Reform and Exploration of Integrating "Service Learning" into the Teaching of Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals to Help Rural Revitalization

Huanying PANG, Miao XIE, Shuanghu CAI, Ziling WANG, Shiping YANG, Yucong HUANG, Jichang JIAN

College of Fisheries, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524088, China; National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center of Fishery Science and Technology, Zhanjiang 524088, China

Abstract This paper intends to combine the development trend of the subject, restructure and optimize the course content, and construct the service learning model of Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals for postgraduates.At the same time, through service practice, it is needed to further consolidate curriculum knowledge and skills, stimulate the learning initiative and enthusiasm of postgraduates, expand professional knowledge, improve professional quality, and lay a solid foundation for serving the national rural revitalization strategy in the future.

Key words Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals, Service learning, Rural revitalization

1 Introduction

The General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed implementing the rural revitalization strategy in his report on the 19thNational Congress of the Communist Party of China, and regarded the rural revitalization strategy as a major strategic task to win a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and a great modern socialist country, as well as the general grasp of the work of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" in the new era.In 2018, the Central Document No.1,OpinionsoftheCPCCentralCommitteeandtheStateCouncilonImplementingtheRuralRevitalizationStrategy, opened a new chapter in the development of agriculture and rural areas in a new era based on the national and agricultural conditions.Under the realistic demand of rural revitalization, agricultural higher vocational colleges should give full play to their advantages in talents, science and technology, culture and education to help rural revitalization[1].Therefore, how to train outstanding innovative talents, effectively shoulder the important mission of rural revitalization in colleges and universities, and make postgraduates become an important force to help rural revitalization is a hot and difficult issue that needs to be actively explored.

Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals is a basic course for postgraduates majoring in aquatic animal medicine of Guangdong Ocean University.It mainly studies the morphology, structure, metabolic activity, heredity and variation, pathogenic mechanism, anti-infective immunity, laboratory diagnosis and specific prevention of pathogenic organisms related to aquatic animal diseases.The pathogenic biology of aquatic animals is not only a frontier subject in the field of life science, but also one of the most rapidly developing scientific fields.Like other disciplines, the rural revitalization strategy brings opportunities and challenges for the upgrading and development of this discipline, but it also faces many problems to be solved.

2 Problems in the course of Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals in helping rural revitalization

2.1 The teaching model ignores the match between master education and practical skillsThe goal of training the masters of Aquatic Animal Medicine is to provide a team of high-level multidisciplinary talents with comprehensive disease prevention and control skills for the aquaculture industry, and it focuses on school education and practical skills.However, the current teaching mode is still based on traditional teaching methods, is less directly involved in the practical activities of enterprises and lacks the guidance of teachers outside the school, leading to the lack of postgraduates’ social practical skills.

2.2 The degree of combination of postgraduate training and social training is not enoughMost fishery colleges and universities have no self-built practice bases and rely on enterprises to carry out practical skills training.However, enterprises pay more attention to the direct transformation of results with colleges and universities; postgraduates are difficult to meet the requirements in knowledge and skills, and the degree of participation of postgraduates is low, which affects the cultivation of postgraduates’ social practice ability.

2.3 The diversification of teaching evaluation methods is insufficientAt present, the teaching evaluation of postgraduate courses is limited to theory and experiment, and there is a lack of evaluation of practical links, leading to the lack of students’ innovation ability, communication skills, professional quality, social responsibility, critical awareness and humanistic quality.

3 Necessity of using "service learning" to help rural revitalization in the course of Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals

3.1 Connotation and application of service learningIn theImplementationPlanofNationalVocationalEducationReformreleased in early 2019, it is pointed out that high-quality social service capabilities and excellent service benefits should be regarded as the eternal value pursuit of high-quality development of higher education.In this context, many colleges and universities have integrated the concept of "service learning" into classroom learning to realize the combination of classroom learning and the needs of the real society[2].

"Service learning", an experiential learning model, organically combines professional learning with social service, and guides students to reflect on what they have learned in the process of participating in social services, so as to improve learning effectiveness and personal professional ability through services[3]."Service learning", as an experiential teaching method, has been widely used since it was proposed in the United States in the 1960s[4].Presently, universities, primary and secondary schools in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Singapore and other countries have established different types of service learning practices, and the content involves community services, medical and health services, transportation services, natural environmental protection and other fields[5].In China, the concept of service learning is mainly applied to the fields of personnel training, innovative educational model, quality and engineering[6].

Studies have shown that the service learning model has significant effects on improving students’ psychological quality, promoting their mental health development, increasing their understanding and tolerance of society, improving their learning motivation, enhancing their learning ability and social ability, establishing future career development direction, enhancing civic consciousness, improving social service attitude and enhancing social responsibility,etc[3]."Service learning" breaks the one-way benefits of paying too much attention to students’ growth and integrating social needs into teaching activities in professional teaching, so that education can better serve economic and social development and truly build a bridge between higher education and social needs[4].

3.2 Advantages of integrating "service learning" model into the teaching of Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals to help rural revitalization

3.2.1Bridging the professional gap and consolidating professional skills.The Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals is an important course connecting aquaculture and aquatic animal medicine.Its theory and practice play an important role in the formulation of diagnosis and control measures of aquatic animal diseases, the research on the occurrence and development mechanism of major diseases and the maintenance of aquatic animal health.The Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals integrates the teaching reform mode of "service learning", and advocates the close combination of knowledge imparts and social services, which not only enhances the social practice of professional skills, but also enhances the practice of knowledge imparts and social services, urging colleges and universities to reflect on the past education mode of "valuing wisdom over morality".This kind of education can change the situation of vocational training in the past, emphasize the harmonious educational process between higher education and social development, and promote students to explore diversified learning.Under the guidance of "service learning" theory, postgraduates enter the practice bases of aquaculture industry to accumulate practical experience.Students "learn while serving and serve while learning", and consolidate theoretical knowledge while exercising practical ability.

3.2.2Clearing evaluation criteria and paying attention to professional application.Zhang Qinghuaetal.[7]proposed that talent training should be guided by the "needs of aquatic animal medicine practice" and emphasized the seamless connection between practice and course content.Cao Haipengetal.[8]also analyzed the problems in the education of aquatic animal medicine in China and suggested strengthening the practice teaching link, organizing students to carry out voluntary service in practice bases through reforming the education model, so as to meet the needs of farmers for disease prevention and control and promote students’ understanding and mastering of professional knowledge.These ideas coincide with the concept of service learning education model.It meets not only the requirements of modern aquatic animal medicine teaching mode but also the needs of contemporary aquatic graduate education, and defines the evaluation criteria of graduate training effect in aquatic animal medicine, namely the professional practicability and social level.

Therefore, integrating "service learning" into the teaching of Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals is the need of the rural revitalization strategy and the necessary basis for improving the ability of postgraduates in scientific research innovation and practical application.Carrying out the "service learning" model of Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals is conducive to the matching of professional education and practical skills, the combination of school training and social training of postgraduates, and the adaptation of service learning theory and practice.Hence, based on the cultivation needs of professional students or the strategic needs of rural revitalization, it is of theoretical and practical significance to integrate "service learning" into the teaching of Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals.

4 Reform method of integrating "service learning" to help rural revitalization in the teaching of Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals

4.1 Research ideas"Service learning" is integrated into the teaching of Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals, and a practical teaching model closely related to the current rural revitalization strategy is constructed, that is, service practice activities are carried out with the support of professional knowledge and skills.At the same time, through service practice, it is needed to further consolidate curriculum knowledge and skills, improve professional quality and achieve curriculum objectives.

4.2 Building the teaching model of "service learning"

4.2.1Teaching design of "service learning".The teaching objectives and contents of "service learning" are formulated according to the requirements of the teaching syllabus and the health needs of aquatic animals in practice bases.Through study, postgraduates will publicize the prevention and treatment of common aquatic animal infectious diseases in practice bases under the guidance of teachers, monitor the health of aquatic animals, improve their learning ability and communication ability, and cultivate their professional quality, social responsibility, innovation ability and humanistic quality.Theoretical and experimental courses are carried out on campus, while practical courses are conducted in practice bases.After completing the theoretical study of the corresponding chapters, postgraduates will conduct experimental operation and skill training in a laboratory, and then carry out "service learning" in a practice base.

4.2.2Teaching implementation of "service learning".(i)Preparation of teachers.① Training of teachers: experimental staff, course teachers and off-campus instructors should receive unified training, and the training mainly aims to clarify the concept, implementation methods and precautions of "service learning", so as to ensure the standardized development of "service learning".The training contents include strengthening the application ability of transforming theoretical knowledge into practice; on the premise of improving teaching ability, teachers should actively go to grassroots units(enterprises, aquatic technology extension stations, fisheries research institutes,etc.), standardize the behavior of fishery veterinary practitioners, and improve the ability of prevention and control of aquatic animal diseases, practical skills and clinical experience.Schools should also establish a corresponding personnel training system to encourage teachers to go out of school and into the grassroots, and encourage teachers to participate in various training courses and academic conferences, thereby broadening their horizons and improving their professional quality.Meanwhile, schools need to protect the basic interests of teachers from the system and funds.For the appointment of off-campus teachers, schools should give priority to those who have a cooperative relationship with on-campus teachers, establish an assessment mechanism, implement performance quantification, strictly implement assessment indicators, and cancel their qualifications if they fail to meet the standards.② Construction of practice bases: At present, the off-campus practice bases of College of Fisheries, Guangdong Ocean University include Zhanjiang Hester Aquatic Technology Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Liyang Aquatic Technology Co., Ltd.,etc.In the future, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of diversified practice bases, not only has close contact with aquaculture, animal health, inspection and quarantine enterprises, but also strengthen contact and practice with deep processing enterprises of aquatic products to expand the practical dimension of students.③ Determination of practice bases: teachers should communicate with the staff of practice bases in the first week of the semester, and then lead a number of postgraduates to carry out field visits, so as to facilitate the smooth development of "service learning" practice activities.Design project: teachers lead students to go into poverty alleviation practice bases to understand the health status of aquatic animals and the needs of farmers.With the concept of service as the guide, students are guided to design solutions to solve problems.

(ii)Preparation of students.① Division of labor: postgraduates are grouped by random free combination, and each group selects a group leader.According to teaching objectives, postgraduates study in a group, and group members have a reasonable division of labor.② Data preparation: It mainly includes consulting materials, making a simple knowledge manual for the prevention and control of aquatic animal diseases, PPT for aquatic animal health education and topic PPT of course chapter content(the prevention and control of common pathogenic organisms that are parasitic in the intestine, hepatopancreas, brain, gill,etc., such as small watermelon worm, vibrio, streptococcus, nerve necrosis virus,etc.), communicating through reports, trial lectures and other forms, and then strengthening students’ understanding and consolidation of knowledge through inter-group questioning, two-way debate and other ways.

4.2.3Teaching action of "service learning".(i)Theoretical teaching: in order to better carry out "service learning" to help rural revitalization in the course of Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals, the course should be set up in line with the needs of poverty alleviation practice bases.In particular, the practical course should be set up with the advice of off-campus tutors to ensure that the cultivated talents can be directly engaged in practice.Using the teaching method of case analysis, teachers set learning content according to the teaching objectives, design test papers according to students’ learning objectives after class, and use cloud classroom distribution to understand the theoretical knowledge reserve of students.(ii)Training of experimental skills: basic skills operation and assessment related to innovative experiments and service projects are conducted in a laboratory.(iii)Entering a practice base to carry out "service learning": with the service object as the center and led by postgraduates, teachers lead postgraduates to enter a poverty alleviation practice base to carry out service activities.In the practice base, postgraduates provide pathogen detection of farmed animals and disease prevention and control of aquatic animals to relevant personnel, communicate with the person in charge of an enterprise, collect samples of diseased aquatic animals and send them back to a laboratory for testing, and provide breeding guidance and common sense infectious disease consultation for the farmers who come to consult.In order to give full play to the subjective initiative of students, teachers should strengthen supervision, encouragement and guidance in the process of postgraduates’ service.(iv)Survey results should be reported back to the client and the local disease control and prevention center.Postgraduates collate and analyze the results of "service learning" practices and give feedback to the client and the local disease control and prevention center, such as the species and number of pathogens detected.

4.2.4Reflection on the teaching of "service learning".After the practice of "service learning", teachers and graduate students return to the classroom for intensive discussion.Students summarize their experience in the practice of "service learning" by means of diary, group discussion, reflective report,etc., summarize and reflect on the harvest in the practice of "service learning", the affirmation and shortcomings of self-value, and put forward improvement measures and future efforts, as well as the experience and suggestions of service learning.In addition to organizing activities, self-reflection and evaluation, teachers should promote students’ reflection.The further perfection of "service learning" teaching model is promoted through reflection and continuous improvement.

4.2.5Teaching evaluation methods of "service learning".After the service internship, graduate students will write an internship report, and make the summary report of "service learning" and self-evaluation.According to postgraduates’ practice report and questionnaire survey, teachers interview the leaders of an practice base, farmers, village heads, villagers,etc.After the end of the teaching, general assessment is conducted according to the final theory examination results and assessment results of practical skills.

5 Conclusions

The masters of Aquatic Animal Medicine are an important source of advanced aquaculture talents.Only by training graduate students with independent thinking ability, scientific decision-making ability and clinical practice ability can they be in line with the cultivation orientation of "high-level and applied" fishery medicine talents, and "service learning" model is undoubtedly one of the effective methods to achieve this goal.However, at present, the construction of "service learning" model in the Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals is not mature, and there are no examples for reference.The "service learning" model of Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals constructed in this paper provides a new idea for the construction of relevant courses, but there are still some shortcomings.It is hoped that the "service learning" model of Pathogenic Biology of Aquatic Animals can be continuously improved in quality through cooperation with other universities and companies in the future.