From 12-13th November 2017, a meeting on teaching work in the economics and management majors of the Open University of China (OUC) was held in Zhuhai, Guangdong province with the aim of further deepening teaching and educational reform, comprehensively improving teaching quality, and promoting the construction and reform of these key developing majors.
A total of 83 responsible people from the relevant educational departments of the economics and management majors at the OUC headquarters and its branches attended the meeting. Li Jiang, vice president of Guangdong Open University, and Chen Hua, vice president of Zhuhai Open University, delivered speeches at the opening ceremony.
Liu Chen, vice president of the OUC, gave a speech titled Positively Learning from and Implementing the Spirit of the 19th CPC National Conference, Deepening Teaching and Educational Reform, and Promoting the Teaching Quality of the OUC’s Economics and Management Majors. He stressed that we should examine the historical mission of continuing education; carefully study future trends in economic and social development and the relevant policies and documents of the education departments; focus on the basic process and successful experiences of our peers and competitors in teaching and educational reform, especially with regards to the exploration of resource construction and teaching and training models used by enterprises, universities and other institutions and learn from others’ strong points to make up for our own shortcomings; study and accurately judge the current situation of open education, focus on the standards and models of learner development, the resources construction for specialties and courses, and the coordination and services of teaching process; make “Quality, Reputation, and Brand” the goal for teaching and educational reform; use “Six-Network Integration” as a means and professional training standards as a feature; set up a truly learner-centric educational concept, narrow the gap between degree and non-degree education, build a high-quality campus culture, and construct a high level teaching team.
Liu Zhimin, director of the OUC’s educational department of economics and management, gave a speech on Teaching Reform in the Economics and Management Majors and Our Tasks. She briefed the attendees on the process of teaching reform, including the construction of the key developing majors, the research group for various majors, and the online teaching team, analysed the main problems existing in teaching in the economics and management majors, and put forward the goals, basic principles, reform emphasis, and main tasks for teaching reform in the economic and management major. She said that the construction of the key developing majors in economics and management should achieve four things: 1) a focus and insistence on teaching quality; 2) online courses and an online teaching team; 3) reform of the training plan, teaching content, and teaching model; 4) meet the goals of construction, clear positioning, distinctive features, adapting to requirements, and quality assurance.
Ye Zhihong, director of the OUC Academic Affairs Department, introduced the situation and concepts of the OUC’s comprehensive teaching reform, and explained the design related to the construction of the key developing majors and their courses, and learning system reform.
The participants broke into groups to discuss the comprehensive concept of teaching reform in the economics and management majors and the construction and plans for the key developing majors, and then put forward their suggestions.
Cai Yunjiao, deputy director of the OUC Faculty of Economics and Management, described how teaching reform in the economics and management major in open universities had entered a new stage, with the construction of the key developing majors as a symbol of this new stage. The meeting served as a kick-off and mobilisation meeting. In the wake of the meeting, all the teaching departments in economics and management should pay close attention to changes in the environment and related policies, emancipate their minds, collaborate and cooperate with each other, spare no efforts to carry forward construction and reform in all majors related to economics and management, particularly the construction of the key developing majors, and comprehensively enhance teaching the quality.
At the meeting, teachers who won awards for outstanding theses at the recently concluded sixth assessment of papers in economics and management were commended and medals of honour were granted to the OUC’s branches in Jilin, Jiangsu, Ningbo, Hunan, Guangdong, and Xi’an. Some of the teachers who won first prize for their theses shared their award-winning work at the meeting.
By Cai Yunjiao,OUC