On the morning of 23 September 2022, the Open University of China (OUC) held its 2022 teaching inspection work deployment meeting via video link. OUC Vice President Li Song attended the meeting.
Li Song pointed out that, through comprehensive teaching inspection and reform and development work deployment, we should further judge the situation, analyse the problems, and clarify the quality assurance tasks. He put forward the following requirements for follow-up work.
First, it is necessary to correctly understand the opportunities and challenges, maintain righteousness and innovation, continue to unswervingly adhere to the implementation of the strategy of “creating excellence and improving quality,” adhere to stressing both regulation and development, focus on “improving quality, digital empowerment and precise governance,” strengthen the OUC’s quality governance pattern and the operation mechanism of internal control, external control, and third-party joint evaluation, and form a transformation development pattern of open education that is compatible with the new development stage.
Secondly, the OUC should deepen reform and form a closed loop of self-inspection and self-correction governance. This year’s comprehensive teaching inspection is being carried out in the form of unannounced inspection, with the aim of enhancing the branch system’s ability to self-investigate and self-correct. Leaders at all levels should stress the implementation of the inspection at each branch system level and clarify their respective responsibilities. Each branch (school) should improve the quality and presence of the school. Self-inspections should strictly adhere to the bottom line of quality, giving zero tolerance to major problems that touch the bottom line. Serious problems should be dealt with strictly and notify relevant parties of any major issues in a timely fashion.
Third, it is necessary to seriously investigate to avoid any risks and build a clean and healthy schooling ecology.
The Teaching Affairs Department gave a briefing on online teaching inspection in 2021, summarised the new progress and problems found in online teaching, focused on the key tasks, and deployed the follow-up work of online teaching.
The Department of Quality Monitoring and Control explained the special teaching supervision of remote listening and assessment of courses in spring 2022 and gave a reminder of the focus and requirements for listening and assessment in the autumn semester. It also introduced the reform of the comprehensive announcement of the profile of teaching inspection, explained the comprehensive rating method, and analysed the state of quality presented by the profile of this reform announcement. It also deployed the key points, requirements, and specific work of the autumn semester teaching inspection reform for this unannounced inspection.
The Information Technology Department introduced the current status and future construction direction of the OUC’s big data governance. The problem of place swapping and surrogate test takers has been effectively restricted through technologies such as facial recognition and ID verification. In the future, technologies such as intelligent marking, natural language processing, and behavioural log analysis will be applied. The OUC will accumulate a series of data standards, standardise system collaboration, and improve the system’s data governance capabilities.
The meeting stressed that all relevant departments must pay attention to the “three transitions” of this year’s teaching inspection, i.e., the content of the announcement of comprehensive teaching inspection, the inspection method, and the rules of the new learning network data statistics. The system should enable everyone to have a sense of quality inspection and write a new chapter for high-quality development.
The meeting was attended by Han Yi, director of the Department of Quality Monitoring and Control; Zhao Jia, deputy director of the Department of Quality Monitoring and Control; Cheng Gang, director of the Information Technology Department; Qi Wenxin, deputy director of the Teaching Affairs Department; and relevant staff. Branch leaders, department heads, and relevant staff responsible for quality and teaching work from 45 branches and 18 schools directly affiliated to the OUC attended the meeting via video link. The meeting was presided over by Han Yi.
Written by Qi Wenxin, Jiang Yifan, and Wei Fangfang; Photos by Li Peng