From 11th -15th June 2018, the Open University of China (OUC) held a seminar for core teachers from its math major. Fifty-nine teachers from 22 provinces and cities attended the seminar. Liu Chen, vice president of the OUC, issued course completion certificates to the teachers.

Cheng Gang, deputy director of the OUC Learner Support and Teacher Development Centre, and Zhang Xia, deputy director of the Faculty of Education, attended the opening ceremony.

During the seminar, Hu Jun, associate professor of Beijing Jiaotong University, shared hot topics in the field of computer intelligence and mathematic application methods. Professor Li Desheng from Shenyang Normal University gave a detailed introduction to two issues and partial programmes in textbooks for numerical mathematics. Ji Yanli, deputy director of the University of Science and Technology Beijing, and Lin Xiuqin, associate professor of the Faculty of Education of the OUC, introduced the design, development, and application of micro lectures and conducted practical training with the Camtasia-Studio 9 software.

After learning about the Camtasia-Studio 9 software, the teachers practiced in groups, created micro lectures, and demonstrated their achievements.

Relevant personnel from the Academic Affairs Department and the Faculty of Education gave reports on application documents for academic degrees, the selection of thesis topics, oral defences for the maths major, and degree conferment.

With regards to online core courses and the teaching team, Gu Jingxiang, a professor from the Faculty of Education of the OUC, and Qu Wei, an associate professor from the OUC Shenzhen Branch, introduced the design concepts behind two online core courses, namely, Discrete Mathematics and Computation Methods. Zhao Jian, an OUC professor, and Yu Mengtao, an associate professor from the OUC Sichuan Branch, shared their experience of creating a basic online teaching team for Economic Mathematics from the perspectives of the headquarters and the branches, respectively.

Three topics were given in the group discussions, including My Opinions on OUC Math Major Online Learning Courses and Online Teaching Team, The Teaching Reform Direction of Math Majors, and How to Reconcile Contradictions Between Students’ Learning Needs and Teaching Requirements. Each teacher actively participated in the discussions and offered suggestions.

By Chang Huimin, OUC