Teaching Reform of Courses for Ideological and Political Education Based on Simulation Information Technology: Taking the Course Group of Engineering Valuation in Jiangxi Normal University for Example

Wenhai ZENG, Wentao ZHONG, Yifeng LIANG, Chen WANG, Zhangsheng LIU

Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China

Abstract In higher engineering education, professional courses and ideological and political theory courses go in the same direction, which is an important task of the current professional curriculum construction. This paper introduces the key and difficult problems in the teaching content of the course Engineering Valuation in the Department of Engineering Management and Real Estate of Jiangxi Normal University. Based on the characteristics of simulation information technology such as BIM and VR and the differences of ideological and political elements, it updates and improves the cases of courses for ideological and political education, gives full play to the synergistic effect, and realizes the "triple" talent training goal of knowledge, ability and literacy.

Key words Engineering Valuation, Courses for ideological and political education, Case design

1 Introduction

In December 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the National Conference on Ideological and Political Work in Colleges and Universities that in order to make good use of classroom teaching as the main channel, other courses should keep a good channel, so that all kinds of courses and ideological and political theory courses go hand in hand to form a synergy[1]. It can be seen that implementing the fundamental task of "establishing morality and cultivating people" in colleges and universities, integrating ideological and political elements into virtual simulation teaching cases, so as to enable students to establish a scientific and correct outlook on life and values, and striving to improve their own professional literacy and professional ethics has become the basic mission of contemporary higher engineering education.

2 Training goal of professionals, the course group of Engineering Valuation and courses for ideological and political education

2.1 Professional training objectivesHigher engineering education is facing the opportunity and challenge of training new engineering talents. The fundamental purpose of the Department of Engineering Management and Real Estate of Jiangxi Normal University is to establish morality and cultivate people, face Jiangxi Province and the whole country. It is guided by the regional "urgent need of industry and the needs of future economic development", insists on taking "learning" as the center, deeply promotes the construction of first-class undergraduates, optimizes the mode of talent training, promotes the reform and innovation of undergraduate education and teaching, and optimizes the talent training program. It integrates ideological and political elements into professional courses[2]to train "engineering science and technology" and "management" engineering management professionals with cross-border integration ability, innovation and entrepreneurship ability and application ability for the state and society.

2.2 Ideological and political education in the course ofEngineeringValuationEngineeringValuation(formerly known asConstructionEngineeringBudget) is the main course of civil engineering, engineering management, engineering cost and other majors in higher engineering colleges and universities. It is an important professional course for students to master the ways and methods of project investment decision-making, to be familiar with the main theories of construction engineering information price management, to understand the connotation of project cost occurrence and control, and to understand the basic means ofengineeringvaluationmanagement. The Department of Engineering Management and Real Estate of Jiangxi Normal University carries out teaching work in the form of course groups such asEngineeringValuationI,EngineeringValuationII (Hydropower) andEngineeringValuationIII (BIM Modeling). With the development of simulation information technology such as BIM and VR, the simulation case teaching method has been widely used in this course. In the course ofEngineeringValuation, thinking about how to realize the triple cultivation of students’ knowledge, ability and literacy with the help of simulation information technology will lay an important foundation for the formation of high quality of "excellent engineer". College teachers should consider the characteristics of students and majors in curriculum teaching, integrate socialist core values into the whole teaching plan and curriculum design, and strive to make professional education and core values training go hand in hand[3].

3 Selection of simulation case types in courses for ideological and political education

EngineeringValuationis a professional course with high requirements for students’ practical ability. According to the characteristics of this course and the requirements of courses for ideological and political education, we should pay attention to the construction of the following four types of ideological and political cases:

3.1 Historical engineering caseIt is necessary to fully research the ancient books and literature, take the great projects in ancient China as simulation teaching cases, and combine the teaching contents of the course, the requirements for the cultivation of students’ ability and the elements of ideological and political, so as to carry forward the historical national spirit and cultivate students’ sense of identity and well-being to the history of the motherland, including Tengwang Pavilion, Dayan Pagoda and other ancient architecture cases.

3.2 Contemporary engineering case with strong comprehensiveness and great influenceOne of the goals of constructing courses for ideological and political education is to spread Marxist scientific theory to college students[4]. It is necessary to take the remarkable achievements in the rapid development of our contemporary society as the background, take the extremely influential engineering projects as teaching cases, and combine the curriculum knowledge content and ability training requirements, with equal emphasis on "preaching" and "teaching and solving doubts". It is necessary to pay attention to action, praise the great achievements of reform and opening up, make students believe in the leadership of the Party, and enhance students’ sense of achievement and expectations for the country’s reform and opening up and development, such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge project with great industry influence and strong technical complexity, and the Ya’an Expressway project.

3.3 Taking representative project in university as a case

Based on the professional knowledge in the course teaching, we should take the characters or events as the analysis object to evaluate the "gains and losses" in the project preparation, construction and operation management. We should show the achievements and dramatic changes in the development of the school, and students should be guided to have the social values of loving and gracing the school, such as the building of the Picture and Text Information Center of Jiangxi Normal University, and the Music Dream Theater.

3.4 Taking the representative project of the college practice base as a caseWe should pay attention to the horizontal and vertical comparison between projects and cultivate students’ practical ability. In the process management of design and construction, it is necessary to reflect on the evolution of project functions and needs, and advocate "people first", "social fairness" and "strict professional ethics", so as to enable students to cultivate people’s professional outlook and outlook on life, such as comparative cases of high-rise buildings and slab-type apartment buildings.

4 Application of simulation information technology

The integration of simulation cases and courses for ideological and political education should be considered according to the characteristics of the simulation software and the specific differences of ideological and political elements. The curriculum simulation cases can be divided into the following three categories from the simulation technology:

4.1 BIM (Building Information Modeling)BIM simulation case has a high level of informationization and strong integration with professional knowledge, but the modeling process is complex and the visual effect is poor. In the courses for ideological and political education, it mainly focuses on the comparative analysis of differentiated components, the causes of engineering accidents, price comparison and so on, supplemented by professional BIM simulation cases, and abstract spatial components or complicated data information are used to form a visual simulation three-dimensional model. This can improve the teaching methods, and it is more beneficial for students to have a rigorous learning attitude, scientific and objective analysis ability, carefully treat professional learning and after-school tasks, and establish a professional concept and social values.

4.2 VR (Virtual Reality)VR simulation case has good visualization, strong three-dimensional performance and great sense of experience, but it contains less professional knowledge and information, especially the modeling technology is complex and difficult. This kind of simulation case is often used in two cases: the first is the magnificent display of China’s ancient and modern engineering projects to improve students’ pride and happiness in our country’s historical or contemporary achievements; the other is to complete the professional practical work by simulation experimental operation, experience the working process and methods, know the important role of each work, and cultivate students’ meticulous work style.

4.3 SU (Sketchup)SU simulation cases most often appear in the comparison of design schemes, with simple modeling and exquisite model. The functional information of construction engineering is expressed more clearly, and it is widely used in the analysis of architectural function differentiation, and the comparative analysis of engineering price and so on. It is of great significance to improving students’ comprehensive practical ability and cross-border integration ability, and it has a better application in the ideological and political course by advocating the harmonious ideological and political elements of "people first" and "human needs".

By distinguishing the characteristics of cases, the advantages and disadvantages of information software and building a simulation case base, it not only updates the teaching methods of courses, improves the teaching effect of professional courses, and lays a foundation for reform and innovation for ideological and political education, but also creates a prerequisite for further integration of multiple ideological and political elements into the course teaching.

5 Integration of courses for ideological and political education

The teaching concept of "taking students as the main body and teachers as the leading role" should be emphasized in the teaching of courses for ideological and political education, and it is necessary to focus on the key and difficult problems in teaching, so as to realize the synergistic effect of simulation information technology teaching and ideological and political theory courses. According to the characteristics of the course content, we can dig deep into the ideological and political elements in the existingengineeringvaluationcases from the perspectives of investors, construction parties, government regulatory departments and consulting service parties, from the aspects of project feasibility evaluation, design scheme selection and optimization, bidding price control, project contract price management, project settlement and auditing,etc., to update and improve the existing teaching cases. Through the virtual simulation software, and the practical training, we can realize "role play" and "man-machine interaction", guide and inspire students’ learning and understanding of the teaching content, realize the teaching integration of a series of courses, and promote the standardization of practical courses for ideological and political education.

Specific integration should focus on the following teaching models: One is offline classroom teaching. This is mainly reflected in the fact that under the guidance of teachers in the classroom, ideological and political elements are integrated into the interest and visibility of curriculum teaching through simulation cases, to guide students to experience and think about the content of courses for ideological and political education by themselves, and to form good learning attitude and correct learning atmosphere for a class group, or individuals. For example, we can show the curriculum cases through BIM and VR technology, pay attention to the effect of problem introduction, and let students think independently about the ideological and political elements such as "social fairness", and "professional spirit and moral sentiment". The second is online teaching. In February 2020, the emergence of the epidemic situation of COVID-19 greatly changed the curriculum teaching model in colleges and universities, and promoted the construction of online teaching resources and the development of online teaching activities. We should make full use of the characteristics of visualization and large amount of information in simulation cases, explore a new way of online course construction of ideological and political elements into simulation cases, and give full play to the autonomy and convenience after virtual simulation training. It is necessary to integrate ideological and political education with the cultivation of practical ability, and realize the high-order sublimation of practical teaching by organizing students’ online inquiry practice. For example, we can organize online group discussion to show different design schemes in the form of simulation teaching cases, and highlight the concept of "people first" in professional knowledge imparting and scheme evaluation. We should pay attention to the practical functional research, analysis, discussion and evaluation to meet people’s needs, and cultivate students’ sense of responsibility and sense of mission to the professional work. The third is autonomous learning after class. Based on the ideological and political requirements of the curriculum, such as social fairness, students are required to inquire through the CNKI search and the simulation model analysis after class. It is necessary to summarize the academic research views of scholars in the industry, communicate with each other, and let students form their own views and judgments.

It is necessary to integrate the ideological and political elements into the practical teaching ofEngineeringValuationwith the help of simulation teaching cases, so as to realize the organic combination of ideological and political theory and case teaching. Through "role exchange" and "man-machine interaction", it is necessary to guide and inspire students’ learning and understanding of the teaching content, and try to realize the synergistic effect of professional course teaching and ideological and political theory teaching in the same direction, and innovate the teaching reform ideas of the ideological and political elements inEngineeringValuation.

6 Summary and prospect of exploration in courses for ideological and political education

After many years of course construction, the teaching team ofEngineeringValuationhas accumulated good case base resources, which has laid the foundation for the construction of current courses for ideological and political education based on simulation information cases. The team completed the construction of FANYA online classes (https://mooc1-1.chaoxing.com/course/214873261.html). BIM, VR and other simulation cases are well integrated into online and offline teaching activities. After analyzing and evaluating the questionnaire report of teachers and students after class, we find that the teaching effect of the course is good, with the following characteristics:

6.1 With the help of the practical ability teaching of simulation cases, it is easier to integrate ideological and political elements into the coursesCase teaching itself is a part of practical teaching. Through simulation and informationization, it can be easily associated with actual social work and life. This is more conducive to attracting students, enhancing their enthusiasm and initiative online and offline, before and after class, and enhancing confidence in overcoming difficult professional courses with ideological and political elements and a sense of historical responsibility in the future, so as to imperceptibly achieve the teaching goal of courses for ideological and political education.

6.2 For some super-large projects and confidentiality projects, it is difficult to use simulation information cases to realize the effective integration of courses for ideological and political educationFor example, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and other super-large projects or Huoshenshan confidentiality project, only stay in the vision of curriculum reform, but in fact, it is difficult to achieve informationization and modeling. It can only be connected with the teaching content of the course by means of pictures and videos, and the effect of courses for ideological and political education has not yet highlighted the effectiveness of this teaching reform.

6.3 There will be long-term teaching reform of courses for ideological and political education based on simulation information technology, requiring the teaching team to work hard continuouslyIt is a brand-new reform and attempt for professional teachers to integrate courses for ideological and political education into professional curriculum teaching. The training and gradual formation of teachers’ ability is a long-term process. The case model made by simulation information technology has the characteristics of strong professionalism, great difficulty and long time period. Now, although BIM, VR and SU cases all have course teaching applications, 50% of 64 class hours can not be covered, and it still takes a long time for the teaching team to explore the elements of courses for ideological and political education in accordance with the teaching content. The teachers in teaching team undertake the teaching of many professional courses, and it is necessary to plan to carry out ideological and political reform inEngineeringValuationseries courses or "course group", and share teaching cases among multiple courses, so that knowledge points can be connected horizontally, and course-based ideological and political education will be transformed into professional ideological and political education. All these will make the future reform of courses for ideological and political education go through a long-term process.