In the recently concluded China International College Students' Innovation Competition (2024), the Open University of China (OUC) achieved remarkable success with 12 projects qualified for the finals on-site competition, winning 3 gold and 9 silver medals.
To summarise experiences, identify areas for improvement, and further enhance the innovative literacy of the OUC students, and strengthen the competitiveness of participating projects in the China International College Students' Innovation Competition, on 6 November 2024, the Department of Student Affairs and Teacher Development of the OUC organised a workshop. The event focused on reviewing the national-level competition projects and providing specialised training for key projects in preparation for future competitions.
Liu Xuanxuan, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the OUC, attended the workshop along with competition guiding experts and faculty members from Qingdao, Wuhan, Hunan, Anhui, and Fujian branches, totalling 27 participants. Zhao Tingting, deputy director of the Department of Student Affairs and Teacher Development, presided over the event. Nearly 100 national-competition-project teachers and team members from Shanxi, Guangdong, and Shanghai branches attended online.
In her speech, Liu Xuanxuan reviewed the participation process in the national finals of the 2024 innovation competition, congratulated the winning teams, and acknowledged the hard work of the guiding teachers from various branches. She emphasised the OUC's commitment to nurturing innovative talent and reforming talent cultivation models by integrating innovation and entrepreneurship education into the university's key work. Over five years of participation in the competition, the OUC students have developed mature thinking across various industries and fields, applying their insights to practical production, thus contributing significantly to local employment, social development, and rural revitalisation. This sets the OUC students apart from those in traditional universities and vocational colleges and highlights the OUC's unique advantages. Liu urged the university to strengthen education and teaching reforms in the cultivation of innovative talent, integrate innovation and entrepreneurship education into the teaching system, enhance training efforts, introduce external mentors, and form a dual-innovation teaching team. She also stressed the importance of publicity across branches and colleges to expand social influence and called for identifying weaknesses in the competition to provide insights for future contests.
Experts provided a comprehensive summary of the China International College Students' Innovation Competition (2024), compared the OUC's data with the national competition data, and conducted an in-depth analysis of the OUC's achievements and deficiencies. They reviewed and analysed the university's projects, offered guidance on project innovation, team collaboration, and roadshow defence through specific data analysis and case sharing.
Anhui Branch Project Guidance
Hunan Branch Project Guidance
Wuhan Branch Project Guidance
Qingdao Branch Project Guidance
Fujian Branch Project Guidance
Participants from various branches expressed that the workshop was rich in content and highly beneficial. They plan to use this opportunity to boost confidence among teachers and students in participating in innovation competitions and to do a good job in project selection and cultivation. The branches will further integrate innovation and entrepreneurship education into the entire talent cultivation process, enhance students' innovative spirit, awareness, and capabilities, help them apply their learning to achieve new progress and breakthroughs in different industries and fields.
The participating students expressed gratitude for the meticulous organisation by the headquarters and noted that the experts provided in-depth guidance on project logic, competition skills, and highlight extraction, and reviewed the entire competition, which not only deepened everyone’s understanding of the competition, but also enabled them to gain valuable experience and innovative ideas. They will continue to refine their projects in the upcoming 2025 competitions to achieve even better results.
This workshop served as a comprehensive summary of the innovation competition and an early-stage deployment for the 2025 innovation competition. Looking ahead, the OUC will continue to explore reforms in talent cultivation models, build expansive platforms, and cultivate more innovative talent with distinctive characteristics of the Open University, contributing the OUC's wisdom and strength to building a leading country in education.
By OUC