Abstract: Student-centered “practical teaching” has emerged as an innovative approach to implement the fundamental mission of "cultivating virtue and nurturing talents" in the new era, gradually becoming a key direction for classroom teaching reform. Addressing the challenges of the Instrumental Analysis course—characterized by fragmented knowledge points, complex theories, and difficulties in systematic memorization—this study focuses on the X-ray instrumentation chapter as a case study. Given that X-ray research alone has yielded over 20 Nobel Prize-winning discoveries, students often struggle with learning effectiveness and develop apprehension toward the subject, leading to reduced motivation. To address this, our teaching team developed a “context-driven classroom with clue-guided reasoning” approach. Breaking conventional boundaries, we incorporated elements from the popular “murder mystery game” format to engage students. By situating learners in historical contexts from a century ago, we provided initial clues about "X-ray discovery," using outcomes from each scenario as leads for subsequent investigations. This method progressively guides students through key challenges: understanding X-ray characteristics, exploring potential applications, and comprehending instrumental principles. The approach not only bridges the gap between students and Nobel Prize-level research but also reduces learning anxiety while enhancing active exploration, self-directed learning, and divergent thinking. Ultimately, it effectively cultivates students' innovative thinking and logical reasoning skills through progressive learning, providing classroom-based support for developing a comprehensive training system for high-level scientific instrumentation talent.

Key words: Context-driven, Top-notch innovation, Practical teaching, Clue-based reasoning