1. External quality assurance: Ministry of Education

All universities in China have strong and rigorous quality assurance processes, including internal and external processes as well as peer review. This section Outlines the policies and procedures put in place by the Ministry of Education to ensure quality and standards in universities.

In 1990, the state education commission (1985-1998, later renamed the People's Republic of China Ministry of Education) released the interim provisions on ordinary higher education evaluation in colleges and universities (https://baike.so.com/doc/2655706-2804333.html), This is the first regulation on higher education evaluation in China, which clearly stipulates the nature, purpose, tasks, guidelines and basic forms of higher education evaluation.

In August 2004, the Education Quality Evaluation Agency of the Ministry of Education (EQEA) (http://www.heec.edu.cn/) was formally established, which means that China's higher education assessment work began to develop systematically, scientifically and professionally, and China began to build its own higher education quality assurance system. As a national professional institution of higher education quality assurance, the Higher Education Evaluation Center carries out different types of evaluation work for colleges and universities at all levels in the country, aiming to build a high-level quality assurance system and contribute to the development of higher education quality in China.

In October 2013, the Ministry of Education issued "Opinions on Conducting Review and Evaluation Work for General Undergraduate Institutions" (http://www.heec.edu.cn/pgcenter/yxpg/pgjj/index.html), which provides guidelines for the self-assessment to be conducted by the undergraduate colleges themselves. The main contents include national assessment, professional verification assessment, international assessment, and routine monitoring of basic teaching and learning data.

The higher education evaluation of general undergraduate institutions carried out by the Ministry of Education is divided into three categories:

Verification:

The results of the assessment of undergraduate institutions of higher education are classified as "pass", "suspend" and "fail". Institutions who receive a "pass" will pass the higher Education review of the undergraduate institution. Those who are "suspended" will have a two-year rectification period, and those who "fail" will have a three-year rectification period. During the rectification period, restrictive measures will be taken, such as restricting or reducing the number of students enrolled in colleges and suspending applications for new majors.

Evaluation:

The results of the assessment are accurately calculated and displayed in different grades and are categorized by degree specialization. Within each degree programme, the top 75% of the candidate institutions will be divided into 9 grades after assessment: The top 2% (or top 2) is defined as A+, 2%-7% (excluding 2%, the following is the same as above) is defined as A-, 7%-15% is defined as A-, 15%-25% is defined as B+, 25%-35% is defined as B-, 35%-45% is defined as B+, 45%-55% is defined as C+, 55%-65% is defined as C- and 65%-75% is defined as C-.

Reviews:

Reviews are conducted to check whether institutions are meeting the goals they set themselves, and there is no national standard for review. In the review, the group conducts a campus inspection, and the conclusions reached by the group appear in the form of a review report rather than a grade calculated. The whole process of the review is "Institution self-assessment - assessment panel visits to campus - review and announcement of results - Institution rectification."

According to the provisions of the Ministry of Education, the accredited institutions and the newly established accredited institutions shall be re-accredited five years after the accreditation. The Ministry of Education will assess the orientation and objectives of each institution, its faculty, teaching resources, educational procedures, student development, and quality assurance.

For more information on the General Undergraduate Higher Education Assessment conducted by the Ministry of Education, please refer to the ordinary undergraduate course colleges and universities of higher education assessment plan (2021-2025)" issued by the Ministry of Education (http://www.heec.edu.cn/pgcenter/gzdt61/625044/index.html).

As a private full-time undergraduate college, Guangzhou College of Applied Science and Technology is subject to relevant evaluation of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China.

In 2027, Guangzhou College of Applied Science and Technology will undergo a qualification assessment by China's MOE. The focus is on new undergraduate institutions that have never been evaluated before, including private colleges and universities officially approved by the government. MOE coordinates the work of qualification assessment, formulates the master plan, and establishes the Committee of Higher Education Experts on the Assessment of MOE Undergraduate Teaching Work (hereinafter referred to as the Committee of Experts). The Committee of Experts is responsible for:

 Guiding and supervising qualification review;

 Review and evaluation reports submitted by the review and Evaluation teams;

 Making evaluation conclusions and handling disputes, arbitration and other matters.

 The Education Quality Evaluation Agency (EQEA) of the Ministry of Education organises the implementation of qualification assessment, including:

 Organize assessment and training;

 Set up a review team;

 Collect and analyze basic teaching status data;

 Organize a review team to inspect the site, and

 Submit to the Expert Committee the relevant materials of the review panel's research and evaluation.

The main procedures of qualification assessment include self-assessment of the institute, assessment after the visit of the evaluation panel, review and publication of the conclusions. It focuses on the adaptability of the college's positioning and educational goals to the needs of national and regional economic and social development, the guarantee of teachers and teaching resources, the effectiveness of teaching and quality assurance systems, and the satisfaction of students and social employers. The College will take this assessment system as the construction guide, in the process of "promoting construction by assessment, promoting management by improvement, combining assessment with construction, and focusing on construction", and strive to pass the undergraduate teaching qualification assessment and improve the college's operating level.

2. Internal quality assurance system

The university has built a two-level supervision system, forming a closed-loop management of "goal - implementation - monitoring - feedback - improvement". The Teaching Quality Monitoring and Evaluation Center coordinates the teaching quality assurance work of the whole university, and each secondary college sets up a teaching supervision group, which is responsible for the daily supervision of the teaching process of the unit. For example, in the second semester of the 2023-2024 academic year, the supervision team of the secondary college needs to formulate a class evaluation plan based on the undergraduate teaching qualification evaluation indicators, check the implementation of the professional talent training program, and organize the collection of teaching cases and academic activities. In addition, the university releases the Undergraduate Teaching Quality Report every year to publicize teaching quality data and improvement measures.

3. Core responsibilities of the Teaching Supervision Office

1. Textbook review

Process and criteria: The selection of textbooks is led by the Academic Affairs Office, and the Teaching Supervision Office participates in the review of the political, academic and suitability of the textbooks. For example, the 2022 university-level textbook construction project requires textbooks to be published in national publishing houses and reviewed by experts inside and outside the university. For self-written teaching materials, only university-level projects and published teaching materials can be included in the selection plan from 2026.

Monitoring mechanism: The Teaching Supervision team will conduct spot checks on the use of teaching materials to ensure that they meet curriculum objectives and syllabus requirements. For example, in the second semester of the 2023-2024 academic year, the second-level college supervision team is required to check the "development and implementation of professional personnel training plans and teaching syllabuses," including the standardization of teaching materials.

2. Class observation and peer evaluation

Observation system: The university has established a multi-level class observation system covering university leaders, supervision experts, and fellow teachers. For example, in the spring semester of 2024, university leaders should observe no less than 6 lectures, university-level supervisors should observe no less than 20 lectures, and second-level college supervisors should observe no less than 16 lectures. The lectures to be observed should be selected randomly, and the evaluation results should be valid for three years.

Evaluation criteria: Observers need to fill in the "Supervision Record Form" or "Peer Teacher Evaluation Form", focusing on teaching content, methods, interactive effects, etc. For example, in the autumn semester of 2023, the university asked the supervising experts to conduct special inspections on "curriculum ideology and politics" and "OBE concept implementation".

Results Application: The feedback on observed lectures will be directly linked with teacher assessment and professional title promotion. For example, teachers in the bottom 5 percent of student ratings are subject to targeted supervision, and the results are valid for three years.

3. Student feedback and evaluation

Teaching evaluation system: The university carries out students' online teaching evaluation through the formal system and the strong intelligence system, covering all courses. For example, in the summer semester of 2023, students need to complete the teaching evaluation within the specified time before they can check their scores and register for courses, and the teaching evaluation results are used as an important basis for teacher assessment.

Opinions collection: In addition to the teaching evaluation system, students can reflect their problems through the "Director's mailbox", and the university promises to reply within 3 working days for urgent matters, and feedback on the progress of complex problems within 7 working days. In addition, the Student Council collects opinions through the Student Congress and gives feedback to the university on a regular basis.

Rectification mechanism: After summarizing student feedback, the Teaching Quality Monitoring and Evaluation Center will give feedback to secondary colleges and teachers themselves and urge improvement. For example, in the autumn semester of 2023, the university adjusted the training program of some majors in response to the problem of "insufficient practical teaching hours" reported by students.

4. Student forum information management

Official channels: The official website of the university does not explicitly set up a student forum, but the university collects students’ opinions through various ways such as the "director's mailbox" and "President Reception Day". In addition, the university publishes notices and collects feedback through platforms such as WeChat public accounts and QQ groups.

Third-party platform: Some students discuss teaching issues through "Guangying Post Bar" or alumni group, but the university is not directly involved in the management of such platforms. Students are advised to give priority to feedback through official channels to ensure that problems are dealt with in a timely manner.

4. Course evaluation

Guangzhou College of Applied Science and Technology adheres to the strategy of "thriving College with students" and strives to build a team of teachers with excellent quality and high student satisfaction, so as to provide adequate guarantee for undergraduate education and training applied talents. Guangzhou College of Applied Science and Technology invites students to participate in online teaching evaluation as scheduled at the end of each semester. Through the analysis of teaching evaluation data, the College can understand the student participation rate and the excellence rate of teachers' teaching style evaluation, have an accurate prediction and in-depth understanding of the overall situation of the college's teaching quality, and timely promote the solution of existing teaching problems.

5. Student representation and participation

The College earnestly strengthens teaching quality assurance and information feedback, constantly plays the role of bridge between students, teachers and teaching management departments, attaches great importance to constantly improve the teaching quality assurance system of the college, and improves the teaching ability of teachers and the teaching quality of the college. The teaching supervision Office has a student information officer team, which is mainly engaged in the collection and feedback of teaching information and the evaluation of teachers' teaching work. In order to provide valuable suggestions and suggestions for the college to improve teaching work and ensure teaching quality, the Teaching Supervision Office is responsible for organizing and implementing the work of the student information officer.

In Guangzhou College of Applied Science and Technology, there is a "President Reception Day" every semester. On this day, the Dean will collect and respond to student suggestions and questions, make adjustments to college and academic related matters, and the Dean of College will personally talk to the students.

In addition, Guangzhou College of Applied Science and Technology has also established a simulation system of undergraduate education quality monitoring and evaluation data platform, which is developed and maintained by Guangzhou OSesi Information Technology Co., Ltd. according to the requirements of the college's teaching monitoring work, and matched with the basic teaching status database of the Ministry of Education of China and undergraduate teaching qualification assessment. The system can carry out comprehensive, multi-dimensional and scientific normal monitoring of teaching quality, provide data reference for the college's decision-making, constantly promote the connotation development of the college, and improve the quality of talent training. At the same time, Guangzhou College of Applied Science and Technology invests special funds every year to ensure the smooth operation of the system, promote the normalization of teaching quality monitoring, and realize the informatization of teaching quality management.

6. New teacher training

In order to help new teachers understand the teaching management system of Guangzhou College of Applied Science and Technology, standardize teaching behavior, master the standard format and writing requirements of basic teaching documents, demonstrate the teaching skills that students like and accept, adopt various teaching methods that meet the requirements of applied student training, and cultivate qualified students, the Teacher Development Center will work with the administrative departments involved in the teaching process. In cooperation with the teaching department, we organize intensive and special training for new teachers at the beginning of each semester. The main content of the intensive training is the basic situation and history of GCAST, personnel system, teaching norms, and teaching management rules and regulations. The main content of the special training is to provide standardized and evidence-based guidance on the organization of teaching content, the preparation of teaching plans, classroom management, student communication and other aspects through lectures and demonstrations, and to train the writing standards and requirements of teaching files, as well as how to prepare lessons and how to conduct classroom teaching.

7. Characteristics and effectiveness of quality assurance

OBE concept integration: The university emphasizes student-centered, OBE (Outcome-based education) concepts throughout the teaching process. For example, the secondary College supervision team is required to examine the "implementation of the OBE philosophy," including the relevance of curriculum objectives to graduation requirements.

Data-driven improvement: The Teaching Quality report includes data on student ratings, employment rates, competition awards, etc., to provide a basis for teaching reform. For example, in 2023, students won 45 awards in national competitions, which promoted the input of practical teaching resources.

Internationalization and integration of production and education: The university improves teaching quality through international classes and university-enterprise cooperation projects. In 2024, the university established 9 strategic cooperation projects with the Lecong Supply and Marketing Group to strengthen the training of applied talents.