CASE STUDY OF TALENT CULTIVATION MODE FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDY IN CHINA AND AUSTRALIA SUN Mai College of Economics and Management, Sichuan Agricultural University Abstract This article compares the differences between China and Australia s Talent Cultivation Mode for undergraduate study in Agricultural focused University, by using finance discipline as example. It mainly analyzed aspects of talent cultivation objectives, enrolment requirements, course setting, teaching method and training approach. It also proposed some suggestions that can be adopt to advance China s TCM in higher education system. Key words: Talent Cultivation Mode, Finance, China, Australia, 1. Introduction When people talk about western educational system, they always have the stereotype that all the western countries are the same, and in general believe that those developed countries have a more advanced system, however we must admit the truth is the education system in UK is different to those European countries, while the American system is not even the same as to the Canadians. In this paper we took Australia as example for one of the simplest reasons that it is one of the most popular destinations for many Chinese overseas students. But in this article we will only explore one aspect that is the so called Talent Cultivation Mode (TCM), which we will discuss five components: study objectives, entry requirements, course setting, teaching method and training approach. It basically describes what is required for a student to obtain his/her degree, and how this is done. Authors of this article are serving in the Economics and Management college of Sichuan Agriculture University ( SAU ), therefore are familiar and particularly interested in finding out the difference and similarity of TCM for Economics and Management disciplines in universities that have strong agriculture focus in those two countries, for this reason University of Sydney ( USYD ) is selected to make comparison with SAU. 2. Analysis on major aspects 2.1 Study Objectives The Discipline of Finance in USYD offers a variety of study units that focus on finance in the corporate, government and international arenas. The units are a mix of theory and current practice and they encompass a range of areas including: Corporate finance, Derivatives, Trading and dealing, Capital markets, International finance and Banking COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 384
Advanced study in finance and banking gives students an in-depth understanding of the structures and functions of contemporary financial institutions and markets. It develops conceptual and technical skills that give students access to opportunities across the financial services industry. The finance units are tailored as preparation for a number of different career paths such as: Accountants, Economists, Dealers and Brokers, Financial Planners, Fund Managers, Investment Bankers and so on. Careers in the finance field can be exciting and varied. Specific careers include: actuaries, corporate and merchant bankers, economists, fund managers, securities and derivatives traders and brokers, insurance brokers and underwriters, and taxation and management consultants. The financial services industry also employs information technology staff in substantial numbers. Compared to the USYD s practical approach, for application type of talents, SAU s finance discipline cultivate students to have wide range of theory knowledge in economics, finance and the skills for finance related practices, familiar with domestic and international financial policy, regulations and associated international practices, able to conduct professional works in banks, investment, insurance, securities and other financial departments and businesses. Students will be mainly study finance, international finance, security trading, investment, insurance etc., to master the basic theories and knowledge, receive professional trainings, and have the ability to work in the real financial world. 2.2 Entry Requirement In order to study in Universities, both countries set their own requirements. In China, all students are required to sit for the University Entrance Examination which is the unified examination for admission to institution of higher learning. In Chinese term, it is called Gao Kao. Based on the final total score, each university then set their own benchmarks for different majors and uses it as the measurement during the selection process. On the other hand, in Australia, each state have different high school system, and therefore have different requirements for university entrants, for example, in the state of New South Wales (where USYD is located), students will have to sit exams for Higher School Certificate, also known as HSC. The HSC results then are used to calculate the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR). It is the latest primary criterion for entry into most undergraduate university programs in Australia except Queensland. It replaces the Universities Admission Index (UAI) used previously. But unlike the scores for Gao Kao, the ATAR is not the absolute results for a student, it gives an indication to the overall position of the student in relation to the student for that year across the state. It ranks from 0 to 99.95. A higher ATAR gives preference to that student for the course to which they wish to enroll in a university. However HSC is not the only way for candidate to enter university, students who completed Advanced Diplomas in TAFE can also study at the university, normally once they go through certain accreditation process, and they can start at the second year of university study as long as COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 385
their relevant past subjects received exemption approval. For some matured students who had work experiences, they can also apply to university by the Special Entry Scheme. Due to the large number of overseas students, the requirement for those students also varies. One way is though the completion of Foundation studies, or by using their English test results combined with their home school s results. 2.3 Course settings In Chinese system, according the Contents of Specialty for Regular Institutions of Higher Learning for Undergraduate, finance is categorized under economics. SAU follows this rule, therefore finance is offered by the Economics and Management College. And students are awarded with Bachelor of Economics degree. But in Australia, in USYD for example, finance is offered by Business School and student is commonly awarded with Bachelor of Commerce degree, or other combined Commerce degrees. This is also the case for University of New South Wales and many other Universities in AUS. The units offered in the Finance major by USYD are designed to integrate a variety of practical applications with essential theory and financial reasoning skills. It works in partnership with the Australian Stock Exchange, the Sydney Futures Exchange, the Australian Financial Markets Association and several of the largest banking, broking, accounting and funds management businesses in the region. A sound knowledge of finance is important for graduates in a wide range of commerce/economics disciplines. The units offered are designed to integrate a variety of practical applications with essential theory and financial reasoning skills. According to the latest online handbook (for 2012 students) to be awarded for a major in finance, student must complete 144 credit points in total, details summarized in Table 2. <Insert Table 2> By using finance major as example, Table 1 shows the comparison made in core courses, main subjects, practices item, length of study, credit point requirement and degree awarded by both universities. <Insert Table 1> According to the latest (Version 2010) SAU Talent Cultivation Mode for regular institutions of higher learning for undergraduate handbook, the compulsory subjects are listed in Table 2, while Table 3 shows the selective subjects that are also required, which 25 credits are relate to recommended selective subjects, and another 17 credits are selective subjects offered by other colleges of the University: <Insert Table 3 and Table 4> It is easy to find out USYD students have much more freedom when selecting their study units, and they do not have to complete so many credits in order to graduate. Although for 3 years they are required to complete 144 credits as compared to SAU s 165 it 4 years, majority of USYD s subjects worth 6 points, unlike in SAU they are 3-5 points. COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 386
2.4 Teaching Method In Sydney University, classes are not only limited to lectures, but they can also be delivered in forms of tutorials, group discussion, group lab work, or seminars. Each week, there might be only one or two hours lecture per subject, but students are also registered to attend tutorials, where students are divided into much smaller group, i.e. 10 or 15 student per class, and a tutor (postgraduate students who went through certain selection process, or some junior teaching staffs) will supervise them to revise the lectures material or discuss text book questions, or have presentations. Where students are given the chances to ask questions on one to one basis, and conduct team work or have discussions. Students are also given sessions to work on their group assignments, normal in the forms of presentations plus report, or lab project on a case study. 2.5 Training Approach The main difference in terms of the structure of the subject s requirements is definitely the practices requirement, SAU s practice section is detailed in Table 5. <Insert Table 5> Not only for SAU, the military theory and training which last 2 weeks is well known national wild, this is the first task students are carried out when they start their university life. Students are also required to have certain hours of graduation practice which is similar to the internship. Thesis is compulsory for all disciplines. In SAU, each student will have one supervisor who will provide assistance and guidance to help them to finish their final thesis. But in Australia, none of the above is required. There is no PE listens, University believe it is up to the student to choose the sports they like and it is their own responsibility to build their health. Finance students in USYD are not required to have their thesis in order to graduate, instead students are likely to be asked to write a smaller paper as one of their assignments during their study of each subject, or they will need to complete a rather practical project whether in a team or by them themselves. Case study is very common, and students are to be trained to be practical rather than research oriented at bachelor stage. It is also very pleased to know that the finance discipline works in partnership with the Australian Stock Exchange, the Sydney Futures Exchange, the Australian Financial Markets Association and several of the largest banking, broking, accounting and funds management businesses in the region. The units offered are designed to integrate a variety of practical applications with essential theory and financial reasoning skills. 3. Conclusion and suggestions 3.1 Conclusion Compares Australia and China s educational system is not easy, as there are many aspects of this system, but even try to achieve an clear and detailed comparison for their TCM is proven not to be easy either, because the system it within is very different, the bases are different, the products COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 387
of them will also be very different, and in some way cannot simply to say which one is better than another. Many previous studies concluded believe that Australia has world class education, but when look at Chinese TCM in general, it is clear that China has a very standard structure and the fundamental of elementary education is very solid, this would provide students with a very good foundation for their advanced studies. But of course, there are many disadvantages of this mode, like Yang (2004) stated that it prevent individual s personality development as everything is unified, it does not take enough consideration for different students needs. Zhao (2011) made some good evaluation of those two systems, on one hand it recognizes that Australian education focuses on explore and emphasis students independent thinking and creativity, but lacks basic skills and discipline, on the other hand, it made it clear that we should not totally overruled the Chinese system, our students are hardworking, and master comprehensive knowledge basis. To improve the Chinese higher education system, to advance our TCM is not just copy what the others have, but to make adjustment to the teaching method, training approach etc., and very importantly to change the concept of education, to boost student s development and creativity to excavate their own potentials. It needs to turn the concept of pure teaching, i.e. from teachers to student, into also learning, i.e. also from student back to teachers - two ways. 3.2. Suggestions After comparisons made to those two universities, we propose the following suggestions which might be valuable to make some positive contributions to our TCM: Firstly, to have trail tutorial classes, and the same time to reasonable shorten lecture hours, so that during the lectures, only the important concepts are taught, while students will have the time to study in a much smaller group with a supervisor (tutor), who will either revise the lecture materials, answer students questions, or to go through and explain the text book question with them. Secondly, to have lab sessions in a much smaller group, such as like tutorial, so that the students will be in a much group to have the opportunities to have some self-studying, or group discussion, also be able to ask one on one questions with their teachers/ tutors, rather than in a much larger session where we have now, that students can only take on whatever been taught. Thirdly, the assignments given to the students should have more varieties, not only in the forms of a quiz/test, small essay etc, but be more creativities, such as group project on a real cases, or a small research topic what student will be required to give a short presentations. By doing this way, students are not limited in the class or just text book. Their inter personal skills, communication skills, oral skills, research skills and so on which will be useful to have when they enter workforces will be practiced. The form of assessment could also be more flexible, the final exam do not have to play a predominate part, students can be assessed in smaller assignments, can be oral presentation, lab work, or home works. COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 388
Fourthly, along with the globalization worldwide, the competition among different universities across countries is also rising. Sydney University like many other whom has good international reputation attracts large numbers of overseas students each year, especially in the last decade, this sets an even higher requirement for universities in China, that they need to expand their collaborations with other overseas universities, so that their students will be able to have international exposures, not in the traditional ways of applying for scholarship to study aboard, but to have internationalized courses offered, to be able to participate in short term exchange programs, to have teachers with overseas work or educational experience, to have participate in joint research projects with universities aboard, to have visiting lectures from aboard, who can communicate to us in the latest teaching methods, and share with us the current information and methodologies. COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 389
References Proposal for an Australian Higher Education Graduation statement, DEEWR, 2008 Zhao Yujie, Liang Guang and Wang Yi, Discussion on the difference between China and Australia s Higher Education, Time Education, 2011, No. 6, P136-137 Zhou Bin, Xu Shuo, Comparsion of TAFE College in Australia with Vocational Education In China, Open Education Researches, 2003, No 5. P 54-56 Yang Wanyi, Comparative Studies in Higher Education Between China and Australia, Journal of Tianjin University of Commerce, 2004, Vol.24 No. 2 Sydney University, Online Faculty handbooks http://sydney.edu.au/handbooks/agriculture/undergraduate/b_agricultural_economics.shtml Sichuan Agricultural University online handbook for Talent Cultivation Mode of graduate study http://jiaowu.sicau.edu.cn/web/web/lanmu/jihua.asp COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 390
Annexure Table 1: General TCM Comparison SAU Core course Economics Main subjects Economics, Economics of Money, Banking and fianncial Markets, Public Finance and Tax, Fianncial Affairs Management, International Finance etc Practices Refer to Table 4 Study length 4 years full time Credits 165 creditss in total Awarded degree Bachelor of Economics Sydney Uni Business studies Understanding Business, Accounting, Business and society, Corporate Finance, Trading and Dealing, Capital Markets etc Depends on each subjects 3 years full time 144 credits in total Bachelor of Commerce Table 2: Credits and Units Requirements for Finance Major (USYD) EUSS1020 Quantitative Business Analysis OR (i)any one ECMT1010 Business and Economic Statistics A junior unit BUSS1040 Economics for Business Decision Marking OR ECON1001Introductory Microeconomics AND ECON1002 Introductory Macroeconomics (ii) Min three FINC2011 Corporate Finance I compulsory senior FINC2012 Corporate Finance II units (Min 18 credits) FINC3017 Investments and Portfolio Management FINC2192 Finance 2 Honours (3 credits points) FINC3011 International Financial Management FINC3012 Derivative Securities FINC3013 Mergers and Acquisitions (iii) minimum of FINC3014 Trading and Dealing in Security Markets three units of selected FINC3015 Financial Valuation: Case Study Approach FINC3018 Bank Financial Management FINC3019 Fixed Income Securities FINC3020 Financial Risk Management FINC3021 Mathematical Finance FINC3022 Alternative Investments (new for 2012) FINC3193 Finance 3 Honours (Corporate Finance ) (3 credit points) FINC3194 Finance 3 Honours (Securities Markets ) (3 credit points) COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 391
Table 3: Compulsory Subject for Finance Major (SAU) Type Subject Name Hours Class Lab Self Study Credits Term Introduction to the Basic Tenets of Maxism 48 44 4 3 5 General Introduction to Maozedong's Thoughts and Theories of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics 96 86 10 6 3 Outline of Chinese Modern History 32 28 4 2 2 Moral Character Cultivation and Basis of Law 48 44 4 3 1 Current Situation and Policy 32 28 4 2 1to 4 College English 192 168 24 12 1 to 3 Physical Education 72 72 4 1 to 4 Calculus and Its Applications 88 80 8 5.5 1 Linear Algebra 32 28 4 2 2 Core Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics 64 58 6 4 2 Microeconomics 56 50 6 3.5 2 Macroeconomics 56 50 6 3.5 3 Accounting 72 64 8 4.5 3 Economics of Money, Banking and Financial Market 48 44 4 3 3 Principle of Management 48 44 4 3 4 Economic Law 40 36 4 2.5 4 Statistics 56 50 6 3.5 4 Public Finance and Tax 48 44 4 3 4 Financial Market 48 44 4 3 4 Financial Affairs Management 56 50 6 3.5 5 Econometrics 48 38 6 4 3 6 Risk management and Insurance 56 50 6 3.5 5 Commercial Bank Management 48 44 4 3 5 Theory and Practice of Securities Investment 40 28 10 2 2.5 5 International Finance 40 36 4 2.5 5 Central Banking 40 36 4 2.5 6 Rural Finance 48 44 4 3 6 Accounting of Financial Institutions 40 36 4 2.5 7 Major Financial Risk Management 48 44 4 3 7 Total 1640 1468 16 156 102 Table 4: Recommended Selective Subjects for Finance Major (SAU) Type Subject Name Hours Class Lab Self Study Credits Term Recommend Introduction to World Economy 32 28 4 2 3 International Trade Theory and Practice 56 50 6 3.5 4 Agricultural Economics 56 50 6 3.5 4 Series of Economics Experiment 36 36 2 6 Financial Fuduciary and Lease 48 44 4 3 6 Cost and Management Accounting 56 50 6 3.5 6 Auditing 48 44 4 3 6 Accounting Computerization 48 20 28 3 3 6 E-payment & E-banking 56 36 16 4 3.5 6 Personal Finance 32 28 4 2 7 Selective Project Evaluation 48 44 4 3 7 Other Selective Public selective subjects Other selective subjects 6 11 Table 5: Practice Requirements for Finance Major (SAU) Type Subject Name Weeks Credits Term Military Theory and Traning 2 4 1 Social Practice 2 2 4 & 6 Subject Accounting Practice 1 1 4 Practice of Financial Commodity Transaction 1 1 5 Practice Rural Finance 1 1 6 Reseach 1 1 6 Thesis 20 8 6 & 7 Graduation Practice 15 4 8 COPY RIGHT 2012 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 392