(Contributor: Ma Yan) Recently, the Ministry of Education announced the second batch of national first-class undergraduate courses. Our application for Contemporary China has successfully been approved as a national first-class undergraduate course (offline first-class course). In total, six courses across the university received this recognition. This marks a significant breakthrough in the construction of our teaching reform and the quality of education, adding a vibrant stroke to the construction of our faculty.
Contemporary China is the first elective course in the New Era China series of ideological and political courses offered in the province, starting in September 2016. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the course focuses on telling the story of China, emphasizing the achievements and changes in the new era, and guiding students to have a correct understanding of contemporary China. The course content is organized in a logical and modularized manner, adhering to a teaching model with multiple teachers for one course, and utilizing the integration of mobile internet technology and ideological and political courses. This involves many explorations in teaching reform methods.
The course is led by Associate Professor Ye Xiaodong, and team members include Dai Baoping, Ding Juntao, Zhu Baolin, and Feng Lianjun. Over the past five years, the course team has received one national social science fund, one Ministry of Education project, and one selection into the Ministry of Education's special research project for ideological and political course teachers. The course team lead four provincial-level teaching research projects and more than ten other projects at the provincial and ministerial levels. They have published over 20 research papers, and two team members were selected for Hubei Province's young and middle-aged theorist cultivation plan. And the core concept of the course's teaching reform won the second prize of the provincial teaching achievement award. Since the course's establishment, the course's reform measures, construction experience, and team members' teaching topics have been reported nearly a hundred times in media such as Guangming Daily, Xinhua Daily Telegraph, and Hubei Daily. The course has contributed to the university being selected for the Ministry of Education's One Policy for One Ideological and Political Course collective action, attracting widespread social attention and influence.
In recent years, our faculty has implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important statements on education, implemented the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, and fully played the leading role of classroom teaching in nurturing talent. The faculty has used teaching reform as a breakthrough point for improving the quality of talent cultivation, creating a favorable situation where course advancement promotes teaching reform and projects cultivate the improvement of teaching quality. Teachers are encouraged to carry out teaching reform research based on courses, apply for teaching reform research projects, and participate in national and provincial ideological and political course teaching exhibitions, teacher teaching innovation competitions, and teacher lecturing competitions. The college has strengthened the construction of course teams, forming a joint force for talent cultivation and achievements.
Taking the approval of this national first-class undergraduate course as an opportunity, the faculty will continue to deepen educational and teaching reforms, fully leveraging the exemplary and leading role of Contemporary China, and striving to use course reform as a small entry point to address major issues in talent cultivation models. The faculty will continue to promote continuous innovation in course reform and build more first-class undergraduate courses to meet the requirements of the new era.