Research on Practice Problems and Strategies for Professional Master’s Degree Candidates for Agriculture

Jun JIAO, Wenwen ZHA, Huimin MA, Cheng ZHU, Chao WANG, Lichuan GU

School of Information and Computer Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China

Abstract Taking the practice status of professional master’s degree candidates for agriculture in Anhui Agricultural University as an example, this paper analyzes the key factors affecting the practical training of graduate students in this major, and puts forward some strategies for improving the practice quality of professional master’s degree candidates.In terms of training professional master’s degree candidates, it is considered that agricultural colleges and universities should start with collaborative education, supervision and assessment mechanism, practice content and form, make full use of a large number of agricultural enterprise resources owned by colleges and universities and a good cooperation foundation in enterprises, so as to achieve the purpose of improving the practice quality of professional master’s degree candidates.

Key words School-enterprise cooperation, Curriculum system, Team of tutors, Cultivation mechanism

1 Introduction

With the rapid development of international politics and economy, and the continuous breakthrough of educational reform, the interpenetration and mutual integration among production, education and research make practical teaching play an increasingly important role in the training of professional master’s degree candidates, which has attracted great attention from Chinese Party and state leaders.Especially in July 2020, General Secretary Xi pointed out that graduate education plays an important role in cultivating innovative talents and innovative abilities, serving economic and social development, and promoting the modernization of national governance system and governance capacity.

School-enterprise cooperation for talent training is a cooperative training mode to cultivate the innovative spirit and ability of professional master’s degree candidates and provide comprehensive services.Through the construction of joint talent training base, we should open up a new way of joint production, education and research, and then cultivate professional, high-quality innovative and applied talents to meet the needs of economy and society[1-2].

Anhui Agricultural University always adheres to the direction of serving agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and is committed to developing agriculture and reinvigorating Anhui through science and education.It takes a well-known "Dabie Mountain Road" of educating people and developing schools, enriching people and strengthening agriculture and combining schools and localities, and actively explores a new mode of "on-campus+off-campus" joint training of graduate students, to improve the education of professional master’s degree candidates, improve the ability to serve national and regional development, and form a new paradigm of production and teaching integration and collaborative education for professional master’s degree candidates, so as to cultivate applied talents that meet the needs of national and regional strategies and social and economic development.Anhui Agricultural University relies on the agricultural industry, takes improving the professional ability and engineering practice ability of graduate students as its main goal, and closely focuses on improving the quality of graduate students training to cultivate the innovative practice ability of graduate students with professional degrees.In recent years, the construction of school-enterprise joint training base has achieved certain results, and the relevant experience is of certain reference significance.

2 Basic requirements of the country for the engineering practice of professional master’s degree candidates

The Academic Degrees Office of the Ministry of Education pointed out in Document No.14 of 2018,GuidingOpinionsonFormulatingtheTrainingProgramforGraduateStudentswithMaster’sDegreeinEngineering, full-time professional master’s degree candidates must participate in professional practice activities for more than 6 months.For professional master’s degree candidates who do not have 2 years of enterprise work experience, the time of their professional practice activities should be no less than 1 year, which is a rigid requirement for the practical link in the training of professional master’s degree candidates and the main difference from the training of academic graduate students[3-4].

In the earlier Document No.1 of the Ministry of Education in 2009,SeveralOpinionsonDoingaGoodJobinTrainingFull-timeMaster’sDegreeGraduateStudents, it is emphasized that the training goal of professional master’s degree candidates is to master the basic theory of their professional fields, have broad professional knowledge, have strong ability to analyze and solve practical engineering problems, be able to undertake corresponding management work, and be applied talents with good professional quality.

Establishing a school-enterprise joint practice base for professional master’s degree candidates is an effective measure to ensure the smooth implementation of the practice link.Agricultural universities generally put the practice link in the second year of graduate study, and the first year of graduate study is mainly to complete the necessary courses and basic scientific research practice, master certain professional knowledge and practical skills, and carry out practice according to the needs of the industry.On the basis of establishing a school-enterprise co-construction practice base with agriculture-related enterprises, agricultural universities take the form of centralized place, centralized time and centralized tasks to complete unified practical activities.

3 Significance of strengthening engineering practice

The professional master’s degree candidates should be application-oriented professionals who can engage in the design and manufacture, control and development, applied research and production management of agricultural engineering products.Therefore, the cultivation of practical ability is particularly important[5-6].Participating in practical activities is an essential learning task for professional master’s degree candidates, and it is of great practical significance to consolidate their professional knowledge and cultivate their practical ability through practical activities[7].

3.1 Necessities of training professional master’s degree candidatesGraduate education is carried out on the basis of practical activities.Practical activities and professional knowledge education are inseparable and support each other.The professional master’s degree candidates play a positive role in promoting the development of China’s agriculture, promoting the development of agricultural enterprises and the safety of agricultural products.Participating in practical activities is also an important step to cultivate professional master’s degree candidates’ practical ability and enhance their professional quality, and it is also an important measure to develop agricultural engineering education and optimize industry talents.

3.2 Solving the problem of low engineering quality of some professional master’s degree candidatesBased on the practice base of school-enterprise cooperation, relying on school-enterprise cooperation projects and research projects proposed for the needs of enterprise product technology and innovation, researchers from both schools and enterprises jointly set up a project research team, which requires the direct participation of professional master’s degree candidates.The practice base provides a large number of practical thesis topics for professional master’s degree candidates, which are suitable for enterprise technical research.It combines theoretical knowledge with practice closely, realizes the internalization and absorption of knowledge, and solves the practical problems of enterprises and the problems encountered in the study for professional master’s degree candidates, to achieve the continuous improvement of the engineering quality and practical ability of professional master’s degree candidates, and finally solve the problem of low engineering quality of professional master’s degree candidates.

3.3 Cultivating the innovative spirit of graduate students

Academic activities such as practice achievement report, scientific research group meeting, academic lecture and special report are held regularly for professional master’s degree candidates.At the same time, teachers are instructed to evaluate and provide advice and suggestions according to the reports of graduate students to create a strong academic atmosphere.Graduate students combine their theoretical knowledge and practical skills learned in class, seek innovation with practice, and promote practice with innovation.In the process of mutual promotion between practice and innovation, graduate students gradually form innovative thinking and stimulate their innovative spirit.This not only enhances the scientific research interest of professional master’s degree candidates, but also cultivates the scientific research practice ability of graduate students to analyze, summarize and report.

4 Problems at the current stage

4.1 Less practical content in the curriculum systemOn the one hand, the school-enterprise connection is not close, the problem of "emphasizing theory but neglecting practice" is prominent, the training mode is single, and the capital investment in teaching scheme, curriculum content and resource allocation is insufficient, which makes it difficult to meet the requirements of agricultural engineering enterprises for technical talents; on the other hand, it is difficult for professional master’s degree candidates to complete practical teaching in enterprises or practice bases, and the established joint training base is not in line with the graduate training plan, or is not closely related to the graduate major, which leads to unsatisfactory practical effect and deviates from the original intention of training.

4.2 Weak complementarity between dual tutorsMost of the tutors of professional master’s degree candidates in colleges and universities are academic tutors, lacking experience in the front-line development of agricultural engineering, resulting in insufficient guidance ability for students in practice.Enterprise tutors are mostly busy with engineering projects, lacking communication and interaction with graduate students, lacking effective practical guidance for graduate students, lacking constructive suggestions on topic selection, writing, training scheme and practice plan formulation of graduate students, so there is difficulty in giving full play to the advantages of dual tutors, resulting in insufficient research depth and weak innovation ability and competitiveness of professional master’s degree candidates.

4.3 Imperfect joint cultivation mechanismDue to the lack of close cooperation between schools and enterprises, the lack of clear division of labor, and the imperfect training mechanism for graduate students majoring in agricultural engineering and information technology, it is difficult for graduates to meet the employment needs of enterprises.In addition, in the process of joint training, most enterprises focus on their own interests, which makes it difficult to carry out practical teaching and form real school-enterprise cooperation, and makes it difficult to achieve the expected goals in joint school-enterprise training of professional master’s degree candidates.

4.4 Imperfect assessment mechanism of practice managementIn view of the practical activities of professional master’s degree candidates, there is a lack of effective management supervision and assessment mechanism, and a complete set of assessment methods for theoretical study, graduation design and practical study have not been formed, that is, theoretical study is based on academic training mode to realize the cultivation of practical innovation ability; graduation design is to start from the thesis proposal to the interim report, and then to the graduation thesis, taking these three documents as assessment indicators; practical learning mainly includes three stages: curriculum experiment, engineering training and comprehensive practical innovation.Among them, curriculum experiment can deepen the understanding of theoretical knowledge of professional master’s degree candidates, engineering training requires professional master’s degree candidates to participate in practical engineering, and comprehensive practical innovation requires professional master’s degree candidates to cultivate their innovative ability for practical engineering problems.It also fails to form a "core project" assessment method with the project as the core, that is, from the beginning of professional master’s degree candidates’ enrollment, a practical project with full participation is assigned, and the learning process of professional master’s degree candidates in school is carried out around this core project, and the progress of this project is also taken as an important assessment index for professional master’s degree candidates.In different learning stages, the professional master’s degree candidates should be systematically assessed in an all-round way by the on-campus tutors, off-campus tutors, enterprise managers and other practice base personnel, and the assessment ratio should be set and the assessment score should be included in the final graduation results.

5 Strategies for improving the practical training of professional master’s degree candidates

In view of the problems existing in the practical training of graduate students majoring in agricultural engineering and information technology, this paper conducts discussions from three aspects: curriculum system construction, dual tutor team construction and joint training mechanism, that is, from three dimensions—curriculum, tutor and mechanism, it optimizes and explores the school-enterprise joint practice training mode for graduate students majoring in agricultural engineering and information technology.

5.1 Constructing a new system of graduate training curriculumStarting from the concept of "emphasizing foundation, practice, ability and high quality" for training professional master’s degree candidates, combined with the times and advancement of science and technology development, the curriculum system construction should meet the actual needs of agricultural enterprise development.First of all, it is necessary to introduce advanced technology and engineering cases into the teaching process of public and basic theories to guide graduate students to master the research status of agricultural engineering and information technology; secondly, it is necessary to enrich the teaching content of professional basic courses and elective courses, and enhance the professional practical skills of professional master’s degree candidates; furthermore, it is necessary to build a graduate training curriculum system that integrates applied technology, practical application ability and innovative practical ability.

When formulating the training plan for professional master’s degree candidates, it is necessary to invite relevant experts from research institutes or enterprises to participate, learn from experts’ opinions and suggestions, and bring the knowledge that is conducive to the development of agriculture-related enterprises into the core curriculum system, to improve the practical skills of professional master’s degree candidates in a targeted manner, and realize the organic integration of professional master’s degree candidates’ curriculum teaching and the development needs of agricultural enterprises to the greatest extent.At the same time, it is necessary to invite outstanding engineers and technicians from enterprises to give professional lectures in schools, so as to broaden the professional horizons of professional master’s degree candidates, lead professional master’s degree candidates to practice in enterprises, provide practical conditions for professional master’s degree candidates, promote the reform of curriculum structure and the renewal of courses, and apply their professional theoretical knowledge to engineering practice to enhance their practical ability.

5.2 Deepening the joint guidance mechanism of school-enterprise dual tutorsCollege tutors pay attention to theoretical research and pursue innovation in teaching and scientific research activities.However, enterprise tutors focus more on one aspect of professional technology and have rich practical experience.Colleges and universities need to encourage young and middle-aged tutors to work in enterprises, help enterprises solve the problems faced by enterprises, and train a team of young and middle-aged tutors with strong engineering practice ability.

Tutors in schools focus on cultivating the learning and research ability of professional master’s degree candidates, improving the development space of graduate students, and cultivating graduate students imperceptibly with teachers’ morality and teaching style, thus cultivating their professional ability.Enterprise tutors focus on guiding graduate students to improve their practical operation ability, teaching professional practice courses(case courses)or holding special reports in accordance with an engineering practice case, so as to improve the professional practice ability of graduate students with professional degrees, cultivate good professional ethics and form effective professional judgment ability and management ability.

In addition, enterprise tutors should be invited to participate in the formulation of professional graduate training objectives, training programs, the connection between theory and practice, practical ability training, topic selection of thesis, guidance of practical part of thesis, graduation defense and other important training links, so as to participate in the training of graduate students in all directions, so that graduate students can adapt to future post requirements as soon as possible.

5.3 Constructing a production and education integration and collaborative education mechanismEnterprises and universities should cooperate with each other to realize the development pattern of diversified education mode.Collaborative education through the integration of production and education is an important guarantee for improving the quality of professional master’s degree candidates, and it is also an important guarantee for the quality, level and structure of the industrial demand side and the supply side of professional graduate training.First of all, it is necessary to strive for all kinds of social resources, give play to the role of industrial enterprises, understand the actual needs of social talents, strengthen coordination and integration in personnel training, scientific research project research, and serving the society, and enhance the ability to serve the national strategy and local economic needs; then it is necessary to form a development pattern of diversified education of government, enterprises, industries and society.It is also necessary to increase exchanges and cooperation between universities and industries, especially leading enterprises, and broaden the channels of school-enterprise cooperation through order training, curriculum integration, professional connection and practical training.Finally, it is necessary to strengthen the cooperation and interaction between industries and enterprises, so that universities and enterprises can form a community of destiny, attract more enterprises to participate in the practice base, enhance students’ practical ability, and promote the high-quality development of professional master’s degree candidates.

5.4 Quantifying quality indicators and reforming the supervision and assessment mechanismThe professional master’s degree candidates should focus on the transformation from theoretical knowledge to practical application, from basic research to technological improvement and from technological innovation to solving practical problems.Therefore, the assessment method should cover the examination of practical skills on the basis of examination results and scientific research achievements.In the evaluation of tutors and students, multi-dimensional assessment methods should be set up; in the graduation requirements of professional master’s degree candidates, the assessment system should be improved, and the merits and demerits should not be determined by papers alone.We should make full use of the practice base and include hands-on practice in the assessment; we should fully consider practical problems and production practice, take the practice base as the main body of assessment, and formulate a diversified comprehensive evaluation system for applied talents; scientific research projects should be used to integrate practical problems of enterprises, basic knowledge of courses and scientific research innovation, so as to solve practical problems with new methods and technologies.At the same time, graduate students should be encouraged to participate in practical work, make more use of international and domestic hot technologies, and cultivate their innovative ability and practical application ability.

6 Conclusion

In the contemporary era of continuous innovation, innovative and applied professional graduate students are urgently needed in society and market.Engineering practice is becoming more and more important in the process of training professional graduate students.To further promote the reform of the training mode of professional master’s degree candidates, it needs the joint attention of the government, society, universities and students.We put forward the research on practice problems and strategies for professional master’s degree candidates, including strengthening the construction of practice bases, setting up a reasonable training plan and assessment system, optimizing the curriculum setting of professional degree, building a team of dual tutors with practical experience, and fully mobilizing the enthusiasm of professional master’s degree candidates, so as to cultivate innovative and applied professionals with professional knowledge of related disciplines, strong technological innovation ability and ability to solve practical problems, and meet the needs of society.