Editor's Notes: The Open University of China (OUC) has initiated a programme to nurture candidates for the inaugural session of "Outstanding Young Teachers," resulting in 104 teachers being bestowed with the esteemed title of "OUC Outstanding Young Teachers."
By sharing the stories of some of these young teachers and highlighting their experiences of learning and personal growth, our aim is to showcase the dedication and enthusiasm of all OUC teachers who are devoted to contributing to the establishment of a lifelong learning society for all.
Wei Wenyi started working at Liaoning Open University (OU) in September 2015. She was selected as one of the top candidates for the "Hundred, Thousand, and Ten Thousand Talents Project" in Liaoning Province. She was awarded the Special Prize for Teaching Achievements in Vocational Education and Continuing Education in Liaoning Province in 2022 and the First Prize for Teaching Achievements in Vocational Education and Continuing Education in Liaoning Province in 2020. She was approved to lead the 2021 Annual Basic Research Project (Youth Project) of the Liaoning Provincial Department of Education. She independently produced a series of micro-courses on "Numerical Control Machine Tools," which won the Excellent Award for Five-Minute Courses at the OUC. She has been honored with the title of Course Coordinator at Liaoning OU and has undertaken the construction of courses that have received several awards for excellent projects in educational reform at the university.
Since joining work, she has been engaged in work related to educational reform, learning the innovative design concept of courses at the OUC, creating a series of five-minute courses on "Numerical Control Machine Tools," and participating in various digital resource construction competitions organised by the OUC. She also serves as the course responsible teacher at the Liaoning branch.
I. Reform under the Guidance of New Theories and Policies
The innovation and improvement of the teacher team requires comprehensive schemes, plans, platforms, and management systems. So far, the teacher training plans I have encountered are:
(1) Liaoning Radio and Television University (RTVU) Teacher Education Technology Training.
In the second half of 2015, Liaoning RTVU conducted a one-week education technology training for all new teachers. During this period, I learned how to use the Moodle platform of the OUC, encountered various software for making micro-videos, and clarified my future work development positioning.
(2) OUC Outstanding Young Teachers Training Programme
During the training process, I studied education and teaching related knowledge more systematically and found the theoretical source for the problems encountered in work practice.
II. Experimental Reforms
Vocational schools must promote the “Three Teaching” reform, focusing on the three main targets of teachers, teaching materials, and teaching methods, guided by problems, and exploring the implementation path of the "Three Teaching" reform through pilot studies.
(1) Teaching methods: Taking the curriculum standards reform of Liaoning Equipment Manufacturing Vocational and Technical College as an example
In the process of carrying out curriculum standard reforms at the school, teachers need to re-examine the relationship between practical aspects of the curriculum and theoretical knowledge. They need to redesign and grasp the scale of what students have already "learned", and may even need to enhance their own practical abilities.
(2) Teaching materials: Taking the innovative construction of course resources in Liaoning OU as an example
Participating in the production of the five-minute series of micro-courses at the OUC made me understand the importance of having each learning resource be concise and powerful. During the training class for outstanding young teachers at the OUC, I learned to use the Moodle platform of the OUC, combined with information technology teaching methods, to achieve closer interaction with students.
III. Promotional Reforms
In this section, I mainly use the reform and innovation work of the Credit Bank Management Centre at Liaoning OU as an example.
While working at the Credit Bank Management Centre of Liaoning OU, I assisted the department head in exploring solutions for implementing the fusion of credentials and books. After the pilot experience in our college gradually matured, the plan was promoted to other schools in the province within the same major, and then to different majors. It now covers more than 400 majors in nearly 90 schools.
IV. Conclusion
Although the forms of the teaching reform-related work I have encountered are different, they are closely related. Correct value orientation and theoretical guidance are of utmost importance to reform, and are also the precious wealth I have learned from the OUC Outstanding Young Teachers Training Programme.
By OUC News Network