by Wang Fei from Higher Education Evaluation Center
Translated by Liu Xiuming; edited by Chen Fuming
Time: 2017-09-15 08:29:28 Click: 1,251
On the morning of September 13, a special meeting on the assessment of undergraduate teaching in the coming year was held in No. 2 Meeting Room in the New Teaching Building. Party Secretary Zhao Guogang, President Li Dayong, Vice President Guo Erjun, Vice President Yang Chun, Vice President Wang Zhihao, Vice President Fang Wenbin, Vice President Liu Shenghui, Heads of the relevant functional departments (Center), Deputy Chief Inspector, and the staff in Higher Education Evaluation Center attended the meeting. The meeting was presided over by President Li Dayong.
At the meeting, Wu Qiufeng, Director of Higher Education Evaluation Center, made a report on the preparations that have been done for the assessment by Higher Education Evaluation Center of the Ministry of Education, for the data submitted for 2016, and for the problems found in inspection. She proposed some suggestions to these problems. After that, Wu briefly introduced the main task to be done for the assessment in the coming phase. Leaders of HUST expressed their views on guidelines, principles, attitudes, ethics and measures of the assessment.
Vice President Liu Shenghui paraphrased in details the contents of the assessment, the self-assessment of each school and the key points of assessment task. He said that the auditing differed from the proficiency assessment. In auditing, we set our own standards and assess ourselves by means of the standards of our own. It focuses the integrity of words and practice. That is to say, prove what you said by what you have done. The results of auditing and rectification should be handed to the Ministry of Education in the form of realistic reports. In the self-assessment phase, four expert groups are set up to pre-inspect the work of auditing in each school. Deans and deputy deans of each school are the members of the group. HUST leaders are suggested to join in the expert group in the course of the inspection, extending in-depth interviews, attending lectures, marking examination papers and exerting laboratory examinations. Problems to be founded in the inspections must be solved within a limited time. In addition, he also elaborated the contents of the in-depth interviews to be extended when experts officially arrived in May next year.
Vice president Fang Wenbin pointed out that the assessment is the number one affair in the university so that all schools, departments and offices must do their best to make preparations and formulate timetables as well as outlines. He emphasized that the timetables and outlines can never be simple charts or figures, every point of the timetable should be listed with specific work, standards and measurements. All schools, departments and offices must make full use of the time in the preparations for the assessment. By taking the advantage of it, we will make improvements. Leaders of all sectors should throw out suggestions upon the design of timetable and outlines. As for the simulated assessment, it should be taken into consideration that the design of the situation and the questions are likely to be asked, which put forward high requirements for the assessment center.
Vice President Guo Erjun pointed out that the undergraduate teaching assessment is pressed for time and heavy in task, which is substantially the assessment of talent training quality. Everyone should study the index system and internal requirements carefully and have an accurate comprehension to the assessment work. The deepening of views towards assessment and the comprehension to index system should prosecute to the end. We should improve the teaching management guarantee system during the rectification process. Educational administration should focus on the stringency of daily teaching work. The research department is ought to study how to support teaching taking the advantage of the research.
Vice President Yang Chun expressed that the connotation and nature of assessment work must be deeply comprehended, and the assessment process must be clearly kept in mind. With so many problems confronted at the present under the circumstance that we have insufficient funds, we must pool everybody’s wisdom to solve those problems and go to all lengths to finish the assessment.
Deputy Secretary Wang Zhihao said that the assessment is to assess the talent teaching quality. It is a skillful project which is pressed for time and heavy in task. We cannot waste time on unpractical things. HUST must hold the view on quality cultivation of talents which is the key point for school development. The assessment work should highlight the standard-lead, problem-lead, accountability constraints and goal attainments. The standards should be precisely comprehended while the problems needed to be considered systematically. The problems we found now are incomprehensive, most of which are pedagogical factors. As the leading sector, the assessment center should have clearer task allocations. With clear problems and specific tasks, everyone is encouraged to work hard and its effect can be seen obviously. The restraining mechanism is indispensable and then can the goal to be achieved.
Zhao Guogang, Secretary of the Party Committee of HUST, delivered a speech at the meeting. He firstly praised the preparatory work of higher education quality research and teaching evaluation center, educational departments and other departments. Combing with the speech delivered by other leaders，he emphasized on four aspects: The first is to raise awareness of politics, and the implementation of the“four services”purposed by President Xi.
The “four services” provided our university development with a theoretical guidance and direction, which is an indicator of Chinese higher education in the new period, and we should implement the requirements of the four turning back of education. The key to the assessment work is self-assessment, and we must firstly put the ruler in an appropriate place. Through evaluating the return to teaching reality, the teachers and leaders should at first adjust themselves to a good working condition, and focuses on the work of undergraduate teaching for the development of human resources. The school development, social reputation and social status depend on students, so the core position of undergraduate teaching should be ensured. Teachers should be close to school, classes and students. Only by taking the assessment as an opportunity to focus on undergraduate teaching and personnel training can our school turn into a high level of teaching and research university. During the assessment process, all departments are required to carry out rectification, to be down to earth, and not doing it just in the form of documents, there must be rectification measures. Especially in recent times, the state put forward the “double first-class”, “new engineering” and innovation-driven projects, requires universities to shift its development mode, to accurately locate, to adjust the subjects and to lead the economic and social development. The new personnel training model should be rooted on the basic requirements of the assessment work and to carry out the work through connecting to the thirteen five development plan and combining with the school's comprehensive reform. Leaders at all levels are the first responsible person, this is a political responsibility. Failing to fully aware of the assessment is to astray from politics. Failing to implemented the basic task of running a university, failing to carry out the task means dereliction of duty.
Second, problem-oriented. All the departments and teaching staff should carefully comprehend the background, characteristics, content, practices and experience of the assessment work, which is related to everybody. The “6 +1” project covers the major parts of the university .the first one is one persistence. We should persist in pushing forward the development taking the advantage of assessment work. The second is the two highlights. We should highlight the developments of connotation and the characteristics development. The third is Three strengthening. We should strengthen the rational positioning of running a school, strengthen the status of personnel training center, and strengthen the quality assurance system, also can be called as “one persisted, two highlights, three strengthening. Whether the center position cannot guaranteed, related closely to the evaluation of teachers themselves. Every one of our school is bound to have a full understanding to the assessment standard system and to find their own standards. Each department should not wait and rely on others, while, they should take the initiative to reform and to implement instead. The assessment cannot be simply interpreted as writing reports, but it is a matter of the whole university, rather than a single person. All departments and units should strive to find problems instead of being afraid. At the present, the problems that we have found out are still not accurate. We should not hide it because finding out the problems means your realization to yourselves. Having problems calls for the rectification. Lacking fiscal fund is not the only problem that HUST faced now, the biggest one is failing to do what could have been done. Establish a strict management system to inspect how to deal with the problem is the question of responsibility. The study style of students depends on the teaching style of teachers, while the teaching style of teachers depends on the work style of leaders. Cadres at all levels, from top to bottom should enter the classrooms, laboratories and dormitories. All sectors should walk into the grassroots departments to double check the actual situation. One cannot make decisions without knowing the specific circumstances. Cadres should stand at the front place and implement the teaching center leadership responsibility system to achieve collective decision-making and coordination. Cadres at all levels should focus on undergraduate teaching. The energy of cadres and teachers should place teaching in the central position among allocation of funds, allocation of resources and evaluation mechanism of work. What are the specific measures for scientific research in promoting teaching? Are they in place? This is worth thinking about.
Leaders at all levels need to take inspections on the study index system and stand in a high position to find the problems. If the problem is not clear, the assessment cannot go into depth. Each school can take inspections through attending lectures, checking homework and analyzing exam papers. The advocacy department examines the learning environment of the assessment system and helps to find the gap between the colleges. The third is the basic method. Based on the basic requirements of the assessment work, we should combine it with our rectification.
We cannot just focus on the assessment. Instead, we should find problems through the assessment work and to promote rectification through reform management. In the assessment process, it depends on whether the number of teachers, quality, ability, and the structure of teachers is reasonable or not. Teaching staff is an important guarantee for the quality of personnel training. We should have specific reward system and punitive system. As for those responsible teachers, we put them as a model for others to learn from. Use the systematic method to find out the problems, and analyze the problems. Fourth, strengthen the responsibility. It is required to find out problems and strengthen the accountability in the process of assessment work. The accountability mechanism is the primary importance among the assessment work. It is necessary to strengthen supervision and the accountability system.
Finally, President Li Dayong made a concluding speech. He pointed out that although HUST has made some achievements in the undergraduate teaching, the problems still exist. The following aspects need to be noticed in the future work: the first is to raise awareness. Each teaching unit as well as department should study carefully and grasp the essence. Everyone should have a deep understanding of the connotation and the significance of the assessment, standing at an aspect that the assessment is fatal to the future of school. We should mobilize all the staff, trying to make the assessment work to be known by everyone, to be joined by everyone. Second is the implementation of practicability. We should make detailed timetable outlines and formulate working standards. The flow table should be refined down to each department and the task of each person in charge, making sure that all the tasks are noticeable. The third is to strengthen guidance. The assessment office of HUST should strengthen the guidance and coordination of each teaching unit and department. We should raise the bar. The data submittal should be done in an authentic way. Although they are collected from different methods, they must be based on the facts. The fourth is to strengthen supervision. The accountability should be strengthened. All the tasks should have clear standards. It should be specified that the responsible person and the accountability mechanism is widely known. In conclusion, we should attach great importance to the assessment to raise our awareness, to strengthen the unified deployment, and deeply comprehend the significance of the assessment. The core tasks and key point of the assessment should be firmly grasped to ensure that the assessment can be finished in high quality. After the meeting, all units and departments are to convey the spirit of the meeting to its own sectors to guarantee the relative work can be done well.
Zhao Guogang, Secretary of the Party Committee of HUST, delivering a speech
President Li dayong presiding the meeting and delivering a speech
Wu Qiufeng, Director of Higher Education Evaluation Center, giving a report on the meeting
