continuously increase your knowledge and enrich your knowledge through observation and exploration of these things.

There is such a joke: In ancient times, in a big valley in a certain place, there were two brothers who collected firewood for a living.One day, the two brothers were chatting while sharpening their axes.

Brother: "It's better to be the emperor - the axes used by the emperor to chop firewood must be all gold!"

Brother: "Oh, I said brother, why are you so ignorant—does the emperor still need to chop firewood? The emperor is in the palace all day long, eating sweet potatoes dipped in sugar!"

This is the "knowledge" and "knowledge" of the two brothers.We may find it ridiculous, but it reveals to us how ridiculous it is to be poor in knowledge.

According to the latest research in the scientific community, the "smart" password has been cracked by British computer expert Hantrickson and his wife Alan.Through long-term research and experiments, they found that people's ability to reflect wisdom, such as precise memory, keen understanding and active imagination, is determined by the ability to transmit information between brain neurons, and information transmission depends on One of the elements is a special ribonucleic acid.This substance is mainly synthesized by continuous excitation during the process of acquired intelligence development.This is to rely on learning, training, practice, and thinking. In a word, it is knowledge.Constant new knowledge prompts brain cells to grow new synapses, just like the logic circuit of a computer, every time a circuit is added, the "ideas" will be multiplied, and then the information in the brain will "proliferate" in large quantities, so as to achieve the purpose of innovation .

Therefore, the wider our knowledge, the better our grades.The higher you stand on the mountain of knowledge, the more magnificent the scenery unfolds before you.The more knowledge a person has, the easier it is for him to acquire new knowledge.

As knowledge grows in learning, our thoughts must also be reorganized.Such changes are usually always accompanied by the emergence of new laws and occur as required.

Therefore, the size of the knowledge surface determines the size of the learning potential.As the saying goes, "seeing more" can "know more". The richer a person's knowledge, the richer his associations will be, the richer the combination of knowledge will be, and the stronger his innovation ability will be.At the same time, when the old knowledge cannot solve the current problem, it will prompt him to learn new knowledge. In this way, through continuous accumulation and innovation, a person's learning potential can be fully released.

Therefore, in the process of learning, we should learn the knowledge of various subjects as comprehensively as possible, constantly enrich our brains, and let ourselves have rich knowledge that can be used by ourselves. Such people are excellent in learning.

[Easy interaction]

1. What enlightenment did you receive from reading the story of the two brothers?
2. In your usual study, do you pay attention to expanding your knowledge?
3. Think about it, do you think the size of the knowledge determines the size of the potential?

【Parent-child total product】

Harvard emphasizes both humanities and natural sciences, and it advocates that a student with development potential and competitiveness in the future society must have a broad range of knowledge.So it broke the traditional subject boundaries and established an open curriculum system.

Harvard does not emphasize scores, does not advocate dead reading, reading dead books, and advocates a stress-free learning method.Harvard students learn freely and openly.Undergraduate students can graduate after obtaining the corresponding credits within the prescribed 3 years.The weekly courses should be completed by the corresponding time. If you work part-time in the morning or afternoon, you can study in the evening; if you have something to do in the afternoon, you can study in the morning.Teachers rush to the designated place to give lectures on time. There can be 30 to 50 students, or 3 to 5 students. They are studying the same major, but they do not attend classes at the same time.Students have full freedom in their course arrangements, and the majors they study require a wide range of knowledge.

【Harvard view】

Be a miscellaneous first, then an expert

Learning should have the determination to be a miscellaneous.Learning comprehensively is a good way to continuously improve learning efficiency, and it is also the best way to improve your learning ability.

Ramsey, the Nobel laureate, was such a well-rounded learner that in 1913 he surprised and delighted delegates from all over the world when he chaired the International Conference of the Chemical Society.He spoke English first, then French, then German, and occasionally Italian, all fluently and clearly.

In the process of learning, Ramsey paid great attention to the principles of seeing more, learning more, and researching more, and practiced it personally. In 1882, Rayleigh, a British chemist and professor of chemistry at the University of Cambridge, began to study the composition of air. After extremely precise quantitative analysis, he found that nitrogen made from ammonia was always 5/1000 lighter than nitrogen made from air. Repeated research Puzzled.Therefore, he published this research fact in the British journal "Nature" and asked readers to answer, but he failed to get a satisfactory answer.

After Ramsey learned of Rayleigh's research, he obtained Rayleigh's permission and began to study the composition of nitrogen in the atmosphere, and soon discovered the inert gas elements, which won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

However, Ramsey was not satisfied with the achievements he had made. He always adhered to his tradition of comprehensive and comprehensive learning, and never stopped learning and researching.In his later years, he was still tirelessly engaged in the research of radiology, and made great contributions in this regard.

The ancient Greek poet Archiloxus once said: "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows only one big thing."

The British political philosopher Isaiah Berlin divided learners into two types according to the different cognitive styles of foxes and hedgehogs: hedgehogs and foxes.What fox-type learners pursue is the breadth of knowledge and the pursuit of "knowing many things".They read a lot of books, advocate the benefits of opening books, pay attention to the amount of knowledge but often ignore the connection between knowledge, and often do not think independently because they pursue too much knowledge.In other words, fox-type scholars emphasize the quantity of knowledge while ignoring or ignoring quality.

Hedgehog learners, on the contrary, do not pursue the quantity of knowledge but pay special attention to the quality of knowledge.They tend to pursue specialization and refinement of knowledge, rather than expanding their knowledge.

When we are studying, we must first be foxes and then hedgehogs, that is to say, we must first be "miscellaneous" and then "experts".

How can I avoid my narrow knowledge and be able to know many things like a fox?There is only one way: study comprehensively and comprehensively.Only by studying comprehensively and comprehensively can we grow ourselves into a miscellaneous family and have a broad range of knowledge that others cannot match, which will be very beneficial to our study.

[Easy interaction]

1. After reading Ramsey's story, how do you feel?Do you consider yourself a miscellaneous or an expert in your studies?
2. Think about it, can you position the miscellaneous and experts in learning well?Do you usually only love to learn a certain aspect of knowledge, or do you want to get in touch with many fields?
【Parent-child total product】

Italian painter Leonardo da Vinci was able to draw masterpieces such as "The Last Supper" and "Mona Lisa" because he worked as an architectural designer and studied geology, botany, hydraulics, mechanics, especially He had studied human anatomy in detail.He personally dissected [-] corpses and drew a large number of human anatomy diagrams, so the proportions of the human body in his pen are very accurate.

Lu Xun himself is a "miscellaneous family", he is very miscellaneous in reading.Xu Guangping said in "Lu Xun's Memoirs" that Mr. Lu Xun read poetry, miscellaneous works, picture books, miscellaneous notes, ruler slips, history books, journals, rubbings, etc. He even read Buddhist scriptures, epitaphs, and murals.He reads social history, literary history, art history, and Fabre's "Insects". He also reads Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky's works and "Lucia's Story"...

In the novel "Medicine", Lu Xun wrote that Hua Xiaoshuan, a patient with lung disease, "coughed while pressing his chest", "coughed after waking up", "coughing desperately while taking advantage of the excitement"... These descriptions are strictly in line with medical knowledge.Lu Xun's "Diary of a Madman" very accurately described the inner world of a character who was persecuted by feudal forces and suffered from schizophrenia. This cannot but be said to have benefited from his initial medical studies in Japan.

(End of this chapter)