Research on the Teaching System of Creative and Entrepreneurial Software Engineering(Digital Media Technology) Talents Training

Lifang Chen ＊, Yuan Liu, Fei Chen, Jie Zhang, Jing Lu

Abstract: The cultivation of innovative and entrepreneurial capability is a quality requirement of the times for the training of college and university talents. However, the regular teaching system universally has such problems as much more emphasis on theory than on practice, much more emphasis on inheritance than on innovation, and mismatching between talent training and market demand, so that a great number of graduates do not have enough innovative capacity, and it is very difficult for them to engage in related jobs of software engineering steadily and permanently.By investigating and analyzing similar majors of more than 20 schools at home and abroad, this article proposes a teaching system of talent training of the 3C-cored major of “innovative and entrepreneurial” software engineering (digital media technology) based on regions, oriented to the industry and marked by school-enterprise linkage, and in connection with the characteristics of college and university education.

Key words: 3C; innovative and entrepreneurial; teaching system; digital media technology; software engineering

1 Introduction

The cultivation of innovative and entrepreneurial capability is a quality requirement of the times for the training of college and university talents, and is also a foundation for the development of the times[1]. In addition, in the process of “Internet +”of various industries, the demand for application-oriented technological talents of software engineering has been stronger and stronger[2]. In particular, IT enterprises urgently need application-oriented excellent talents of software engineering with a strong capability of engineering practice and a strong capability of engineering innovation. However, the regular teaching system universally has such problems as much more emphasis on theory than on practice, much more emphasis on inheritance than on innovation, and mismatching between talent training and market demand, so that a great number of graduates do not have enough innovative capability, and it is very difficult for them to engage in related jobs of software engineering steadily and permanently. By investigating and analyzing similar majors of more than 20 schools at home and abroad, this article proposes a teaching system of talent training of the 3C-cored major of“innovative and entrepreneurial” software engineering based on regions, oriented to the industry and marked by school-enterprise linkage, and in connection with the characteristics of college and university education.

2 Establishing the Course System Which Incorporates the Gene of “Innovation and Entrepreneurship”

The major of digital media technology is a new cross major in software engineering. This course system has an indefinite form, with such problems as asymmetrical development of art and engineering, insufficient depth of incorporation, and especially imbalance between innovative and entrepreneurial capability in actual application. In order to incorporate innovative and entrepreneurial consciousness into actual course teaching, guide students’innovative thoughts,and cultivate innovative and entrepreneurial consciousness, we need to redesign the course system.

2.1 Analyzing the correlation of courses

The author of this article investigated and analyzed professional courses offered by domestic and overseas colleges and universities with the major of digital media or a relevant major,mainly investigated 10 overseas colleges and universities with a similar major including Carnegie Mellon University, Yale University, London College of Communication,New Zealand Media Design School, and 6 Chinese colleges and universities with a similar major including Zhejiang University and Communication University of China, analyzed and compared the similarity and peculiarity of the professional course systems of different colleges and universities, found out professional courses of the major of digital media closely-related to industrial development and suitable for innovation and entrepreneurship, and rationalized the successive correlation of these courses. The correlation of these courses is shown in Fig. 1.

As can be inferred from Fig. 1, the major of digital media involves digital media technology and digital media art. Not only are technology and art closely related, but also the core courses of the major of digital media technology are closely related, with both the hierarchical relation and the embedded relation. We should rationalize the correlation of courses, incorporate the gene of innovation and entrepreneurship, and make theoretical and practical courses more closely-related.Figure 2 shows the coordination of design courses.This is a very important measure for arousing students’learning interest and initiative, and guide students to establish innovative and entrepreneurial consciousness.

Fig. 1 The correlation of the courses of the major of digital media.

Fig. 2 The correlation of design courses.

2.2 Establishing the course system with the gene of “innovation and entrepreneurship”.

Based on the above analysis,this article proposes a course system with the gene of “innovation and entrepreneurship”, with its structure shown in Fig. 3. The “innovative and entrepreneurial”course system includes professional core courses,professional practical themes, professional internship and graduation design.① Based on the relative stability of professional core courses and fundamental courses,we should increase the number of professional optional courses;② We should add professional practice and extend the duration of professional internship, apply professional internship in enterprises, and carry out the guidance of professional teachers of colleges and universities +engineers of enterprises; ③ In the phase of graduation design, especially design projects, we should increasethe number of enterprise tutors, enforce the guidance of teachers and engineers, exhibit graduation works and actualize all-round appraisal.

Fig. 3 The course system with the gene of “innovation and entrepreneurship”.

2.3 Establishing the teaching assistance platform for relevant courses

In the teaching process of“ innovative and entrepreneurial” courses, we should attach more importance to the knowledge mastery and recycling of students. It is essential for us to establish a simple and easy teaching assistance system to promote students’knowledge conversion capacity, and thus promote students’ innovative capacity. As a positive auxiliary measure of teaching, the teaching assistance system crossly provides a platform for the stimulation and release of multiple capacity, plays a very important role in the practical link of teaching, multi-dimensionally connects in-class and after-class, technology and art, courses and practice, foundation and synthesis,and provides a platform of learning and exchange for students to understand and master theoretical knowledge. This article emphatically studies how to express boring theoretical knowledge in a simple and easy way , and how to connect the acquired knowledge and daily application. Take the course of Digital Picture Processing Technique as an example, this article establishes the interactive demonstration software of course algorithm, shown in Fig. 4, helping students to understand and master algorithm; and establishes an assistance system of course learning, shown in Fig. 5,setting up a platform of exchange between students and teachers, and sharing the materials of course learning.The interactive demonstration software of course algorithm actualizes difficult algorithm in courses with the help of programs, and instantiates it as well. When learning algorithm, students can first watch the effect of algorithm demonstration and then learn algorithm.It can help students to gain a better understanding of algorithm and avoid boring theoretical learning in a more intuitive way.

3 The Enforcement of the Practical Teaching Method of 2-Dimensional “Teacher and Engineer” System

Fig. 4 The interactive demonstration software of course algorithm.

Fig. 5 The assistance system of course teaching.

Traditional majors often try to solve the problem of knowledge-practice rupture through collegeenterprise cooperation in the process of“ innovation and entrepreneurship”. The emerging cross-border integrated major of digital media not only faces the problem of theory-practice disconnection, but also faces the challenge from art-engineering integration.This article further incorporates the link of multi-role guidance on the basis of the“ teacher and engineer”teaching of the existing digital media technology +digital media art, and proposes the practical teaching of 2-dimensional“ teacher and engineer” system. Please refer to Fig. 3 for the specific structure, including the following two aspects.

3.1 Professional dimension

Highlighting the features of the major of digital media in the link of the theoretical teaching and thematic design of courses, providing the professional guidance of art and technology according to art integration,breaking the barrier of professional limitation, and providing soil for the cultivation of creativity while arousing students’ professional interest.

3.2 Occupational dimension

Add the joint guidance of enterprise engineers and professional teachers to the link of practical guidance and graduation design of courses. Actualize the cultivation of talent practice capability marked by“theory-practice paralleling, universality-individuality coordination and professionalism-foundation simultaneity”.

In the process of talent training, we should try to solve the problem of the disconnection between teaching and practice through college-enterprise linkage and the teaching mode of innovative practice,really promoting students’ ability of problem analysis and solution.

3.2.1 College-enterprise linkage

Incorporating the training of the capability of technological development and application into the whole process of teaching, relying on the engineering center and internship base jointly established by the college and enterprise, formulate an effective joint training mechanism, appointing the engineer experts of enterprise as the tutor of extracurricular guidance of practice, jointly conducting practical teaching and engineering training, and actualizing the interaction and exchange among students, teachers and enterprise engineers.

3.2.2 The training of innovative capacity

Enforce the mode of practical training with projects as carriers, turning the traditional “doing after learning”mode of talent training to the mode of “l(fā)earning in doing”, and promoting students’ innovative practice capacity. Projects here include teachers’ research projects, the demand projects and pre-research and ongoing research projects of enterprises and student innovation of colleges and departments, etc.

3.2.3 Entrepreneurial simulation

Encouraging students to participate in various competitions, enabling students to adapt to and contact various competitions and get to know enterprises’entrepreneurial experience in advance; entrepreneurial simulation enables students to use learned knowledge and frontier science and technology and simulative apply innovative technology for entrepreneurship.

From the professional and vocational perspective,the teaching of 2-dimensional “teacher and engineer”system runs through all links of the “innovative and entrepreneurial” teaching system through mutual assistance and joint action, providing all-round support for the knowledge reserve and capability training of“innovative and entrepreneurial” talents.

4 Teaching Practice of Training of 3C“Innovative and Entrepreneurial” Talents

In the system of “innovative and entrepreneurial”courses, and the teaching mode of the 2-dimensional“teacher and engineer” system, we always carry out the talent training strategy of the 3C core idea, as shown in Fig. 3. 3C refer to consciousness, capability and continuousness, forming a theoretical support in the complicated structure of technology + art and enterprise+ college, aiming at enabling students to serve as the acceptor of traditional knowledge and actively become the creator of new knowledge; enabling teaching to break through the limitation of classroom and become a big stage covering innovation and entrepreneurship;making innovation and entrepreneurship not only an idea but also a specific route and scheme that can be put into effect gradually, providing reference for subsequent development.

4.1 Consciousness

The professional fundamental education in low grades focuses on the training of students’ professional sense of identity and innovative and entrepreneurial consciousness, and guiding students’ scientific thoughts and creativity in connection with professional frontier direction and hot fields.

4.2 Capacity

In professional core and optional courses, we should enable students to adapt to various types of competition and get to know the entrepreneurial experience of enterprises and prepare for innovation and entrepreneurship, with innovative thoughts as orientation, with reinforcing students’ professional skill and practical capability as a purpose, and through such measures as entrepreneurial simulation and encouraging students to participate in various competitions.

4.3 Continuousness

In the phase of professional practice, graduation internship and graduation design, we should create an entrepreneurial ecosphere and provide a strong power for the training of innovative and entrepreneurial talents through college-enterprise joint training mechanism.

5 Conclusion

The teaching system for the training of professional talents of 3C “innovative and entrepreneurial” software engineering (digital media technology) has been tentatively applied for 3 years in the majors of digital media technology and digital media art of the School of Digital Media of Jiangnan University. During the 3 years, students’ innovative and entrepreneurial capability has been enhanced dramatically. According to incomplete statistics, in the past 3 years, students majoring in digital media in our school have been awarded more than 30 prizes. In the 2017 Computer Design Competition among Chinese College Students,students of our school won all first, second and third prizes. At the Second Wuxi Cultural Creative Design Competition, students of our school won one Silver Prize and ten Excellence Prizes, with outstanding performance in all innovative and entrepreneurial contests. In particular, in the past 2 years, more and more undergraduate students of our school have autonomously participated in projects and composed academic papers; and have published more than 10 academic papers, and have been awarded the title of “university-level excellent graduation design (paper)”more than 10 times. The employment rate and jobmajor conformity rate of our graduates have been rising year by year. New graduates of our school successfully apply for jobs with Netease, Baidu,Microsoft, Tencent, Ali, Shanghai Giant Network,SNDA, Crystal CG and other famous companies every year. The present work of this article is mainly the reform of the teaching system. Although some achievements have been made, the function of the teaching assistance system is imperfect, and diversified collaboration and exchange are yet to be reinforced.Moreover, with regard to the entire mode of talent training, the teaching system is only a part. How to rationalize teaching evaluation and arouse teachers and students’ participation and enthusiasm need to be emphatically studied and solved in the future.

Acknowledgement

This work is supported by Research and Practice on the reform of graduate education and teaching in Jiangsu Province in 2016(JGZZ16_065).