Suggestions on Curriculum Reform of Food Major in the Context of Educational Reform

Jie CHENG, Ruiqi CAO, Lili JI, Bo HOU, Dayu LIU, Jiamin ZHANG

Abstract The food major is an application-oriented major that involves a wide range of professional knowledge and disciplines， and provides applied talents with food production， inspection， and sales skills to the society. With the rapid development of society， the demand of social employers for talents also shows a diversified trend. For the cultivation of food professionals in the new era， it is necessary to improve their innovative spirit and practical ability， in order to adapt to the diverse development needs of society. Under the background of education reform， this paper briefly analyzed the teaching strategies of food major， and put forward specific reform suggestions， hoping to promote education reform to effectively promote the sustainable development of food major， and effectively improve the quality of education.

Key words Education reform; Food Major; Teaching innovation; Teaching methods

Received： December 13， 2022  Accepted： February 3， 2023

Jie CHENG （1989-）， male， P. R. China， associate researcher， devoted to research about food microbiology.

*Corresponding author. E-mail： zhangjiamin@cdu.edu.cn.

Strengthening the Construction of Teaching Staff

The construction of high-quality teachers should be strengthened， and attention should be put on introducing "double-qualified" teachers and cultivating "comprehensive" teachers for colleges and universities. The knowledge structure and ability quality of the teachers team have an important impact on improving teaching quality， especially in practical teaching， in which the role of teachers is more obvious. Teachers with rich practical experience can better guide students to practice， as they guide students to find problems and solve problems， cultivate students comprehensive abilities in various aspects， and carry out targeted practical guidance according to students needs［1］. According to schools actual situation， engineers and enterprise managers with rich practical experience and solid theoretical basis can be introduced from relevant food enterprises or units as part-time or full-time teachers［2］. For example， colleges and universities can establish long-term cooperative relations with local food enterprises or relevant units， use them as training bases for colleges and universities， and attract enterprise management and technical talents to teach in colleges and universities， so as to broaden students professional vision， fully combine theoretical knowledge with practical problems， and improve students problem-solving ability and comprehensive quality. A university in Chengdu has adopted this model for majors allied to medical science. The university has established a good cooperative relationship with major hospitals around the school， set up classes in the major hospitals， and introduced front-line medical personnel with solid theoretical foundation and rich practical experience from the hospital to give lectures to majors allied to medical science in the university. Through the example teaching of these front-line personnel， medical students of the university have a better understanding of the operation mode of major hospitals， various common or rare cases， the use and maintenance of various medical equipment， and the handling of various medical emergencies. It also enables students to combine theoretical knowledge they have learned with the actual situation， organically combine practice with theory， and promote each other， so as to greatly improve students ability.

Renewing Teaching Concepts and Innovating Teaching Modes

In the traditional teaching process， the teaching of food major pays too much attention to the teaching of theoretical knowledge and emphasizes the unity and integrity of knowledge. Although students can master theoretical knowledge， the effective improvement of students practical application ability and innovation ability is ignored［3］. In the specific teaching process， teachers play a leading role in the classroom， mainly in the infusion teaching method， which is difficult to improve students independent ability［4］. In order to do a good job， workers must first improve their tools. In the process of teaching reform of food major， teachers should fully integrate modern teaching concepts and adopt advanced teaching methods according to the characteristics of curriculum knowledge. With the reform and development of new courses， teachers must improve students subjective initiative， be able to reverse the traditional teaching method of lecturing， adopt interactive discussion， and use multimedia or micro-class to assist classroom teaching， which is helpful to stimulate students learning interest［5］. The interaction process is an important stage for students to show their thinking， and also the formation stage for students to master knowledge. Therefore， the interaction between teachers and students is helpful to consolidate students basic theoretical knowledge. Teachers can discuss recorded micro-class videos with students in class， and also enable students to learn independently before or after class［6］. Students can use micro-class to learn independently， thereby getting rid of the shackles of traditional textbook learning and effectively using fragmented time， and they can also accept specific knowledge points in images， which is helpful to better understand abstract theoretical knowledge. In the context of educational reform， teachers must innovate teaching concepts and encourage students to think and judge independently through inspiration and guidance. Students can learn food-related subjects well， which will help stimulate learning interest and thirst for knowledge under the guidance of teachers， so as to give full play to the subjective initiative of learning［7］.

Attaching Importance to Construction of Practice Bases

Internship is the best way to practice， as well as a way to test whether students can use their knowledge freely. It is also a rare opportunity to stay in a large company and work. Colleges and universities can strengthen in-depth cooperation and exchange with relevant departments and enterprises according to their own teaching characteristics and considering the development of students. Students can be sent to practice every year. It is necessary to create a good internship platform for students， strengthen their practical ability， and find the shortage in the internship， so that food enterprises can also obtain a group of young interns with professional knowledge， and find the talents they need from students internship results［8］. It is necessary to cooperate with research institutions， administrative institutions， food production and processing or testing enterprises outside universities， and establish university practice bases in the above units. In addition， the proportion of practical teaching should be appropriately increased in the teaching plan， and the class hours of practical operation should be increased， so that students can participate in food industry-related work such as food production research and development， food research， food testing and risk assessment. It enables students to find problems， think about problems and use professional knowledge to solve practical problems in work practice. Meanwhile， it can also provide students with the guidance of industry seniors with rich practical experience to realize the organic combination of theoretical knowledge and social production practice of food major， and also promote the positive transfer of food professional knowledge， so that students are improved in practice［9］. To ensure long-term and in-depth cooperation between colleges and universities and relevant enterprises and institutions， college students practice bases should be established， and enterprises provide students with internship and practice opportunities. Colleges and universities can send students of relevant majors to these bases for practical operation training according to the actual situation. Students can be exposed to the relevant work that they may be engaged in after graduation during the study period， and can understand the specific application of professional knowledge. In this way， students can apply the theoretical knowledge they have learned to practice in practice bases. Meanwhile， they can also find the deficiency of the knowledge they have learned in the work and application in practice， and then determine the direction of future study and strengthen their confidence in learning professional knowledge. It enables students to better promote and improve themselves in practice， to better match the future， to better adapt to social life， and to better adapt to work positions［10］. Colleges and universities also achieve the goal of cultivating and delivering talents with good social adaptability and good operation and practice ability to the society.

Paying attention to the benefits of practice can kill two birds with one stone. Students can not only obtain internship opportunities， improve their ability from practical operation， strengthen their practical ability， and consolidate their theoretical knowledge， but also solve problems of employment sometimes. Students who perform well in enterprises will be kept to sign contracts.  Colleges and universities should establish a long-term good cooperative relationship with enterprises and negotiate together to achieve win-win results.

Improving the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ability of College Students

In the new era of rapid development of science， technology and economy， the requirements of the society for talents are constantly increasing. Students will face fierce employment competition after graduation， and the employment pressure is also gradually increasing. Therefore， the probability of students innovation and entrepreneurship has also increased significantly. However， it is difficult to adapt to the complex and volatile social competition， especially in the food industry with fierce competition， just relying on the awareness of innovation and entrepreneurship.   Therefore， in the context of educational reform and the times， colleges and universities must pay attention to improving students innovation and entrepreneurship ability， and strengthen students pressure resistance ability， cooperation ability， communication ability， coordination ability， application ability and innovation ability［11］. At present， China encourages and advocates students to carry out innovative and entrepreneurial activities in schools. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education actively issue special funds to support entrepreneurial activities and organize students to carry out entrepreneurial practice［12］. For example， in 2015， the "College Students Traditional Food Innovation Competition" held in China provided a good entrepreneurial platform for students， and the "Food Safety Science Popularization Innovation Public Welfare Competition" and "College Students Innovation Competition of Traditional Chinese Food" also appeared in succession. In the new era， colleges and universities must pay full attention to entrepreneurship training for students， opening of laboratories， sharing of campus resources and actively holding of a number of entrepreneurship activities， and conduct in-depth cooperation with local food enterprises， so that students can fully understand the industry and better understand the society， and then expand the space for entrepreneurship， increase entrepreneurial opportunities， and better adapt to the society in the future.

Reasonable Use of Teaching Tools

The psychological experiment of the famous psychologist Treicher showed that 83% of peoples information came from vision， 35% from smell， 15% from touch， 11% from hearing， and 1% from taste. It can be seen from this that when students receive knowledge points， they can effectively obtain them from various organs. Therefore， in the teaching process of food major， teachers should use the organ stimulation method to teach according to the characteristics of students， which will help improve the teaching quality［7］. In the process of food teaching， because theoretical knowledge is too abstract and boring for students， teachers can use multimedia technology to improve classroom teaching effect in the process of food teaching. For example， when learning the content of food color and sensory evaluation， teachers can put food pictures with different sensory effects and colors into the electronic slide， so that students can have a direct visual perception of the pictures， thus strengthening the understanding and memory of knowledge. When explaining harmful substances in food， case videos can be played. Through effective auditory and visual stimulation， students understanding and memory on harmful substances can be enhanced. When teaching with multimedia， although teachers can save blackboard writing time in the classroom teaching process， they should also strengthen the communication and interaction with students to effectively grasp the learning situation of students in the new stage， and thereby adjust the multimedia teaching plan pertinently， so as to help improve the teaching quality and efficiency.

The course of Food Analysis and Detection Experiments for food major requires students to complete a large number of experiments， and the use of simulation experiment simulation training can strengthen students hands-on ability. Large equipment such as atomic absorption spectrophotometer and high performance liquid chromatograph are widely used in Food Analysis and Detection Experiments， while these equipment and their maintenance costs are high. Experimental teaching can be carried out through simulation technology， so that students can gain the same experience as operating real instruments. For abstract experiments， the use of simulation technology can produce an intuitive， visual and returnable teaching effect. Practice shows that using modern teaching technology can improve students practical ability and achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Jie CHENG et al. Suggestions on Curriculum Reform of Food Major in the Context of Educational Reform

Reform and Update of Curriculum Content

The courses of food majors are set according to relevant national requirements and students professional aspirations［13］. The course offering aims to cultivate talents with relevant knowledge of chemistry， biology， food science， food engineering and other related knowledge required by the food industry and social development in the new century. It is intended to cultivate talents who can adapt to the work of food production technology management， product development， quality control and testing， and have strong practical ability， innovation ability and comprehensive quality.

Modern people pay more attention to health， so they pay more attention to the safety of food. The teaching of food major should focus on safety， and strengthen students attention to food safety. Students in food quality supervision should master the microorganism and physical and chemical characteristics， and also strengthen the study of relevant knowledge in prevention and management［14］. In addition， reform should be carried out in practical teaching of courses. Practical teaching is one of the important links in the teaching of food science and engineering. Practice and theory are inseparable， but the traditional education philosophy is to lay stress on theory and ignore practice， which leads to obvious shortcomings of students in practice. In the practical class， students can give full play to their strengths and imagination， and the innovative spirit of students can be stimulated［15］. The practice courses of food major should be reformed from many aspects， such as the forms and teaching methods of the practice courses. For example， in the class of food major， teachers can assign practical topics to students， and the students can design and operate them， so that students can learn to look at problems carefully and improve their sense of responsibility. Teachers can discuss problems with students， guide students to find and solve problems in practice， enrich students learning and stimulate their desire to explore the unknown through consulting materials and do-it-yourself kind of study， instead of forcing them with boring theoretical knowledge. It not only improves the teaching quality， but also makes students enthusiastic about food majors［16］.

With the rapid development of science and technology and the mutual penetration of various businesses， the update of knowledge is also very fast， especially professional knowledge. For example， the two courses of food production and processing and food packaging are bound to produce new processing technologies and packaging technologies with the update of mechanical equipment， and the new technologies are generally more cost-effective or more efficient and can gradually replace old technologies， so that the original knowledge cannot adapt to the needs of the times［16］. For another example， the current "Internet+" model prevails in all industries nationwide and even around the world， and the food industry is no exception. Food production and sales also inevitably adopt this method. In this case， students majoring in food should better adapt to society and meet social needs. It is necessary for colleges and universities to properly adjust the courses and update the course contents according to the current actual situation［17］. For example， with the update of machinery and equipment， it is necessary to update the contents of food processing machinery， food production technologies， food packaging technologies and other related courses.   Therefore， in the new era， colleges and universities must reasonably adjust and optimize causes according to the needs of the society， constantly update the teaching contents， and add the latest packaging technologies， production technologies and processing technologies， so that students can fully understand the latest knowledge of the industry， and then improve their ability［18］. According to the rise of the "Internet+" model， it is necessary to update the contents of food marketing and other courses， or set new ones according to the employment direction of students.

Through analysis and practice， we believe that the teaching reform of food majors is very necessary， especially with the development and universal application of the "Internet+" model. It is necessary to improve the comprehensive quality and social adaptability of students majoring in food through comprehensive reform in multiple directions， angles and levels， and well cultivate their awareness and ability of innovation and entrepreneurship， time operation skills and research and analysis level， so that they can better adapt to the needs of the society， better meet the needs of the food industry and integrate into food-related work faster［19］， and thus， a win-win situation for the industry and students can be truly achieved. Of course， meanwhile， reform is not an overnight matter. Colleges and universities must accumulate experience in practice， and adjust teaching reasonably according to social development trends， so that teaching can meet the needs of the times. Meanwhile， for many problems in development， we also need to carry out reforms that are appropriate to the actual situation. We need to test and improve the reform results in practice， and achieve the perfect unity of reform and development through continuous reconciliation.

Promoting the Dynamic Assessment Mode and Cultivating Students Comprehensive Ability

The promotion of dynamic assessment mode can break away from the shackles of traditional paper examination. In the traditional assessment process， students are mainly assessed for their usual achievements， such as experimental reports and assignments. However， it is difficult for this kind of assessment to effectively and comprehensively analyze students learning situation in recent years， so it needs a strong form of supervision and guidance assessment—dynamic assessment［20］. Through dynamic assessment， students can independently collect relevant information according to the content proposed by teachers and write relevant reports on selected topics in their spare time， and obtain assessment scores through discussion or electronic slide presentation in class. It is helpful to improve students ability to find， analyze and solve problems.   Furthermore， with the remarkable development of science and technology， and the great improvement of peoples living standards， modern peoples attention to food is not only superficial， but also gradually shifted to focus on health， green， and safety. The direction has changed， and food is the paramount concern of the people， so food safety is a top priority. Schools should not only strengthen their knowledge， but also pay attention to students quality issues. They should also cultivate students integrity and sense of responsibility. These excellent qualities should be possessed by every student. In the food industry， they should reflect the situation responsibly and truthfully when conducting quality supervision and safety assessment， which is also for the better development of society and the health of the people［21］.

Conclusions

The food major involves many disciplines， such as science， engineering， chemistry， medicine， laboratory science， food science， agronomy and biology. It is a field with extensive cross-cutting nature. It is an important channel for delivering talents in food safety detection， supervision， risk assessment， quality monitoring and other aspects to the society. Through comprehensive reform， we should improve the comprehensive quality and social adaptability of students majoring in food， and cultivate their awareness and ability of innovation and entrepreneurship， practical operation skills， and research and analysis level， so that they can better adapt to the needs of the society， meet the needs of the food industry， integrate into food-related work faster， and achieve a win-win situation for the industry and students. To sum up， in the context of educational reform， major colleges and universities should reform their teaching concepts in the field of food major. The traditional teaching model has not kept pace with the development of society and cannot meet the requirements of modern people on food. Schools should reform their teaching contents and methods according to diversified needs of the industry and keep pace with the times.

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