2022年10月23日 VOA慢速英語：有機化學應該有多難？

 

Maitland Jones, a well-known organic chemistry professor at New York University (N.Y.U.), was fired over the summer.
紐約大學 (NYU) 著名有機化學教授梅特蘭·瓊斯 (Maitland Jones)在夏天被解雇。
 
The 84-year-old professor wrote a famous book: "Organic Chemistry" which is still used in many college classes. He taught the class for many years at Princeton University before retiring in 2007. Since then, he taught the subject at N.Y.U. on a series of one-year contracts.
這位 84 歲的教授寫了一本名著：《有機化學》，許多大學課堂仍在使用。在 2007 年退休之前，他在普林斯頓大學任教多年。從那時起，他以一系列為期一年的合同在紐約大學教授該課程。
 
The New York Times reported recently that N.Y.U. students started an appeal against Jones. Eighty-two students, out of 350 taking his class last spring, signed the document saying they believed he was not fairly considering their work. They were unhappy with their low grades and they felt his teaching method made a difficult subject harder for them to learn. They also told N.Y.U. that bad grades hurt their chances of getting into medical school.
《紐約時報》最近報道說，紐約大學的學生開始對瓊斯提出上訴。去年春天參加他的課程的 350 名學生中有 82 名學生在文件上簽名，稱他們認為他沒有公平地考慮他們的工作。他們對自己的低成績感到不滿，他們覺得他的教學方法讓他們更難學習一門難學的科目。他們還告訴紐約大學，糟糕的成績會影響他們進入醫(yī)學院的機會。
 
The Times said that Jones defended his teaching method. In fact, he is known for starting a new teaching method that centers on problem-solving rather than remembering without thinking. He said some students were not coming to class or watching videos from the class. Jones said grades fell even as he made tests easier. He said, coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the students not only did not study, but they also did not seem to know how to study.
泰晤士報稱瓊斯為他的教學方法辯護。事實上，他以開創(chuàng)一種以解決問題而不是不假思索地記憶為中心的新教學方法而聞名。他說，一些學生沒有來上課，也沒有觀看課堂上的視頻。瓊斯說，即使他讓考試變得更容易，成績也會下降。他說，從 COVID-19 大流行中走出來，學生們不僅沒有學習，而且似乎也不知道如何學習。
 
Just before the start of classes in autumn, N.Y.U. decided to end Jones' contract. A spokesman said the university was evaluating all classes, including organic chemistry, in which a high percentage of students receive low grades. The school also offered to reconsider the students' low grades in Jones' class.
就在秋季開課前，紐約大學決定終止瓊斯的合同。一位發(fā)言人說，該大學正在評估所有課程，包括有機化學，其中很大一部分學生的成績較低。學校還提出重新考慮瓊斯班上學生的低成績。
 
Closing the gap
縮小差距
 
The firing of Jones brought thousands of comments from students, former students, and professors. Some felt that Jones should have made the class easier and changed his ways of dealing with or grading students. Others supported keeping the class's demanding instruction and grading systems.
瓊斯的解雇帶來了數(shù)千條來自學生、以前的學生和教授的評論。有些人認為瓊斯應該讓課堂變得更輕松，并改變他與學生打交道或評分的方式。其他人則支持保留班級苛刻的教學和評分系統(tǒng)。
 
Renee Link is a chemistry professor at the University of California, Irvine. She told VOA: "When you see these things, and we see these issues come up, it's easy to put it on students or on faculty, but really, it's a systemic problem and it's not any individual's fault. Like, everybody's got to share in the blame here."
Renee Link是加州大學歐文分校的化學教授。她告訴美國之音：“當你看到這些事情，我們看到這些問題出現(xiàn)時，很容易把它放在學生或教師身上，但實際上，這是一個系統(tǒng)性問題，不是任何個人的錯。就像，每個人都必須分享在這里責備。”
 
Link said she uses a system known as specifications grading. The idea, she said, is to start the study term by showing students how they can prove their abilities. If they can meet the highest goals, they can get a good grade at the end of the term. Some college professors think they should limit the number of top grades given out to students. But Link said there is no limit to the number of top grades she would give out.
林克說她使用了一種稱為規(guī)格分級的系統(tǒng)。她說，這個想法是通過向學生展示他們?nèi)绾巫C明自己的能力來開始學習學期。如果他們能達到最高目標，他們可以在學期末取得好成績。一些大學教授認為他們應該限制給予學生最高分的數(shù)量。但林克表示，她給出的最高分的數(shù)量沒有限制。
 
Link said specifications grading permits students to learn at their own speed. Link said, students can progress at a slower speed and still show what they learned.
林克說，規(guī)格分級允許學生以自己的速度學習。林克說，學生可以以較慢的速度進步，但仍能展示他們學到的東西。
 
"We can give students multiple attempts over time to demonstrate that they've learned something, without necessarily penalizing them for not having learned it when we thought they should have," Link said.
“隨著時間的推移，我們可以讓學生多次嘗試以證明他們已經(jīng)學到了一些東西，而不必因為在我們認為他們應該學習的時候沒有學習而懲罰他們，”林克說。
 
One of the concerns about Jones' class at N.Y.U. was that students felt they did not have enough chances to prove themselves. If they did poorly on a test, they argued, it would sharply affect their overall grade.
瓊斯在紐約大學上課的擔憂之一是學生們覺得他們沒有足夠的機會證明自己。他們認為，如果他們在考試中表現(xiàn)不佳，將會嚴重影響他們的整體成績。
 
Geri Kerstiens is a chemistry professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Kerstiens wants to change the idea that some classes, called "weeded-out" classes, are set up to prevent students from moving forward.
Geri Kerstiens是加州大學圣克魯茲分校的化學教授。Kerstiens 想要改變這樣的觀念，即設立一些被稱為“淘汰”類的課程是為了阻止學生繼續(xù)前進。
 
Medical schools in the U.S. require organic chemistry. So, if a student does poorly in class, they might not have a chance to study to become a doctor.
美國的醫(yī)學院需要有機化學。因此，如果學生在課堂上表現(xiàn)不佳，他們可能沒有機會學習成為一名醫(yī)生。
 
Kerstiens told VOA there are two ways to think about grades. She said people understand that an "A" grade shows a medical school or employer that a student is prepared to work or study at a high level.
Kerstiens 告訴美國之音，有兩種考慮成績的方法。她說，人們明白，“A”級向醫(yī)學院或雇主表明學生準備好在高水平上工作或學習。
 
Kersteins added, "But on the flip side, grades are terrible. They are not truly representative of what students can do in many cases."
Kersteins 補充說：“但另一方面，成績很糟糕。在很多情況下，它們并不能真正代表學生的能力。”
 
She proposed that there should be a way to "meet in the middle" and permit students to demonstrate their abilities in a way that is "fair and equitable." She also suggested having students work together on projects and having several tests during the study term so that no single test is more important.
她提出應該有一種“相見恨晚”的方式，讓學生以“公平公正”的方式展示自己的能力。她還建議讓學生在項目上一起工作，并在學習期間進行多次測試，這樣沒有一個測試更重要。
 
Changes ahead?
未來的變化？
 
Link said she is worried that people who are not close to the teaching of chemistry may find faults with the younger generation of students. However, she is now seeing thoughtful conversations among people who teach the subject.
林克說，她擔心不親近化學教學的人可能會對年輕一代的學生挑毛病。然而，她現(xiàn)在看到教授這門學科的人之間進行了深思熟慮的對話。
 
Kerstiens said she hopes the story about Jones at N.Y.U. leads people who guide chemistry departments at universities to think about making changes. They should think about chemistry education, she said, and why they do things "the way they've always been done, because that only works for some people."
Kerstiens 說，她希望關于瓊斯在紐約大學的故事能夠引導那些指導大學化學系的人們思考做出改變。她說，他們應該考慮化學教育，以及為什么要“以他們一直以來的方式做事，因為這只對某些人有效”。