On 30 November 2020, the Open University of China (OUC) and the Higher Education Teaching Evaluation Centre of the Ministry of Education (MOE) jointly launched a training class for experts engaged in the pilot programme for the evaluation of teaching quality in its branches.
Those in attendance at the meeting included Lin Yu, vice president of the OUC; Li Zhi, deputy director of the MOE Higher Education Teaching Evaluation Centre; Li Yan and Wang Hong, director and deputy director of the Comprehensive Affairs Department of the MOE Higher Education Teaching Evaluation Centre; Ye Zhihong, director of the Academic Affairs Department of the OUC; Han Yi, director of the OUC Department of Quality Monitoring and Control; Li Ruiqing, director of the OUC Discipline Inspection and Audit Department; and experts from Beijing Jiaotong University attended the meeting. Zhu Linsheng, an expert engaged in training from the MOE Higher Education Teaching Evaluation Centre, and 19 experts from universities, online colleges, and the OUC system attended the meeting via cloud video conference. The meeting was presided over by Hu Po, deputy director of the OUC Department of Quality Monitoring and Control.
Lin Yu pointed out that the evaluation of OUC branches, the first voluntary attempt of its kind in the history of the university, is an important part of the OUC’s internal quality assurance mechanism. The evaluation of the operations of the OUC branches aims to check and improve the evaluation plan and give impetus to further evaluation through a pilot evaluation programme in four of its branches, so as to promote the construction of the OUC system via self-evaluation. Lin Yu hopes that the experts will objectively evaluate the school running operations and level of education of the OUC branches and listen to and collect opinions in order to promote standardised operation and improve quality. Finally, he expressed his gratitude to the MOE Higher Education Teaching Evaluation Centre and the experts for their support and participation, and wished that the evaluation pilot work will be a complete success.
Li Zhi said that the evaluation of the branch schools of the OUC is an important part of the implementation of the Overall Plan for Deepening the Reform of Education Evaluation in the New Era issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and a significant decision as part of the promotion of the high-quality development of open universities. He put forward three opinions on the pilot evaluation program. First, it is necessary to accurately clarify the basic content of teaching evaluation, understand the basic requirements of education evaluation and assessment, and implement Minister of Education Chen Baosheng’s instruction to "attach importance to evaluation, engage in evaluation in a down-to-earth manner, and make good use of the evaluation tool" by combining them with the actual situation of teaching. Second, it is necessary to understand the basic requirements of expert evaluation work, follow standards, and stick to the bottom line. Third, it is necessary to understand the basic requirements of the evaluation work and results, conduct comprehensive investigations and in-depth consultations, and make sure that problems are raised in an accurate manner and any suggestions and opinions are practical.
Zhu Linsheng, member of the undergraduate education and teaching evaluation expert committee of the Ministry of education and secretary of the Party committee of Jiangsu Institute of technology, trained the experts on the principles, methods, skills and precautions of evaluation. Li Ruiqing emphasised the discipline of evaluation. Ye Zhihong introduced the characteristics and situation of the national school system, and Han Yi interpreted the evaluation indicators. Experts at the meeting exchanged and answered questions with participants on assessment work and materials.
Written by Li Qi, photo by He Dandan, OUC