October 22, 2015
A seminar organised by the library at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University focussed on the essential skills for students in the 21st century.
The event, which was held in the XJTLU Museum, was led by Dr Stella Cottrell, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Learning, Teaching and Student Engagement at the University of East London.
Dr Cottrell is a world-famous expert in the field of learning skills and critical thinking. During the seminar, she spoke about how to improve students’ learning skills and develop their critical thinking.
She pointed out that learning abilities in the 21st century are essentially different from those in the 20th century.
“In the last century, taking notes, reading, collecting materials and writing papers were the significant learning abilities” she said. “However, in this century, students’ academic achievement is more affected by their abilities in problem-solving, research skills, leadership, psychological resilience and cultural sensitivity.”
XJTLU academic staff and Centre for Academic Affairs staff were all in attendance at the seminar, while chief librarian Xin Bi hosted the event.
He spoke about the library’s latest initiatives for improving its services, saying they will focus on service, management, accumulation, research and teaching, embodied in the acronym ‘SMART’.
Additionally, the ‘SURE’ abilities of searching, utilisation of library facilities, research and evaluation will be emphasised for both students and researchers in these current times of networked information.
“The Library will not only continue to innovate but also will do research on learning skills and research skills,” he said, adding that he hoped the library will continue to be invaluable to XJTLU students.
During her visit to XJTLU Dr Cottrell also met with Executive President Professor Youmin Xi, and discussed the goals, development, and management of the University. Dr Stella said she was impressed by what XJTLU had achieved in its short history.
October 22, 2015