On the afternoon of December 2th, 2018, the meeting of new Geological Teaching Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education (2018-2022) was held in Zhongshan Hotel, Nanjing. All members of the committee and representatives of some geological teaching units of higher education institutions of the Ministry of Education participated in the meeting. On the eve of the meeting of the GTSC, from November 1 to the morning of November 2, six GTSCs of the Ministry of Education, including Geology, Geography, Atmospheric Science, Marine Science, Geophysics and Geology, jointly organized the 12th University Geosciences Course Report Forum. Nearly 500 representatives from more than 150 institutions of higher learning participated in the meeting. As a member of the new Geological Teaching Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education, Professor Cheng Qianqiong of our faculty, participated in the meeting of the Teaching Steering Committee and the Forum of Geoscience Course Report on behalf of our school.
On the afternoon of December 2th, the members first heard the report of Prof. Lai Xulong, Vice-President of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), "Learning to Implement the Spirit of the Important Speech of the Founding Meeting of the Teaching Steering Committee of Higher Institutions under the Ministry of Education", and then Chairman Lai Xulong presented the letter of appointment from the Ministry of Education to the Vice-Chairman, Secretary-General and all the members of the Geological Teaching Steering Committee. Prof. Hu Wenxuan from Nanjing University, Vice-Chairman of the committee, introduced the experiences of the previous Teaching Steering Committee in detail. Prof. Zhang Junfeng from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Secretary-General of the committee, conveyed the working suggestions of the Science and Technology Department of Education, Ministry of Education. During the seminar, the participants exchanged in depth on how to actively carry out the research, consultation, guidance, evaluation and service of geological education in Colleges and universities around the fundamental task of enhancing morality and fostering talents. Furthermore, they discussed extensively the arrangement of the annual meeting of the Geological Teaching Steering Committee and the specific work undertaken by the Geological Teaching Steering Committee and reached consensus as follows:
Firstly, determine the organization of the annual meeting. The Geological Teaching Steering Committee holds one or two working meetings of all its members each year, at least one of which is held in conjunction with the University Geoscience Course Report Forum sponsored by the Teaching Steering Committee. The sponsoring units of the meeting are independently or jointly sponsored by the member units located in the University Geoscience Course Report Forum, or elected by self-recommendation and all the members.
Secondly, organize communication training. Around the goal of improving the teaching ability of young teachers, two core courses of geology will be held every year. In 2019, a seminar on Crystallography and Mineralogy will be held at Jilin University and a seminar on tectonic geology will be held at China University of Geosciences (Beijing). Build communication platform, carry out teaching seminars, and promote the growth of young teachers.
Thirdly, promote the sharing of resources in practice teaching bases. Combining with the content of regional and geological practice, we select representative practice teaching bases, carry out field practice teaching ability training for young teachers, and improve their field practice teaching ability.
Fourthly, the construction of teaching materials for geology majors will be strengthen. The construction of textbooks should be combined with the cultivation of talents, with the construction of disciplines, specialties, curricula, the reform of teaching methods and the construction of teaching aided resources. Famous teachers and high-level experts with profound academic attainments should be encouraged to actively participate in the compilation of textbooks for the main courses of geology and refine the quality textbooks. Strengthen the construction of practical and digital textbooks.
Fifthly, a "golden course" of geology will be created. A high-level, innovative and challenging "golden lesson" will be created. The core courses of geology, such as General Geology, Crystallography and Mineralogy, Crystal Optics, Petrology, Mineralogy, Paleontology, Geoscience, Tectonic Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry, will be integrated, and the core courses of geology will be combined with the opening of a seminar to build a “Golden Course” as the core of geology.
