The 2014 appraisal and selection results of the Open University of China (OUC) have been compiled, and 33 courses from 15 branches and two discipline schools have been announced as receiving "excellent" status.

In order to further boost the curricula construction of the OUC, improve course and teaching resource quality, and promote the co-construction and sharing of high quality teaching resources, in April, the OUC officially began the appraisal and selection of "excellent" courses for 2014.

Notice on the Declaration of Excellent Courses of the OUC in 2014 (The OUC Resources No. [2014]3), printed and distributed in advance, specifically pointed out that the purpose is to encourage course design and development based on new media and new technology, such as curriculum resources that can run on tablets, mobile phones, and other mobile learning terminals. A total of 79 courses were selected from 24 branches and two discipline schools of the OUC, of which 27 were from the arts and law, 25 were from economics and management, 16 were from engineering, seven were from education, two were from foreign languages, and two were from agroforestry and medicine. The courses selected for awards this year represented many new trends, reflecting, for example trends in diversification. Bilingual online courses, regional cultural courses, and vocational development-oriented courses were exceptional for certain features related to teaching activity design, the construction of mobile learning resources, the construction of micro courses, and the application of new technology; some of these courses applied the two-dimension code, showcasing the trend toward online curricula construction.

On June 4, the appraisal and selection meeting for excellent courses of the OUC in 2014 was held in Beijing. Yan Bing, Director of the review committee and Vice President of the OUC, noted that during the period of the construction of the OUC and the processing of the strategic transformation of Radio and Television University (RTVU), courses needed to receive unprecedented attention. On one side, the appraisal and selection should be done according to the criteria, and on the other side, the new requirements of open university courses should be taken into account. At present, there are dual goals that promote accelerated curricula construction: the first is to comprehensively improve the course quality of the OUC; the second is to improve the comprehensive integration of curricula construction in the overall system. The criteria on which the appraising and selecting of excellent courses was based was as follows: firstly, to embody guidance; secondly, to bear the weight of achievements; thirdly, to provide examples; fourthly, to advance exploration by leaps and bounds. Additional aspects received special attention: the first one was the teaching contents of the course; the second one was the teaching design of the course; the third one was the feasibility and effectiveness of the application of technology; the fourth one was teaching efficiency. He hoped that the appraisal and selection of excellent courses would be a process governed by research and guiding practices.

Seven outside experts, seven experts from OUC branches, and seven experts from headquarters, 21 experts all together, were then invited to begin the appraisal and selection process. After deliberation by smaller groups and then final review by the committee, 33 courses of the OUC in 2014 were awarded "excellent" course status, with the award-winning units including 15 branches and two discipline schools of the OUC: Hunan Branch (five courses), Xinjiang Branch (five courses), Hebei Branch (four courses), Gansu Branch (three courses), Shandong Branch (three courses), and Xi’an Branch, Harbin Branch, Qinghai Branch, Jilin Branch, Fujian Branch, Tianjin Branch, Henan Branch, Jiangsu Branch, Wuhan Branch, and Jiangxi Branch each having one course awarded; the School of Arts and Law and the School of Economics and Management, two discipline schools of the OUC, had two and one course(s) awarded respectively. (for details see attached table)

Appraisal and Selection Results of Excellent Courses of the OUC in 2014

By Gao Minghui, the OUC