Recently, the defence work for bachelor degree students from the Xi'an Branch in spring 2020 has been successfully completed. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Xi’an Branch has been making full use of information technology to continuously innovate its work model and optimise its live streaming platform. Following online live streamed classes, online cloud defences have been put into practice as scheduled. The online video defence for undergraduate students was conducted using multiple platforms such as smart classrooms, the Tencent meeting app, and WeChat groups in order to maintain quality in completing graduation defences.

Xi'an Branch Online Defence Site

The Xi’an Branch attaches great importance to the defence work. A leading group led by Zhao Liling, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and president of Xi’an Branch, has been established. The Academic Affairs Office has carefully developed implementation measures and detailed requirements for the online video defence process. In order to guarantee the smooth progress of the defence, a training meeting for defence secretaries was been held and a WeChat group was set up for the defence group to organise rehearsals for students, to ensure that members of the defence group could get familiar with the online defence platform and process, and to ensure that every student could master the use of the video defence software before the defence.

In order to ensure smooth communication between members of each group, the university, while adhering to the requirements of epidemic prevention and control, allowed members of the defence group to gather in the university while students participated in the defence using online platforms. During the defence, two defence secretaries tracked the process, made a paper record, screen captured key information, and collated all of the information. The members of the defence group strictly followed the defence procedures and work requirements. The university also appointed three experts to supervise the whole defence process to ensure that the standards, and quality of the online video defence process remained unchanged and that students could have the same experience in the "cloud " as in their offline defence.

On the day of the defence, Zhao Liling was present at the defence site to check and guide the defence work. Zhao Liling stressed that graduation thesis and graduation design are important practical links in the teaching work of the university, and it is a comprehensive exercise for students' professional abilities. He said: “We should strengthen guidance and support services for students and constantly improve the effect of their learning through thesis defence work and the opinions and suggestions of the defence committee, supervision experts, and students on the education and teaching work of Xi'an Branch. At the same time, during this period of epidemic prevention and control, we should give full play to the advantages of the Xi'an Branch in distance education, take smart learning as a starting point, and make every effort to ensure the normal development of various education and teaching activities.”

During the defence, Shi Dan, an undergraduate student of administrative management from the class of autumn 2017 at a branch school directly affiliated to Xi'an Branch, was on her way back to China. After completing the online defence, she said that, "With the help of my teachers, I completed my degree defence as I wished. The distance defence methods provided by the university have replaced traditional teaching methods. During the defence process, the voice and video technology were clear, helping us to realise “zero distance” communication with the teachers. The defence was an unforgettable experience. "

The “cloud defence” has left a deep impression on all members of the defence committee, who said that online defence was as effective as the offline defence means. The professional qualities demonstrated by students from the Xi'an Branch and the smart classroom environment provided by the university both won praise from members of the defence committee.

Relevant responsible personnel from the Xi'an Branch said that, in the future, the university will continue to adhere to the "student-oriented" education concept, comprehensively deepen teaching reform, further increase the depth and width of smart learning, constantly improve the level of teaching and the effectiveness of learning, and provide students with better learner support services.

Written by Su Wen and Chen Jing,photographed by Yao Hui , Xi’an Branch