To study and implement the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, fulfill the requirements of the 2024 key tasks of the Ministry of Education and the Open University of China (OUC), the OUC held an online training session for special teaching supervision experts.

This session marked the launch of the spring 2024 remote class observation and evaluation initiatives. The goal is to enhance the quality governance of open education, continually improve the quality of live broadcast teaching across the university system, and support the development of a digital university with high-quality online teaching. The meeting saw the participation of 32 individuals, including supervision experts from the headquarters' Department of Quality Monitoring and Control and other members of the university's education system. Zhao Jia, deputy director of the Department of Quality Monitoring and Control, chaired the meeting.

Jin Yan, deputy director of the Department of Quality Monitoring and Control, expressed gratitude to the experts participating in the supervision and proposed three principles for the class observation and evaluation work: First, to be objective and fair, guiding and supervising based on actual teaching conditions to evaluate the effectiveness of class teaching and promote the improvement of live broadcast class quality. Second, to adopt a problem-oriented approach, using evaluation to drive reform, deeply exploring the highlights of live broadcast classes, and providing specific and constructive suggestions to promote continuous improvement of live broadcast teaching. Third, to offer advice and suggestions for extensive consultation and joint contribution. This aims to enhance teaching capabilities, strengthen the implementation of the teaching process, and contribute wisdom and strength.  

Feng Lihong, head of the Section of Quality Monitoring and Control, presented a detailed overview of their work covering basic information, work discipline and principles, as well as content and requirements. Additionally, two senior experts shared their work experience and insights on the crucial steps of preparation, listening, and evaluation for class observations and evaluations.

Since 2020, the OUC has been conducting remote class observations and evaluations as a regular task, incorporating the results into the comprehensive teaching inspection notification. These evaluations have become one of the four main rating indicators. As the initiative has progressed, the focus has increasingly shifted towards live broadcast teaching across the entire system. More branches (colleges) are developing their own systems and methods for class observations and evaluations. The overall quality of live broadcast teaching has shown a stable and improving trend, effectively enhancing the implementation of the teaching process and the quality of class instruction.

This semester, the OUC will implement a series of optimizations and reforms in several key areas:

First, regarding evaluators, we will timely update the expert team, creating a blend of new and established experts through branch recommendations and headquarters selections. This will enhance the authority and credibility of live broadcast class evaluations. Additionally, open class observations and evaluations will be conducted by teachers, teaching administrators, and evaluation experts from the headquarters, putting in place the evaluation mechanism with diverse evaluators and joint evaluations inside and outside the education system. Second, in terms of result feedback, we will compile a summary report on class observations and evaluations. The evaluation results for all courses will be provided to the branches (colleges) as units. Third, regarding the application of results, we will further explore and promote high-quality live broadcast classes. We will also deeply address issues and provide suggestions for live broadcast classes. For significant concerns such as ideological issues or factual errors, immediate supervision and rectification will be undertaken to enhance the ongoing improvement of live broadcast teaching quality.

To continue enhancing the monitoring of teaching implementation, the university will maintain its focus on "academic governance" to establish a sustainable mechanism for monitoring teaching quality. Collaborating with various functional departments, we aim to prioritize class quality, promote the high-quality development of open education, and contribute to building a leading educational nation through the strengths of open universities.

Written by Liu Liwen and photo by He Dandan, OUC