From November 1st to 6th, 2015, the Open University of China (OUC) held an advanced seminar for its teaching and scientific research staff in Beijing.
More than 80 teaching, scientific research, and management staff from 38 of the OUC’s branches participated in it. OUC Vice President Li Ling granted certificates of completion to the trainees. OUC Vice President Zhang Shaogang attended the opening ceremony of the seminar and delivered a speech.
Participants listening earnestly to the special report
Ice-breaking activity in small groups
Vice President Zhang Shaogang delivers a speech at the opening ceremony
Vice President Li Ling awards certificates of completion to the trainees
The seminar, undertaken for the first time by the OUC’s Education Research Institute (Scientific Research Department), was a training activity oriented to the teaching and scientific research staff in the OUC’s system. Its goal is to set up a learning platform for the teaching and scientific research staff in the OUC system, to help them perceive trends in the development of educational scientific research, acquire new skills, and put them into real practice, all while coming to better appreciate the important role of information technology in supporting scientific research development.
The seminar was designed to incorporate multiple interactions and the integrated application of theory and practice, which gave rise to many content modules including high-end reports, practical exercises, and cross-discipline learning. In regards to the composition of the attendees, 70% of the teachers came from the Education Research Institute (Scientific Research Department). They shared their own research results, experience, and feelings on such aspects as scientific research papers publication, design of survey questionnaires, dropouts’ research and cooperation, presentation of international conference achievements, and E-learning Education Training. At the same time, a number of famous experts and scholars in the fields of education scientific research development and planning, digitized scientific research, empirical research, and scientific research management were invited to the seminar to deliver comprehensive and systematic explanations as well as provide practical demonstrations.
The trainees generally expressed that they had made great strides during the one-week training activities. Through the ice-breaking activity and practical training, they learned how to put theoretical knowledge into practice. Through on-scene observation activities in the three areas of topic opening, intermediate checking, and topic closing, they obtained an overall and systematic understanding of the basic links in the progress of topic research and scientific research management. Through the morning reading of classical sinology, their enthusiasm for learning was increased by the reciting of the traditional cultural classics.
The seminar focused on communication feedback. Through means such as setting up QQ discussion groups for trainees and designing and making learning manuals, it strengthened the communication and exchange between training staff, collected their learning experiences in the process of training, realized the comprehensive exchanges and discussions from online to offline, and accumulated experiences for better improving the quality of the seminar.
By Lu Feng,OUC