Gu Xiaohua is an associate professor, and deputy director of the Faculty of Humanities of the Open University of China (OUC); a member of the National Vocational-education and Teaching Steering Committee for Human Resources and Social Security; a group leader of the OUC Teaching Research Centre for the Administration major; and a member of the OUC Degree Committee for the Public Administration major. He began teaching at China Central Radio and TV University (CCRTVU) in 2003, and has been mainly responsible for the courses Principles of Politics, Human-resources Management in the Public Sector, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era; the construction of learning resources and teaching teams; and teaching management and course construction.

Mr. Gu is a dedicated and ethical teacher, and every semester teaches both online and face-to-face.

He carefully assesses his students, and teaches in accordance with their aptitudes, backgrounds, and, for adult students, the time they have for study given their work and family responsibilities. His focus is on practical applications and hot topics, and his presentations of material are simple and direct. Because the students have strong cognitive and analytical abilities, he has them work in groups doing case discussions, recruitment simulations, and so on – not only teaching them, but enhancing their ability to cooperate and interact. Also, to interest them and give them confidence, he uses humorous language and vivid and specific cases. In teaching organisation, he paid attention to improving teaching effect by adopting various teaching methods according to students' characteristics and following students' cognitive rules. According to students, his classroom is lively and invigorating, and he displays a strong affinity for them. He was named "Most Popular Teacher" by the Open Education School of Beijing Open University, and is one of the main teachers of a national “Excellent Resource-sharing Course” called Human-resources Management in the Public Sector.

Open education is mainly based on resources, and their quality directly affects its efficacy. The best learning resources are student-centered. Mr. Gu, understanding this, has established two online courses based on it. They are simple and practical, and suitable for adult students studying independently. His online course Principles of Politics came first in the 2007 Multimedia Courseware Competition of the Radio and TV University (RTVU), and in 2010 was named a “Top-quality Course” of both the RTVU system and nationally. For the course Human-resources Management in the Public Sector he designed a "Human-resource-management Training Room", using case analyses, design-scheme writing, and problem solving to improve the practical abilities of students. In 2013, this course was named an “Excellent Course” of the OUC system, and in 2014 a “National Excellent Resource-sharing Course”.

Mr. Gu has also been active in teaching reforms for Administrative Management, basing them on the nature of the OUC and of its students.

He has also worked to build learning resources suited to independent study, publishing well-received study guides for Principles of Politics and Human-resources Management in the Public Sector, as well as digital textbooks for these courses.

As a member of the National Vocational-education Steering Committee for Human Resources and Social Security, Mr. Gu discusses research and the standards for the Human Resources major, aiming to enhance the training it offers and its relation to real-world needs.

He has also guided examination reform in the direction of testing practical applications of learning via case analyses, group discussions and report writing.

Among his activities is the construction of teaching teams, in particular the team for Principles of Politics, for which he selected the members, created the plan, and supervised operations. Through his efforts, this team has made remarkable progress in curriculum construction, teaching, and teacher training, enhancing course quality and the teaching and research abilities of teachers.

Finally we should mention Mr. Gu's research activities. He has published three textbooks, including Western Administrative Systems, of which he was editor-in-chief, and participated in the editing of three others: Local Government in China, Organisational Behaviour, and Human-resources Management in the Public Sector. He has also helped translate New Public Management and published the papers Difficulties and Methods of Functional Change in Local Governments in China, and Curriculum Design for RTVU Administration Majors. The former came second in the Administration section of an RTVU competition for teachers of arts and law. His paper PDCA Construction of Learning Resources in Open Education came second among "Research Papers in Education and the Social and Medical Sciences", and he was named an “Excellent Author”in the 20th Anniversary Commemorative Essay Competition organised by the Party Committee of the OUC.

By OUC News Network