To further implement the Nankai University Initiative for Improving Education Quality, and to enhance the quality of education and talent cultivation in the Faculty of History, an annual education and teaching conference was held from October 28th to 29th, 2022. As invited guests, Professor Ge Jianxiong, a senior professor of humanities from Fudan University, and Professor Zhang Weigang from Nankai University's College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, attended the conference. More than 80 faculty and staff members, including the college's party and administrative leaders, also participated.
The conference participants discussed the major issues such as talent development, educational system reform, and textbook compilation, analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of historical disciplines' development, proposed measures for improvement to address the emerging new issues and requirements, and defined new approaches and train of thought for educational reform.
On October 28, Professor Zhang Weigang from the College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering of Nankai University gave a lecture entitled “Innovation and Application of Research-oriented Teaching in Universities”, and elaborated on the importance and feasibility of innovating the teaching model. He emphasized the need to create a teaching system that combines knowledge, methods, skills, and literacy. By integrating educational resources, a unique teaching model that is student-centered and research-oriented teaching should be developed. This would enhance students' independent learning ability and societal adaptability, and promote the improvement of teaching quality.
Professor Ge Jianxiong from Fudan University pointed out, based on his experience of doing postgraduate research under Mr. Tan Qixiang and his own experience of training postgraduates, that the selection of postgraduate students should not only consider grades and the undergraduate institutions where they graduate. Attention should be paid to the following three factors: family environment, logical thinking ability, and common sense. He emphasized the importance of logical thinking ability, and pointed out that mentors should teach by examples besides imparting knowledge. They should instill correct values in the students and help them develop ability of logical thinking. He highlighted the responsibility and commitment of mentors, and emphasized that they should adapt their teaching to the abilities and needs of different students, rather than rigidly adhering to one standard for selecting talents.
On October 29th, Xia Yan and Yuan Shengwen, the vice deans of the Faculty of History, respectively reported on the undergraduate and postgraduate educational work for the year 2022. Xia Yan reported the achievements of undergraduate teaching in this year and explained the innovative measures in the educational philosophy for the cultivation of top-notch students and in the development of academic brands. He proposed constructive suggestions on the revision of cultivation programs and stressed that undergraduate teaching should highlight practical teaching content and strengthen core professional courses. Yuan Shengwen reported on the achievements and existing problems in the recruitment, cultivation, and graduation of postgraduates this year. He pinpointed the necessity of combining the development of the curriculum system and textbooks, and emphasized that building ideological curriculum should be an important part of future postgraduate curriculum development.
According to the conference program, the participating teachers were divided into three groups according to their areas for discussions. They made constructive suggestions on curriculum system reform, adjustment of training programs, improving the quality of student sources, development of ideological and political courses, and textbook compilation. These suggestions were then fully exchanged and discussed at the conference.
In the end, Yu Xinzong, the dean of the Faculty of History, summarized the conference. He emphasized that the Faculty should take a long-term approach in six aspects: professional ethics, transformation of teaching achievements, reform of teaching environment, improvement of student source quality, optimization of curriculum system, and innovation of teaching methods. The enthusiasm of teachers for teaching and research should be fully mobilized. In terms of talent training, based on a student-centric approach, students' research autonomy and independence should be fully guided, and the cultivation of students' values and research abilities should be emphasized. The strict outstanding talent training standards should always be implemented to promote the multi-faceted growth of students. Effort should be made to develop a high-quality education system in the Faculty of History to ensure that the Faculty of History becomes a crucial force in promoting the achievement of Nankai University's Double First-class goal.
