On May 12, 2023, the Open University of China (OUC) and the Higher Education Teaching Evaluation Centre of the Ministry of Education (MOE) collaborated to initiate a training course aimed at cultivating teaching evaluators in its branches.
A total of 46 experts were invited to serve as evaluators, comprising 14 leaders at the bureau level and 32 leaders at the department level from 33 units across the country, including local education administrations and higher education institutions. The training was conducted both online and offline. This marks the fourth round of evaluations since the implementation of the teaching quality evaluation system at the branches every five years, beginning in 2020.
Li Song, vice president of the Open University of China (OUC), attended the meeting and emphasized the significance of evaluations as a crucial measure for enhancing the quality assurance system, reinforcing infrastructure, quality management, and the effectiveness of closed-loop operations at the branch level. This comprehensive improvement aims to raise the standard, guarantee level, teaching quality, and social reputation of the OUC's educational system, while actively promoting the integration of open education.
Li Song expressed his hope that the experts would diligently focus on identifying problems and their root causes, adhere to established standards, conduct accurate evaluations, maintain a coordinated approach, and ensure that their scientific evaluations yield results that can withstand the test of time and practice. By doing so, the evaluation outcomes will garner trust from within the organisation, gain acceptance from the OUC system and society, earn recognition from the wider community, and be praised by the public. This collective effort ultimately aims to foster the high-quality development of the OUC branches.
Chen Wei, an expert recommended by the Centre, who serves as the dean of the International Education Centre at the Shanghai Business School and deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai Adult Education Association, shared his extensive evaluation experience and provided valuable practical suggestions.
Starting from May 15, seven branches, namely Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Anhui, Hubei, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Gansu, will undergo a comprehensive evaluation of their school-running quality.
The meeting was attended by various individuals, including Li Xinhui, deputy director of the OUC Discipline Inspection and Audit Department; Chen Haishan, director of the OUC Finance Department; Han Yi, director of the OUC Department of Quality Monitoring and Control; as well as experts from the OUC headquarters. Each participant put forward specific requirements from their respective professional perspectives. Zhao Jia, deputy director of the OUC Department of Quality Monitoring and Control, presided over the meeting.
Written by Wang Jia, photographed by He Dandan, OUC