On April 8th, Prof. David Cardwell, who is Professor of Superconducting Engineering of University of Cambridge, and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering visited Xi’an Liangjiatan International School and exchanged with teachers, students and parents.
Prof. Cardwell was guided a campus tour by students and then he went to the design and science classes of the Secondary School, interacting with teachers and students. Afterwards, Prof. Cardwell gave a speech to all high school students on The cultivation of innovative, international talent and applications to the University of Cambridge.
In the keynote speech, Prof. Cardwell highlighted that the key elements of educational success include not only an integrated and broad knowledge base and the ability to apply technical and other organized knowledge to practical tasks, but also the ability to work as part of a team, have good communication skills as well as balanced capacity, which are crucial to cultivate ambitious and confident international citizens. In addition, Prof. Cardwell also elaborated on the curriculum and application process of Cambridge and 24 other Russell Group Universities, helping parents and students to gain a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the world-class universities and prepare for further studies in advance.
The keynote speech was followed by a round table discussion co-led by Prof. Cardwell, Dr. Liu, the Head of XLIS, Mr. Kelvin, the MYP Science and DP Chemistry Teacher, and high school student representatives, discussing the university admission related issues that students care about. The questions were mainly focusing on artificial intelligence, the impact of personality on innovation and self-drive, stereotypes about students from world class universities and university life, etc. Prof. Cardwell shared his opinions patiently for each of them.
The question raised by M5A Sylvia was focusing on whether the rapid development of AI can bring a brighter future for human beings. In terms of this issue, Prof. Cardwell pointed out that AI has brought unprecedented innovation to all industries. However, at the end of the day AI is just another tool that can help us improve the efficiency of processing massive amounts of information and get results faster. It will never replace the human’s thoughts and understanding. “We need to embrace the rapid change in this ear, and more importantly, learn not to be controlled by AI, letting advanced technology be our great helper.” Prof. Cardwell added.
Arianna from DP1A wanted to figure out how significant the role of personality is in the assessment process of UK Universities, particularly in evaluating students’ passion and innovative spirit. Prof. Cardwell responded frankly that personality does not necessarily have an impact on academic ability. An outgoing student may not necessarily have strong self-drive, and an introverted student can be very enthusiastic and motivated in his or her favorite field. Nothing is impossible and everyone is unique. As an educator, he will not take personality as an key factor in evaluating a student’s academic result. What he really cares about is whether the student can convince the educator that he can excel in a particular area.
The teachers, students and parents benefited greatly from Prof. Cardwell’s visit. We are in an era of rapid development of information technology, which is inextricably linked to the talent cultivation. Therefore, the goal of education should also respond to the call of the times. But the philosophy of people oriented education will not never change, especially in nowadays that digital devices and AI pervade our everyday life. In the future, XLIS will continue to adhere to the vision of leading education through innovation and a student-centered, community-driven approach，respect individual differences, focusing on enabling students to be confident, open minded global citizens.
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Author:
Fancy Fan (Admin Officer)
