Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) has introduced various practice courses that have captured students’ interest. From outdoor survival training to pottery making, from modern farming to beach cleaning, these courses offer unique learning experiences for students.
1. Survival Course
Since the end of last year, students have been participating in survival courses, spending their weekends on the East lawn of the Minhang campus, SJTU. During these courses, students learn practical survival skills such as building a wild shelter, tying useful knots like bowline and clove hitch, purifying water in the field, manufacturing simple stretchers, and carrying out rescue drills for falling cliffs. In just over two hours, students gain valuable skills for surviving in the outdoors.
2. Modern Farming
In modern farming class, more than 6,000 students have participated in farming activities across multiple locations in Shanghai. They have learned skills such as loosening soil, digging lotus ponds, planting tea trees in spring, picking old leaves to feed livestock, picking fruits from greenhouses, and making delicious glutinous rice cakes.
3. Pottery Making
The pottery-making class offers students the opportunity to learn about traditional Chinese culture by experiencing the entire pottery-making process.
4. Creative Woodworking
Meanwhile, the creative woodwork class teaches woodwork knowledge and skills. Students learn how to create Burr puzzles (Luban lock), mahogany combs, and cloisonne enameled wood plates, cultivating a spirit of craftsmanship in cutting and polishing.
5. Gardening
The gardening course, titled “Beautifying the Teaching Building”, attracted many students to plant flowers and trees, allowing them to experience the aesthetics of integrating architecture and nature. Similarly, the “Rose Gardener Training Program” allowed students to help maintain and arrange the rose garden in spring and create embossed works of roses, capturing the beauty of nature.
6. Cooking Course
The “Cooking Course” takes making Qingtuan as its theme, allowing students to participate in the hard work of making this traditional Chinese snack. Putting on aprons and rolling up their sleeves, students participated in the hard work and tasted spring in their cuisine.
7. First-aid Courses
The “First Aid Courses” teach students the pre-hospital first-aid measures of wound treatment and how to recognize situations that require urgent medical attention. Students are given chances to practice the medical skills of saving themselves and others at critical moments.
8. Beach Cleaning
In addition to these courses, SJTU's China-UK Low Carbon College carried out “Community Beautifying” and “Beach Cleaning” activities in Lingang communities, allowing student volunteers and community residents to work together to renovate the dilapidated walls of the community's main road and paint a series of artworks with the theme of “Beautiful China”.
By the end of May Day this year, SJTU has conducted 603 special practical courses with a total of 65,987 participants. These hands-on courses provide students with valuable practical skills and help them develop interests that complement their academic studies.
Source: Student Affairs Steering Committee, SJTU
Translated by Hui Wang
Proofread by Xiaojing Zhao
Editor on Duty: Cheng Yan