Confucianism and Innovations in teaching and learning

Change or die in education

Confuciasism has effected education for many years and would lead to the resistances to changes in teaching and learning and especially the change in mindset of educators, teachers and others who are involved in the process of teaching and learning. How would teaching and learning be changed from teacher-centered education to learner-centered education.

         The strategy for education for sustainable concentrates on some effective and feasibly solutions in the following:

• Establish the Virtual HCMC University of Technology and Education (UTE-X) to offer access the UTE higher education to the learners who are not able to get the physical campus for reasons such as distance, flexibility in studying at anytime and anywhere, world-class courses, pre- and post-classroom. The objective of UTE-X is to offer access the UTE higher education to the learners who are not able to get the physical campus for reasons such as distance, flexibility in studying at anytime and anywhere, world-class courses, pre- and post-classroom. The UTE-X employs information and communication technology involving virtual reality, learning management system (LMS) and UTE television (UTE-TV). Teaching and learning activities as well as supports based on the educational philosophy “Humanity, Creation, Integration” are provided over the internet and mobile devices.
• Apply the model of academic makerspaces for integrated learning to improve the quality of teaching and learning through the blended learning, project-based-learning, as well as learning by doing. The HCMUTE has planned to implement the academic makerspaces that is 2,000 m2 facilities for students at all levels. The facility supports not only mechanical engineering and electrical & electronics engineering students, but also students majoring in civil engineering, chemical engineering, information technology, computer science, and materials science, etc.  It is combined the design space, manufacturing space, meeting space, and training space, and library, which are support the cornerstone and capstone project-based courses.
• Apply Student-Centered Teaching by organizing active and experiential learning activities, including Work - Based Learning, Field Trip, Project-Based Learning and so on to enhance students deeply understanding of concepts as well as the gateway to develop their competences.
• Shiftfrom Content-Based Assessment to Competence-Based Assessment (CBA) with Teaching Assistance (TA) system. CBA links closely together with learning outcomes, content and teaching methods to provide students with good opportunities to self-construct their technical and core competencies in the process of learning.

These solutions have been applied at Ho Chi Minh University of Technology and Education. It would help improve teaching and learning and is being considered as a model for Higher Education in Vietnam and for Asian Countries as well.

These approaches are innvoative because as compared with Confucianist tradition of teaching and learning, they make use of technology, they generate the critical thinking skill, the collaboration skill, the communication skill, in short, the skills that fit for the workplaces of 21st century. They are innovative because they give the teachers and learners fun and never boring experiences in teaching and learning. Finally, they ensure the success of the learners in gaining employment after graduation, or become entreprenuers in teh 21st century.

 Learning Management System usning Blackboard when applying Blended-Learning  

Over the next 12 months, our solutions will be strengthened and intensified in the institution to see more improvements in teaching and learning. It would have huge impact on HE in Vietnam when these solutions could provide learners with work-readiness skills for the 21 century

We will expand these solutions to one more institution in Vietnam, with approxiamately 50 instructors and 300 students will be introduced on these solutions.

Our vision over the next three to five years is to introduce these solutions to other Higher Education Institutions in Vietnam to improve teaching and learning in Vietnam where hundred thousands of learners could not find jobs due to their inappropriate work-readiness skills that they should be provide through process of teaching and learning at their institutions.

We will expand these solutions to 5 more institutions in Vietnam, with approxiamately 250 instructors and 1.500 students will be introduced on these solutions.

Firstly, learners at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education will benefit a lot from the significant improvements in teaching and learning applied at our institutions as above mentioned. Secondly, more learners from other institutions will get these benefits when our solutions could be introduced to other Higher Education Institutions in Vietnam in future. 

We are a team of 10 instructors from Ho Chi Minh University of Technology and Education, Vietnam. Each has his or her role in providing solutions. 

Our ten key instructors of the team will lead the solutions. We would need more people to be serving with our solutions in 12 months and in near future of 3 years. Because it will be more intensively institutionalized and expanded further. 

Work-readiness skills for the 21st Century: collaboration, team work, communication, higher level thinking, creativity, Problem-solving, innovation, etc. 

Our model has a long-term sustainability. It has been applying from some years and has positive impacts on Higher Education in Vietnam. We expect to expand these solutions in near future so that more learners not only from our institution but also from other institutions could benefit from these solutions in teaching and learning. These would help improve the current situation of HE in Vietnam where hundreds thousand of learners could not find jobs after graduation due to the lack of appropriate skills to work for the labour market. By applying these solutions, leaners could be provide work-readiness skills by applying leaning by doing learning by making, Work-Based Learning, Project-Based Learning, Virtuality Reality in teaching and learning, Blended-Learning, etc. 

We have seen these solutions as the innovative ones and help improve teaching and learning at our institutions in specific and for HE institutions in Vietnam in general. 

These solutions would need experts from the U.S when if they would be expanded in a larger scale.