ABSTRACT

Innovation & entrepreneurship education regarded the improvement of the quality of education as the starting point and foothold of the innovation & entrepreneurship education reform. In this article, taking the reform and practice of “innovation & entrepreneurship” of Beijing Information and Technology Institute (BIFT) as example, the author discussed BIFT’s experience and practice in promoting the organic integration of professional education and innovation & entrepreneurship education, in order to meet the requirements of talent cultivation positioning and the target requirement of the innovation & entrepreneurship education; also the author presented the suggestions about to firmly remember the original intention and mission, to consistently improve the mind of innovation & entrepreneurship education, to consistently deepen the practical education reform, to consistently optimize the innovation & entrepreneurship education integrating with the professional talents cultivation.

Keywords:

Innovation & Entrepreneurship Education, Professional Talents Cultivation, Reform and Practice

1. Preface

From 2015, with the development of comprehensively deepening the innovation and entrepreneurship education reform, the colleges consistently deepened the innovation and entrepreneurship education and gained positive development. Especially there were still some problems to be solved, such as, no more attention paid on the innovation and entrepreneurship, poor education opinion, no closer integration with special education, disjoint with the practice, deficiency of the conscientious and ability in the development of innovation and entrepreneurship of the teachers, singleness of the teaching mode and method, weakness in the pertinence and practicability, shortage in the practical platform, poor and unsatisfied guide and help, unimproved system of the innovation and entrepreneurship education (GUOBANFA [2015]) , etc.; many colleges had conducted positive exploration from many aspects including the system building, teaching reform, guarantee measures, and the achievements transformation, and basically achieved the phased objectives set in the State Council on the Implementation on the Reform of Innovation and entrepreneurship in Colleges and Universities. Finally, these colleges and universities established advanced innovation and entrepreneurship education opinions with China characteristics, systematic achievements which can be copied and popularized. In practicing the development strategy f Mass Entrepreneurship and Public Innovation, BIFT proposed “connotation development, characteristic college”, by integrating the innovation and entrepreneurship education into the professional talents cultivation, which showed great achievements for other colleges. The author hopes that this experience and mode can be popularized and perfected.

2. Designing and Improving the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Talents Cultivation System of BIFT

2.1. Development the Characteristic Integration Education Based on the “Natural Resources” of BIFT

BIFT was the first specialist institute for fashion design and engineering in China. In 2011, with the prosperous development of the social culture, BIFT presented that, depending on the first-class art design courses, focusing on the textile & garment and the cultural & creative industries, targeting on the innovative talents cultivation, developing cultivation in the characteristics of “creation, innovation, entrepreneurship”, to provide practical and innovative talents for the industries. With the industrial background of garment & cultural creation, and the professional structure in design, art, materials, business and management, BIFT found the good integration point between the innovation and entrepreneurship education and the professional education.

2.2. Top-Design of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Talents Cultivation System of BIFT

BIFT paid much attention on the innovation and entrepreneurship education, established the strategic standing of the innovation and entrepreneurship, conducted the improvement of systems, newly formed innovation and entrepreneurship academic school, and enhanced guaranteed measures, which gradually established and improved the innovation and entrepreneurship talents cultivation system.

Corresponding closely with the development strategy of “massive entrepreneurship, public innovation”, with the mind of “connotation development, characteristic college”, BIFT actively designed and improved the characteristic innovation and entrepreneurship talents cultivation system. Centering on the “innovation, creation, entrepreneurship” of the college students, persisting “education priority, practice enhancing, transformation landing, guarantee in place”, BIFT established the “four-in-one” system containing innovation and entrepreneurship education, practice, transformation and guarantee, and talents cultivation system integrating innovation, creation and entrepreneurship. BIFT consistently promoted the four engineering construction including innovation and entrepreneurship education engineering, practical engineering, transformation engineering and guarantee engineering, which have cultivated many practical & innovative talents for the industries.

In the recently four years, the entrepreneurship rate for the graduating students remained 7% which was among the best in the domestic colleges. In 2017, BIFT had been rewarded National Demonstrative University in Deepening Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education Reform”, “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Typical Experimental College of Ministry of Education”(the Top 50 Colleges of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Ministry of Education) and “National College Practical Education Innovation and Entrepreneurship Bases (Self assessment report of evaluation on undergraduate teaching of BIFT) (Figure 1).

3. Whole Processes of Five-Integration into the Professional Talents Cultivation

All the universities and colleges should take increasing education quality as the starting point and foothold of the innovation and entrepreneurship education

reform, and based on the positioning of the talents cultivation and the requirements of the innovation and entrepreneurship education, to finally promote the organic integration of the professional education and the innovation and entrepreneurship education. (Notice about the Employment and Entrepreneurship of the 2016 Graduates Nationwide Jiao Xue [2015] No.12). As a quality education, innovation and entrepreneurship education was a kind of integrating education, which need to integrate with the professional education in accordance with the positioning of the talents cultivation and the requirements of the innovation and entrepreneurship education. China’s existing subject system was basically well established and comprehensive, so the innovation and entrepreneurship education cannot replace the professional education, and the innovation and entrepreneurship education should be popularized, strengthened and improved on the basis of the professional education (Li, 2018a) . In the course of integration, BIFT emphasized from five points, including cultivation program, course teaching, subject construction, the second classroom and students work.

3.1. Integrating into the Top-Design of Talents Cultivation

Aiming at “competent in employment, qualified in entrepreneurship, solid foundation in further education and sustainable in development” of cultivating practical talents, in the construction of the talents cultivation program, BIFT had included the innovation and entrepreneurship education, set up the courses, class hours and credits corresponding with the innovation and entrepreneurship education, and formed a multiple innovation cultivation system.

In the 2017 revised talents cultivation program, BIFT included the innovation and entrepreneurship education into each specialized subject officially. BIFT formulated “2 + 2 + 2 + x” specialized course system about innovation and entrepreneurship education, including equivalence of theory and practice, complementation of compulsory and optional courses and integration of basic courses and professional courses. In the quality education period, BIFT offered compulsory course < Basis of Innovation and Entrepreneurship > (2 credits); in the module of public optional course, BIFT added the module of innovation and entrepreneurship, set up a series of courses, and required 2 credits at least optionally, in the professional education period, each subject was required to set up many coursed about innovation and entrepreneurship, among it at least 2 credits of professional compulsory courses.

3.2. Integrating into the Courses System

Courses were the core channel of cultivating the innovation and entrepreneurship talents. Generally, colleges will wholly penetrate the ideas and methods about innovation and entrepreneurship in the construction of courses system, upholding dedication in practice, enhancement in optional courses, profession development, prominent innovation, strengthening entrepreneurship, and enhance the development of the courses in the general courses, practical improvement and professional specialty.

In the four years, BIFT sequentially realized the four-level cultivation, including innovation consciousness, innovation spirits, innovation thinking and innovation ability: in the first year, supported by the professional introductory courses, to inspire the interesting of the students, to form the innovation consciousness unconsciously; in the second year, to encourage the students to participate the assistant work about the scientific research, to train the innovation spirits; in the third year, according to the personal characteristics, providing opportunities and guiding the students to select scientific training and trying to lay out the specific phrasal objectives, to effectively increase the innovation thinking; in the fourth year, by innovation training program, academic competition and graduation period, to participate the real subject study to increase the innovation ability effectively (Self assessment report of evaluation on undergraduate teaching of BIFT) (Figure 2).

3.3. Integrating into Subject Construction

According to the subject construction basis, BIFT had chosen several subjects as the demonstration for the innovation and entrepreneurship education, and conducted the practical exploration for the integration of innovation and entrepreneurship education into the subject construction.

In 2010, taking advantages of state-level innovative experimental zone for talents cultivation, BIFT fist set up 2 talents cultivation experimental classes in garment design and garment engineering subject. Presently, there were 9 innovative experimental classes, covering 11 subjects. In 2014, School of Material Science & Engineering and School of Fashion & Engineering co-organized “fiber & fashion art design experimental class”, cooperatively formulated cultivation program to highlight the engineering and art design education for the students.

3.4. Integrating into the Second Class Education

BIFT had created well ecological cultural for innovation and entrepreneurship by many platforms such as seminar, competition and practice. From 2015, BIFT had customized 63 online courses in innovation and entrepreneurship for “ Superstar Elegance” and “Entrepreneurship Cloud Platform”, and included in the credits of public optional course，of which 10,000 students had chosen these courses. In 2016, BIFT self constructed online courses “Entrepreneurship Science”. In September 2018, BIFT and QsingHua University cooperatively built micro-degree namely “Innovation and Business Administration”, which encouraged students to study the knowledge of cross subjects, to train the students with innovation and entrepreneurship consciousness and mind.

3.5. Integrating into the Students Development Evaluation System

In the valuation of daily management and development such as students comprehensive quality testing, excellent students valuation, scholarship valuation, innovation and entrepreneurship was integrated into the students development evaluation system. On one hand, innovation and entrepreneurship education was integrated into talents cultivation program, which formally recognized as credits management system and a regular system for students valuation; on the other hand, the rewards in the innovation and entrepreneurship competition and the transformation projects have been integrated in the students valuation.

4. Suggestions on the Continuously Improvement

4.1. Firmly Remember the Mission of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education

Was the purpose of innovation and entrepreneurship education to train “boss” or “entrepreneur”?

The starting point and foothold of the innovation and entrepreneurship education was to increase the education quality, which was throughout all the processes of the innovation and entrepreneurship education. As a unique form of experience transmission in the human society, education aimed at consciously influencing g the physical and mental development of the educated. The purpose of innovation and entrepreneurship education was to enhance cognition and consciousness, to master methods and improve ability. The innovation and entrepreneurship education was not to train entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship was the result and a kind of output of the innovation and entrepreneurship education in the universities and colleges. The purpose of innovation and entrepreneurship education in the universities and colleges was to increase the innovation recognition, consciousness, ability the methods (Li, 2018b) . With the development of the innovation and entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurship activities will inevitably become a demonstration of the achievements of innovation and entrepreneurship in the universities and colleges. But as itself, innovation and entrepreneurship education had its own mission, which needed to be remembered in the education reform and practice.

4.2. Continuously Improving the Mind of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education

The integration development of innovation and entrepreneurship and professional education objectively need the advanced education mind. The development of practice often preceded theory. The development of the innovation and entrepreneurship practice need to be guided b deepening the corresponding educational concepts. For the definition of entrepreneurship education, the author preferred to the opinion of Howard. H. Stevenson, namely, entrepreneurship referred to the process in which individuals or organizations can combine different resources to untilize and exploit opportunities, and to finally create value, regardless of current resource constraints. Not only the innovative education ideas, the construction and improvement of courses system, but also the teaching methods all need to promote the deepening and upgrading of the teaching ideas. The consistently improving education concept was the pioneer to guide the development of innovation and entrepreneurship education.

4.3. Continuously Deepening Reform in the Practical Teaching

The promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship education needs continuous deepening of practical teaching reform as a support. Innovation and entrepreneurship education itself had strong practical characteristics.

On the one hand, the importance of the integration of innovation and entrepreneurship and professional education was that it can be used as a practical extension of professional education. Innovation and entrepreneurship education can definitely show the achievements of professional education in practice by means of achievements, ideas and designs.

On the other hand, innovation and entrepreneurship education generally used the elicitation, discussion and participatory teaching methods, which focused on assessing students’ ability to solve problems by utilizing the knowledge, and to explore a kind of assessment without standard answers.

5. Conclusion

Through the analysis of this paper, we hope that we can keep in mind the original intention and mission of innovation and entrepreneurship education, constantly improve the concept of innovation and entrepreneurship education, constantly deepen the practical teaching reform, and better integrate professional education and innovation and entrepreneurship education.

Fund Project

Beijing Municipal Education Commission’s Social Science Program General Project-Research on the Dynamic Mechanism of Fashion Enterprise Innovation (AL2017-13).

“Special fund for the construction of high-level teachers in Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology”-Beifu Scholars Program, project number: BIFTXZ201803.

The “2017 Light of Textiles” China Textile Industry Federation Higher Education Teaching Reform-innovation and entrepreneurship education into professional personnel training reform and practice of one of the results.

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Cite this paper

Li, C. G. (2018). Integrating the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Education into the Reform & Practice of Professional Talents’ Cultivation. Creative Education, 9, 2654-2661. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2018.916200

References