Mode Innovation of School-Enterprise Cooperation on Food Safety Testing Laboratory Reform

Bin DONG

Shandong Provincial Engineering and Technology Research Center for Wild Plant Resources Development and Application of Yellow River Delta, College of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Binzhou University, Binzhou 256603, China

Abstract In view of the difficulties about school-enterprise cooperation on food safety testing laboratory reform, the current training program, teaching methods and teaching forms are not suitable for the new platform. This paper provides new ideas and modes to solve these problems, such as integrating the resource elements between school and enterprise, establishing new platforms with the help of external force and innovating the cooperation modes to improve the laboratory, which can fully serve teaching, scientific research and enterprise production.

Key words School-enterprise cooperation, Food safety and testing, Laboratory, Innovation mode

1 Introduction

To guarantee the quality and safety of food is crucial for people’s health and citizen interests. The major of food quality and safety is responsible for training food safety engineering talents for the country. Therefore, the major training objectives, training programs, curriculum and practice are very important. The course of "Food Safety Testing" requires hands-on practical ability and capacity. It needs to be combined with the actual food processing and production process so as to develop their ability. The conventional classroom experimental teaching methods and experimental contents can no longer meet the course objectives and requirements. Therefore, the mode of school-enterprise cooperation on food safety testing laboratory is put forward in order to promote the cultivation of talents and students’ ability[1]. The laboratory is jointly managed and shared by both parties, which is conducive to the cultivation of students. Relying on the joint construction of laboratory by school and enterprise, school has leading and flexible regulation on the practical teaching of students. Meanwhile, students can practice on the advanced experimental platform jointly built by school and enterprise, and the level of theory combined with practice will be greatly improved[2-3].

2 Present mode and characteristics of school-enterprise cooperation

(i) Scientific research projects are relied on to conduct cooperation. This kind of mode is generally supported by enterprises’ technical needs and funds. Schools provide talents and technical resources and then sign cooperation agreements to jointly tackle key problems and carry out cooperation. However, this mode is often temporary and is unsustainable.

(ii) A laboratory mode is constructed for the purpose of training new employees. This mode is mainly based on the school providing venues, personnel, training programs and experimental supporting facilities. The enterprise provides training funds to support the school in carrying out the professional knowledge training for new employees.

(iii) The schools set up enterprises to establish cooperation mode. This mode is often used by some powerful schools to cultivate students’ professional ability, cooperate with enterprises, and jointly establish a training laboratory[4]. Generally, it is implemented according to the training objectives, plans and programs of the university, but this mode is also relatively lacking in market adaptability.

(iv) A cooperation mode is in the form of assistance. The cooperation mode of the aid type cooperation laboratory is that the enterprise provides experimental equipment, technology, product or curriculum scheme through the form of free sponsorship or semi-sponsorship, which can solve the problems in the process of building laboratory, such as shortage of funds, outdated equipment and software, lagging curriculum scheme[5]. Such enterprises are often founded by the school alumni and there are high level talents in the school for local state-owned or private enterprises with high degree of dependence.

3 Problems in the construction of laboratories under school-enterprise cooperation

At present, all kinds of cooperation modes of teaching laboratories at home and abroad have made certain progress and produced effect on the cultivation of technological innovation talents in colleges and universities. However, due to the lack of good co-construction and cooperation modes and mechanisms, some problems have been exposed in the teaching content, methods, personnel, organization forms, practical assessment indicators and so on.

3.1TheoriginalexperimentalitemsandcontentscannotadapttonewexperimentalteachingequipmentandplatformThe joint construction of the laboratory improves the level of practical teaching equipment of relevant majors, extends the production segments of the theoretical course experiment, and some experimental projects need to be updated, supplemented, and improved on the original basis. There are many kinds of experimental courses that can be carried out on such a large and comprehensive experimental platform, which need to be further developed and improved.

3.2Theoriginalexperimentalteachingmethodisnotsuitableforthejointlaboratory,whichisalarge-scalepracticalteachingplatformintegratedwithpracticalproductionandapplicationDifferent from the experimental teaching methods such as principle verification experiment and demonstration, the experimental platform is more suitable for comprehensive experimental teaching. The experiment teaching based on the laboratory is suitable for the experiment methods of inspiration, guidance and cooperation, especially for the experiment of developing innovation potential such as scientific and technological innovation of students, as well as the systematic development of undergraduate thesis and graduate research topic.

3.3Thetechnicalpersonneloftheenterprisebecomeapartofthepracticalteachingteam,andtheformanddepthofparticipatinginthepracticalteachingstillneedtobeexplored

The school-enterprise joint laboratory has both staff and technical personnel. In this case, we need to invite the technical personnel of the enterprise to participate in the practical teaching. Besides operating the equipment, we also need to explain the production process of the enterprise to the students. Therefore, the participation of enterprise technicians in practical teaching needs to be institutionalized and standardized.

3.4ThetraditionalorganizationalformofpracticalteachingisnolongersuitableforthejointlaboratoryIn addition to the traditional verification experiment, comprehensive experiment and graduation thesis research, the equipment level of the laboratory is higher, the platform is larger and closer to the production line, so the organizational form of practical teaching needs to be updated.

3.5Theoriginalexperimentalteachingschemeandstandard(experimentalinstruction)cannotadapttotherapidimprovementofexperimentalequipmentTaking "Detection of Food Pathogenic Bacteria" as an example, under the condition of original technology and equipment, the experiment is carried out in the way of traditional culture of sample microorganism. This scheme is relatively backward, the cultivation time is long, the efficiency is low, and it is difficult to adapt to high-throughput detection. Based on the joint experimental platform, advanced immune cascade detection methods can be carried out, such as ELISA, Western blotting and other methods. Therefore, when upgrading the experimental equipment, we should update the training program, practice instructions and other normative documents.

3.6TheoriginalassessmentindexisnotapplicabletothejointlaboratoryThe assessment of learning effect is achieved through examination, which is an important method to evaluate students’ learning effect. "Food Safety Testing" is a compulsory course, belonging to the examination course, and the final score is composed of two parts, the final exam and the usual score. In the past, the final examination accounted for 70%, which took the form of closed-book written examination. The main types of questions are filling in the blanks, explaining nouns and discussing questions. The contents of the class and teaching materials are the main contents, focusing on the memory of knowledge, and the examination form is simple. At ordinary times, it is easy for students not to pay attention to their studies, and they may also get good grades by surprise before the exam, so it is difficult to truly reflect the learning effect of students.

4 Innovative ideas of school-enterprise cooperation on food safety testing laboratory

Food quality and safety major relies on engineering education. It’s internal mission is to enable students to acquire basic skills on food production technology management, safety testing, scientific research and other engineering aspects through professional courses and practical training, and train high-quality technical personnel in the field of food area. At present, the traditional teaching mode of food safety testing laboratory cannot meet the goal of personnel training. Therefore, in order to meet the needs of the country, it is imperative to explore the mode of school-enterprise cooperation on food safety testing laboratory[6]. The joint laboratory is different from the general laboratory in the university. Some original teaching contents, methods, personnel, organization forms and so on are no longer suitable for the requirements under the cooperation mode, and need to be changed from the following aspects.

(i) We should strengthen in-depth cooperation between schools and enterprises to avoid that cooperation is only a formality. In terms of mode of cooperation, according to the principle of complementary advantages, mutual sharing of resources and mutual benefits, we should formulate the plan of joint laboratory, do a good job in the sustainable research of the project and the continuous laboratory, and transform the short-term and superficial cooperation into the long-term and in-depth cooperation, with complementary advantages, resource sharing and common development.

(ii) We should innovate the mode of resource allocation and clarify the responsibilities and obligations. In terms of the specific measures for laboratory construction, according to the resource allocation needs of the laboratory, the input of resource elements to the laboratory, the situation of bearing relevant risks and the contribution to the formation of the comprehensive functions of the laboratory, the rights and obligations of both sides to the cooperation are determined through the contract, and the authorities, personnel, resources, achievements of both sides are defined. This is an important segment to ensure the smooth progress of laboratory construction. Through the benefit sharing, risk sharing and the implementation of the work system, we can mobilize the creativity, enthusiasm and initiative of the school and enterprise to stimulate them to better integrate ideas, work cooperation and joint innovation.

(iii) The government should actively build a platform for the school-enterprise, because the purpose of education is to serve the local government. In the joint construction of the laboratory by the school-enterprise, the government should formulate relevant rules, clarify the rights, responsibilities and obligations of the university and the enterprise in the joint laboratory.

(iv) It is necessary to innovate the school-enterprise system environment and create the practical training laboratory mode combining government, industry, learning and research. In the laboratory operation, the dynamic adjustment mechanism is implemented. According to the development and change of food market, teaching training and production testing, necessary adjustments should be made in time to realize dynamic management. It is necessary to strengthen the combination of school and enterprise, construct and implement the training mode of combining work and study in the whole process.

(v) We should strengthen the construction of experimental team. Among many elements of laboratory construction, such as manpower, capital, equipment, system and management, manpower is the first. Laboratory personnel are an indispensable and important force in colleges and universities. The cultivation of talents, the opening of laboratories, the development, research and transformation of scientific research projects, the sharing of laboratory resources are inseparable from the participation of laboratory personnel. On the basis of school-enterprise cooperation, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of experimental team. The enterprise can send special personnel to manage the relevant experimental equipment of enterprise testing, and the laboratory provides corresponding scientific research support for the enterprise. Special personnel to manage the experimental equipment can help maximize the efficiency of experimental resources. At the same time, stabilizing the professional laboratory team is helpful in improving the output of scientific research results.

(vi) There is a need to improve the employability of students. At present, there is a big gap between the graduates of colleges and universities and the demand for social talents. The reason lies in the mismatch between the supply and demand of talents in the talent training specifications, resulting in the structural unemployment of university graduates. However, the experimental teaching in colleges and universities helps to cultivate the students’ ability of hands-on operation and solving practical problems, and to strengthen the cooperation between schools and enterprises to build laboratories. With the actual students of enterprises as the basis based on production, we can better tap the experimental projects for the actual production, which can effectively improve the competitiveness of students’ employment, so that students can integrate into the actual needs of enterprise production in time after work.

5 Conclusion

To sum up, the exploration of school-enterprise cooperation mode of food safety testing teaching laboratory is a powerful driving force to promote the cultivation of food professionals, and plays an important role in the cultivation of high-level applied talents. Therefore, in order to better adapt to the development of society, it is necessary to strengthen the in-depth cooperation between school and enterprise, innovate the resource allocation mode, innovate the system environment of school and enterprise, and strengthen the construction of experimental team to promote the establishment and development of the joint laboratory.