Yan Feinan Devotes her Passionate Love to Physics Teaching

Yan Feinan, a physics teacher at USST, is widely popular with her students. She was awarded the Shanghai Municipal Award for Cultivating Talents and honored as “The Best Teacher in Students’ Heart in USST” five times. Besides, she also won the Life Achievement Award of “Golden Teaching Stick”.

As a physics teacher in university, Yan Feinan has an affinity with physics. When she was in high school, the humorous teaching method and charming personality of her physics teacher let her fall in love with the subject. “Perhaps the most profound impact of physics on me was that physics shaped my personality. Compared with art students, I tend to think rationally,” said she, “every time I meet complex problems, I like to dive the root of them. Only when finding the answers to these problems can I be relieved.”

After graduation, Yan Feinan decided to teach physics at university, while most of her classmates chose to go abroad. Yan said, “I have no regrets for this decision, and the interest in physics and passion for it give me the choice. Besides, being a teacher also helps me stay young at heart because of the usual exposure to many new things and ideas.” Over the past thirty years and more, Yan has been cautious and conscientious and really enjoy teaching physics in USST. Being a teacher is not an easy job. As a physics teacher in university, Yan Feinan conventionally prepares for class and also provides guidance for students to take part in various competitions. What’s more, she guides innovative experimental projects and sometimes compiles some textbooks. “Busy work makes me have little time for recreation,” said Yan, “so I seldom watch TV, let alone go shopping. But I like sports and usually do exercises in my spare time. Doing exercise makes me relaxed and energetic to make better preparation for teaching.” In a word, Yan Feinan not only completes teaching tasks but also actively participates in all kinds of teaching and research practice activities.

Besides, the “questionable” teaching method adopted by Yan Feinan is well received by students. She explained that the “questionable” teaching method focuses on the cultivation of students’ ability of independent thinking which allows a student to ask a question and then answers it himself. Yan noted the application of knowledge in each professional field and the connection between physics and students' majors and hopes that students can feel the charm of physics so as to stimulate their desire of learning and exploring. What’s more, Yan Feinan always sacrifices her time to tutor students. She said, “A teacher should shoulder the responsibility of educating students, so I hope that every student in my class can enjoy physics learning and improve himself.” In order to arouse students’ interest in physics learning, Yan introduces the demonstration experiments and network videos into the class, which makes the complicated theory visualized and vivid, and also greatly improves the teaching efficiency without carrying the experimental equipment into the classroom.

As for the relationship between teachers and students, Yan Feinan believes that teachers and students should build an equal friendship. She pays attention to the psychological development of her students and always actively guides them. Any student can ask her for help even though he or she is not her student, and she always tries her best to help them solve problems. When some students feel confused, she uses her spare time to talk with them and wants to improve students' confidence in her efforts. For 30 years, Yan is used to announcing her contact information to students when they first meet each other and encourages every student to communicate with her and ask questions by sending messages or calling her. She used to save students’ mobile phone numbers or email addresses to keep in touch with them at times. Before the exam, Yan always sends encouraging words to her students to enhance their confidence.
Yan Feinan has never forgotten her original aspiration and firmly remembers her mission of teaching and educating students all the time. She will continue to devote herself to this education career and pour her love into every student’s heart.