在位于中國東南部的江西理工大學，冶金與化學工程學院的新生們現在可以按年齡、性別和性格來挑選授課教師。這給中國高校常見的枯燥氛圍帶來了一些刺激。

據《中國日報》報道，這項私人定制教師試驗在國內尚屬首次。在中國高校，如果一門課包含多種類型的學生，一般情況下校方會隨機給他們分配一位教師。此項新舉措針對江西理工冶金和化工工程學院，這并不意外——在中國向服務型經濟轉型的過程中，冶金和化工等老產業陷入了困境，需要竭力吸引盡可能優秀的學生。

報道引述一位新生的話說：“這項定制服務很符合年輕人的口味，一下子就吸引到我了。我定制了一位較為年輕的女班主任，因為我覺得女班主任會更能細心地發現同學們的生活問題。”

如果讓任何一位在國外留學的中國學生說說他們對中國大學課堂的看法，答案通常不是無聊就是糟糕。教齡較長的老師尤其會使用中國傳統的命令式教學，強調死記硬背，而不是互動和理論。接觸到國外常態的中國80后90后對此怨言最多。

江西理工大學在調查中發現，70%的學生希望任課老師幽默風趣，積極向上；65%的學生希望老師不超過40歲。據報道，該校已經按這樣的標準招聘了更多的新教師。

冶金與化學工程學院院長表示，他們將向全校其他院系介紹在本次試點中了解到的學生偏好。換句話說，古板的中國高校也許正在慢慢趕上時代的步伐。（財富中文網）

譯者：Charlie

審校：詹妮

Freshmen in the chemical engineering department in China’s southeast Jiangxi University of Science and Technology will now be able to choose their professors based on age, gender, and personality, adding some excitement to China’s often dreary university scene.

The experiment in teacher selection is a first for China, where students are typically assigned at random to a teacher if there are multiple sections of one class, China Daily reported. Not surprisingly, the new approach is aimed at students studying metallurgy and chemicals, the type of old industries struggling amid China’s transition into a more service-based economy and requiring the best students they can attract.

“The service caught my eyes immediately as it meets the taste of youth quite well,” the paper quoted a female freshman saying. “I chose a young female teacher as my head teacher as she might be more considerate compared to the male teachers.”

Ask any Chinese student who’s studied abroad and their opinion of Chinese university classes usually falls somewhere between dull and dreadful. Longer tenured instructors especially use the command teaching style of China’s history, emphasizing rote memorization above interaction and theory. Chinese millennials with exposure to international norms lodge the most complaints.

In Jiangxi, the university surveyed students and found 70% wanted a teacher with a funny, positive attitude, and another 65% desired someone under 40 years old. The university reportedly hired more instructors to meet those specifications.

The head of the chemical engineering said the department will share what it learns about student preference from this pilot program with the rest of the university. In other words, staid Chinese universities may be slowing catching up with the times.