News & Events

Professor Sun Yingjian of the College of Animal Science and Technology has always upheld the fundamental principle of cultivating students through moral education. Guided by the philosophy of teaching with courses as the root, scientific research as the wings, practice as the bridge, and education as the purpose, she actively pushes forward the teaching reform, guiding students to think independently through vivid cases, to closely combine knowledge education with ideological & political education, and vigorously cultivate new-type talents who fully understand and passionately love agriculture.

Practical Exploration: Advancing the Teaching Reform through "Three-dimensional Integration"

Professor Sun has long been engaged in frontline teaching and dedicated to educating students, undertaking undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programs. She has successively taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses such as the Veterinary Public Health, the Animal Food Hygiene, the Animal Toxicology, and the Animal Cell Biology. Focusing on curriculum development, she proposed the concept of "breaking barriers through 'three-dimensional integration' and strengthening competences through 'double-chain drive'", injecting new impetus into the reform towards the new-type agricultural science teaching.

Targeting the interdisciplinary characteristics of veterinary public health, she and her team have jointly built a three-stage training model for the competence chain by centering on the industrial chain from "farm to table". By integrating multiple disciplines, the model has effectively promoted the restructuring of knowledge systems, enabling students to systematically master the professional knowledge and skills in the field of veterinary public health. A graduate remarked with emotion, “This interdisciplinary training is quite helpful to me as it enables me to quickly grasp the essence of problems in work and solve them effectively."

To further integrate theory with practice, she spearheaded the establishment of a practice base in collaboration with Beijing Capital Agribusiness & Foods Group and China Animal Disease Control Center (CADC), achieving industry-education synergy and injecting the vitality of practice into teaching. In the project of "Antimicrobial Resistance Testing in Animal-Derived Foods", students conducted sampling at livestock farms, guided by enterprise technicians throughout the testing process, and participating in every step from tracing contamination sources to formulating prevention strategies. The students unanimously said, "This hands-on experience deepened our understanding of the rigorousness of veterinary work, and provided us with deeper insights in the knowledge we learned from textbooks."

She introduced the national-level virtual simulation experiment project of "Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Detection", completing high-risk experiments such as African swine fever virus detection and prevention through online simulation. The move boosted teaching efficiency by 40%, not only overcoming teaching challenges, but also providing students with richer and safer practical experiences.

Subtle Nourishment: Integrating Ideological and Political Education into Professional Classes

In her class, professional knowledge naturally integrates with three ideological and political themes: "scientific spirit", "rural revitalization", and "One Health". When teaching the "prevention and control of zoonotic diseases", she dwelt on the collaborative spirit behind technological breakthroughs with the successful control of schistosomiasis by Chinese scientists as an example. When discussing food safety regulations, she guided students to reflect on the ethical responsibilities in the Melamine Incident, enabling them to recognize that "every decision of a veterinarian concerns public health, which is the basic professional ethics to be upheld". Through this subtle approach, she has integrated ideological and political education into professional teaching, fostering students' social responsibility and professional morality, and shaping them into talents with both solid professional knowledge and noble virtues.

Team Collaboration: Pressing ahead with the Teaching Reform

"Teaching innovation has never been a lone fight." As the leader of a municipal-level virtual teaching and research office, she emphasizes experience sharing, leading team members to actively engage in curriculum reform, teaching competitions, and joint construction of resource libraries. Under her leadership, remarkable results have been achieved in the specialty of veterinary medicine, including 3 municipal-level high-quality undergraduate courses and 2 excellent undergraduate teaching plans; 5 university-level high-quality undergraduate courses and 4 excellent undergraduate teaching plans; as well as 3 awards in teaching innovation competitions, and 1 pioneer specialty in ideological and political education.

"Education is not about creating heroes, but about nurturing talents who solve problems with a down-to-earth attitude." For 32 years, Sun Yingjian has always stayed committed to the original aspiration of an educator. In the eyes of students, she is both a strict teacher and a good listener. She patiently answers students' questions, encourages students in the through-train program, and has kept the habit of replying to students' emails late at night for years. She has interpreted the mission and responsibility of a teacher with her actions, earning extensive respect and love from students.

Sun Yingjian said, she will devote herself as ever to promoting the comprehensive improvement of teachers' comprehensive capabilities, continue to guide and lead young teachers to empower their fast growth, and cultivate more outstanding teaching professionals for BUA. Meanwhile, she will further advance the classroom teaching reform, actively explore innovative teaching methods, and make greater contributions to fostering more veterinary talents for the new era.