Recently, Gong Jinlong, vice president of Tianjin University, said at the 10th Xinhua Education Forum, "Tianjin University is planning to build an internet of things system covering the whole campus, and promote the establishment of a smart campus, smart classrooms and the linkage mechanism of multi-campus teaching operation. Among them, classroom teaching is the core of educational and teaching informatization construction.”
As one of the leaders in emerging engineering education (3E), Tianjin University focuses on improving the quality of talent cultivation through diversified and informatization-oriented teaching methods. Gong introduced that in the process of promoting 3E, Tianjin University pays attention to the selection and aggregation of excellent online open courses, virtual simulation experiment teaching laboratories and projects with global scope, promotes the online and offline multiple interactive teaching mode and maximizes the value of high-quality educational and teaching resources with students at its core. The final goal is to transform students’ minds from "push me to learn" to "I want to learn".
Gong mentioned that teachers are the main body of educational and teaching informatization. Therefore, the modernization of teachers' teaching ability must be promoted. On the one hand, teachers should adhere to the fundamental task of building morality and cultivating talents. On the other hand, the educational and teaching policy of colleges and universities should be made accurately, and a long-term mechanism to encourage teachers to improve their teaching ability should be established.
Gong said that with the further promotion of "six excellences and one top" plan 2.0 (a teaching plan to cultivate excellent engineers, doctors, agricultural and forestry talents, teachers, rule of law talents, news and communication talents and top students in basic disciplines), Tianjin University is scientifically interpreting the connotations of the talents training goal, and studying how to embody and integrate these connotations into the main channel of the class and the practical education curriculum system of the second class (classroom-related teaching activities conducted outside class time). Taking the 3E as an example, it involves the deep intersection and integration of humanities and social sciences with engineering and science disciplines, which needs the cultivation of humanistic spirits such as scientific outlook, engineering outlook and social outlook. All of these will be incorporated into the design of talents training programs and curriculum system.
As a university with engineering advantages, Tianjin University has always focused on how to strengthen the cultivation of humanistic spirits when teaching. Gong believes that "the intersection and integration of traditional liberal arts, science and engineering is an important way to realize the comprehensive reform of talents training. Therefore, Tianjin University is exploring the deep integration of emerging liberal arts and science education and professional education in the implementation of 3E. " At present, the Ministry of Education of the PRC is promoting the reform of the credit system in colleges and universities. In Gong's view, the reform of the credit system and other key teaching operation mechanisms is an effective way to break the barriers of disciplines and majors, which enable students to obtain balanced and full development according to their own interests and specialties.
By: Li Bei
Editors: Keith Harrington, Sun Xiaofang
