International Symposium on the Development of high-quality education

On March 27, the “International Symposium on Design Thinking and the Development of High-quality Education in the 21st Century” jointly sponsored by Guangdong University of Science and Technology, Macao West-West Innovation Institute and Guangdong Bosi Cloud Science and Education Technology Co., Ltd. was held in Songshan Lake Campus of Guangdong University of Science and Technology.

The seminar was organized by the School of Art and Design, Guangdong University of Science and Technology, Dongguan Institute of Social and Economic Development, Greater Bay Area Institute of Integration of Industry and Education, and Dongguan Social Science Master Digital Economy Studio. Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay District Board of Directors and Administrators, The Chinese University of Hong Kong PhD Alumni Association, Hong Kong Creative Culture and Education Foundation, Hong Kong Science and Technology and Cultural Talents Education Development Foundation Limited, Hong Kong Guoxin Education Technology Co., LTD., Guangdong Youth Science and Technology Innovation Research Association, Guangzhou Nanyang Polytechnic Vocational College, Guangzhou South China Business and Trade It is co-organized by Vocational College, Dongguan Nanbo Vocational and Technical School and Dongguan High-tech Industry Association.

The seminar was held in the form of “live discussion + global live broadcast”, inviting more than 400 experts, scholars, executives and teachers and students of design majors from the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries as well as well-known universities, associations, research institutions and the business community in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to attend the conference. More than 160,000 people from all walks of life participated in the conference online or watched the live broadcast.

The conference was presided over by Associate Professor Liu Yajun, Dean of School of Art and Design, Guangdong University of Science and Technology.

Professor Liang Ruixiong, President of Guangdong University of Science and Technology, said in his speech that with the rapid development of the global economy and science and technology, the innovative education model has become an important strategy and approach for the cultivation of innovative talents and the reform of education and teaching in countries around the world. Design thinking is an innovative method that combines the characteristics of scientific thinking and artistic thinking. It has been paid more and more attention and introduced into educational practice. It has become a new tool and a new way to explore the reform of talent training mode. He hoped that the conference would promote the exchange of international academic and practical experience, further enrich the theoretical and practical results of education development, and empower the high-quality development of education in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Dr. IP Kwok-hung of the Chinese University of Hong Kong delivered a keynote speech entitled “Quality Education Development and Design Thinking in the 21st Century”. He systematically introduced the core values and implementation steps of design thinking in the development of high-quality education, and explained in detail the characteristics of science, rationalization, specialization, environmental protection, intelligence, personalized learning and digital learning. He stressed the need to focus on cultivating innovative thinking and interdisciplinary skills, continuous learning ability, and strengthening cooperation between humans and machines. Professor Liao Wai Sun, Head of the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, gave a talk on “Environmental Engineering Science, AI and Design Thinking”. He took environmental protection engineering as a case, integrated artificial intelligence design into engineering projects, and made a comprehensive thinking analysis of the development of clean energy, energy saving and environmental protection technologies, which can scientifically and reasonably reduce pollution and damage to the environment, and better realize the beautiful vision of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

Dr. Dawei Zhong, Dean of the International Academy of Design Thinking (China), gave a talk on “International Trends in the Application of Design Thinking to Quality Education”. Design thinking, he says, is a human-centered approach to creative interpretation that incorporates five main elements in its execution: empathy, quantitative research, prototyping, collaboration and iteration, and cross-team collaboration. He also introduced the seven differences between traditional thinking and design thinking and the development of design thinking in Hong Kong’s education field, and demonstrated the practical application of design thinking through the creative practice cases of students in cooperation with the Hong Kong Vocational Training Council and the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education from 2019 to 2022.

Professor Jeroen Van Der Weide, Dean of the International School of Design Thinking, delivered a keynote report entitled “New Trends in AI Technology and Design Thinking in the 21st Century”. He believes that the most important thing in design thinking is empathy, which usually has four steps: research, identify pain points, design new products or services, give back and improve. If we can deeply understand the underlying thinking of AI, by learning 19 skills, AI can connect new data, expand knowledge, and help us learn and live better. He stressed that as students, we need to strengthen the training of our thinking ability, and AI cannot replace the work of humans, but help us become better people.

At the meeting, the Greater Bay Area Institute of Integration of Industry and Education held a special expert appointment ceremony. Jeroen Van Der is the Chairman of the Greater Bay Area Alliance for Education and Industry and President of Guangdong University of Science and Technology, Professor Liang Ruixiong, and the Executive Chairman of the Greater Bay Area Alliance for Education and Industry and President of the Greater Bay Area Institute for Integration of Industry and Education, Professor Chen Bixin, is respectively Professor Jeroen Van Der Weide, Dr. IP Kwok-hung, Dr. Zhong Dawei, Professor Liao Wei-sun, Professor Choi Chi-ming, Professor Feng Kaiping, Professor Ni Jin-fang, Dean Lam Po-shing, Dr. Yin Ji-yin, and Dr. Zhang Feng-ling awarded the appointment letter of Distinguished Expert, and the appointment letter of Distinguished Assistant Research Fellow of Hong Kong Shue Yan University was awarded to Wong Tin-shu.