Research on “Main Classroom+” Practice Teaching Model of Political Theory Courses

. Essentially, the top priority of political theory teaching reform and innovation in military academies is to fully implement the military education strategies of the new era, and to focus on the fundamental task and core direction characterized by fostering virtue through education and training talents for warfare. In this regard, this paper explores the construction of the “main classroom+” practice teaching model of political theory course from four dimensions, encompassing “thematic practice”, “professional customization”, “comprehensive exercise”, and “practice expansion”, intending to provide feasible paths and methods for military academies to realize more effective integration of theory and practice of political theory teaching in the new era.


Introduction
During his inspection at the National University of Defense Technology, General Secretary Xi Jinping demonstrably proposed that "military academies should not only consistently meet the requirements of combat, the needs of the armed forces, but also focus on the cultivation of talents in the military field, to make the trained military students meet the needs of army building and future wars and make them as close as possible to the troops, actual combat, and the future." This important exposition provides a fundamental guideline for promoting the reform of political theory teaching in military academies and training new-type military personnel with both ability and political integrity in the new era. To effectively implement this important instruction, it is imperative to focus on the objective of war preparedness and the generation of infiltration capacity in all elements and links of political theory teaching reform. Also, it is necessary to make practice teaching the main body, constantly increase the proportion of practice teaching, enrich the content of practice teaching, and expand the form of practice teaching, thereby striving to complete the teaching transformation from knowledge imparting to ability fostering.

Reform is a key link to breaking through the bottleneck of course construction.
The character of practice is the most precious and essential inherent attribute of Marxism. Practice teaching, as an important teaching content of political theory courses, is in an awkward position at present. In other words, it is either simply understood as interactive questioning in class or regarded as equivalent to visiting and learning outside class. This phenomenon further prevents practical teaching from giving full play to its positive effects and functions. The practical teaching of political theory courses in some military academies, for example, is confined to the classroom, which does not reflect enough practical attributes. By contrast, some military academies solely take the form of organizing students to visit and learn as well as investigating troops, with the practice teaching reflecting oversimplification and singleness. Moreover, some military academies even gave up some practical subjects or links for various reasons, such as complicated procedures, difficult operations, and insufficient funds. Simply put, the foregoing phenomenon not only limits the teaching of political theory courses to the theoretical teaching level in the classroom but also greatly reduces the teaching effect. [1] 2.2 Reform is an inevitable measure to meet the inherent needs of practice teaching.
To thoroughly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's thought of strengthening the military and the military education strategies of the new era, and focus on building a "triad" training system for new-type military personnel, the proportion of practice teaching of political theory courses is expressly regulated in the Syllabus of Military Academy (hereinafter referred to as the "Syllabus"). Meanwhile, the new textbook revised according to the Syllabus has also been greatly adjusted in the course content set, and the theoretical teaching content is substantial and abundant. However, it is also easy to bring students a sense of distance and abstraction. Based on this, the inherent demand of teaching for practical links arises at the historic moment. Theoretical teaching serves as the foundation, whereas practice teaching aims at improving students. On the whole, practice teaching is beneficial for students to change from passive acceptance to active practice. Moreover, by enabling students to acquire perceptual knowledge in practice and consciously raise perceptual knowledge to rational knowledge, practice teaching helps to deepen their understanding and mastery of theoretical knowledge, thus making the whole teaching process get twofold results with half the effort. [2] 2.3 Reform is an effective carrier to promote the generation of students' actual combat ability.
General Secretary Xi Jinping demanded that education in military academies should attach great importance to the "precise connection between the supply side of talent cultivation and the demand side of the future battlefield", so that the graduates trained in military academies can play a role and produce combat effectiveness as soon as they arrive in the army. The current education in military academies, however, remains at the level of basic or theoretical education and training to a certain extent, with the graduates' war preparedness and combat capability still lacking. Hence, based on the requirements of the battlefield, army, and future, it is imperative to reform the current teaching model of political theory courses and innovate the methods and means of practice teaching. To this end, it is necessary for students to integrate theoretical concepts into practical operation from the perspective of practical application, and make them fully understand and master relevant theories and concepts through practical operation. More importantly, the foregoing educational reform is beneficial for students to sort out their work links, master their working methods, and train their practical ability, thus quickly cultivating their actual combat ability and enabling them to "go directly from military academies to the battlefield."

Construction of "Main Classroom+" Practice Teaching Model of Political Theory Course
Military academies, as an important base for training high-quality, professional new military talents with both ability and political integrity, bear the important functions of cultivating people and educating people for war in the teaching of political theory. In combination with the cultivation characteristics of military talents, the reform and innovation of practice teaching of political theory must be comprehensively exerted in four dimensions, encompassing thematic practice, professional customization, comprehensive exercise, and practice expansion, intending to build a progressive and three-dimensional practice teaching model with the "main classroom+" as its core. [3]

Thematic Practice Oriented by Basic Theory to Grasp the Main Channel of Theoretical Classroom
The young students in military academies show a strong spirit of pragmatism in their study, expecting to learn and master more useful skills at school as well as play an active role as soon as they enter the army after graduation. Based on this feature, thematic teaching can be adopted in practice teaching. Conceptually, the thematic practice oriented by basic theory is defined as a kind of practice teaching activity based on theoretical teaching and around certain theoretical knowledge topics, which focuses on students' recognition and reunderstanding of theoretical knowledge through the practical process, aiming at improving students' ability to analyze and solve problems. Therefore, it can effectively reflect the combination of theoretical teaching and practical teaching and play a fundamental role in the practice teaching system. The teaching content of each course in the Syllabus presents a clearer "modularity". Taking the Grass-roots Political Work as an example, the related course content can be roughly divided into four modules, including basic theory, ideological work, organizational work, and specialized work. Moreover, focusing on the key and difficult points of each module, the development of the thematic practice oriented by basic theory can not only closely follow the major theoretical and practical problems of the current army, but also combine the characteristics of students' first positions to design diversified projectbased thematic practice projects involving the army, encompassing development history, fine traditions, status and role, basic system, the theme of the times, style and methods, etc. In the basic theory teaching module, for example, the teaching practice project with the theme of "political work is the lifeline of the China People's Liberation Army (hereinafter referred to as "PLA")" can be set. Through this, students can learn about the development of the PLA's political work by collecting materials in a targeted way, and deliberate and understand how the implementation of revolutionary political work ensures that PLA is consistently a revolutionary army under the absolute leadership of the Communist Party of China, and provides inexhaustible strength for PLA to overcome powerful enemies as well as difficulties and obstacles, thus making PLA constantly maintain the inherent qualities and style of the people's army. Furthermore, students can understand more deeply why the political work of the army in the new era can only be strengthened but not weakened, can only move forward but not stagnate, and can only act positively but not passively.
Thematic practice oriented by basic theory typically involves two common forms. Among them, the first one is discussion and exchange, which means that teachers independently draw up or collect corresponding discussion themes from students in combination with the key and difficult points of teaching content, students' ideological reality as well as problems related to the situation and tasks, thus guiding students to discuss and express their views. A typical example is the group report workshop. In detail, before class, the teacher will divide the students into several groups, defining the group leaders and related discussion topics. On this basis, teachers will assign tasks for students, so that they can consult relevant materials, write an outline, and prepare for discussion around the theme. During the class, each group will discuss, summarize, and sort out the discussion contents and opinions according to the discussion theme, thus forming a discussion report. After class, teachers will answer students' doubts in a targeted way, and select excellent discussion groups and members through positive guidance and accurate comments, thereby stimulating students' enthusiasm for participating in the discussion. The second one is the case analysis, which refers to an open and interactive teaching method in which teachers combine theoretical knowledge to select specific cases and organize students to discuss, communicate or debate to achieve theoretical enlightenment and intellectual edification. By virtue of this form, teachers can select typical cases closely related to real life through careful planning and preparation, guiding students to analyze the details of cases, ask questions, and discuss them. The consequent repeated interaction and communication will help to improve students' ability to analyze and solve problems.

Customized Practice Oriented to Professional Fields to Open up a New Path Featuring Mutual Integration
Customized practice oriented to professional fields can be understood as "professional customization" of practice teaching of political theory courses. During the long-term teaching practice, the relationship between political theory courses and professional basic courses has been "ruthlessly" separated. Against this background, how to promote consistency between the teaching of political theory courses and the improvement of students' professional skills has received increasing attention. Given this, the practice teaching of political theory courses has become a key link to realize the mutual integration of the two. To this end, teachers should skillfully integrate political theory courses with students' majors and insist on introducing professional abilities in a scientific way in the goal, core content, model, and concrete implementation of talent cultivation. The subjects of practical teaching are based on the practical ability of professional learning and centered on the teaching content of the political theory, aiming at improving students' professional skills as well as strengthening their ideological and political quality.
While designing the practice teaching of "professional customization", the corresponding practice training subjects can be determined according to the different professional directions of students. For instance, the practical project of communication engineering maintenance specialty can be set up as various training subjects represented by "intelligent troubleshooting", which requires students to design various troubleshooting and handling methods within a limited time based on the sudden failure of communication equipment, aiming at cultivating students' thinking ability and decision-making ability in crises. As another example, the practice project of network security technology specialty can be set up as various training subjects represented by "password cracker", which requires students to pass a string of numbers or letters in turn while wearing an eye mask and check the success rate of the transmission, thereby improving students' analysis and judgment ability.

Comprehensive Practice Based on Graduation Training to Build a New Platform Oriented to Warfare
To promote the teaching of political theory to adapt to the battlefield, the army, and the future, to enhance student's ability to explore and study warfare, and to increase the contribution rate of education in military academies to war preparedness and actual combat, an effective way is to conduct real-combat, whole-process, and integrated teaching and training of political theory courses while insisting on graduation training as a practical platform.
Combined with graduation comprehensive training, the integration of real-combat and whole-process teaching of political theory in military and professional training subjects is helpful for students to master the organizational process, basic content as well as related methods and skills of political work. Based on various training scenarios, the training contents of the four stages of political work as shown below can be further carefully set. More precisely, the first stage is the transformation of the degree of combat readiness, which focuses on the arrangement of mobilization education and a wide range of preliminary work training, including convening the meeting of the members of the branch committee, drafting political work plans, organizing and carrying out combat readiness education, making adjustment and supplementary plans for key personnel and agency plans, conducting political assessment for combatants, practicing writing Decision to Join the War, Application for Joining the Party at the Battlefront, and Farewell Letter, and filling out political assessment forms. The second stage is combat readiness, which focuses on related work training such as students convening the meeting of the members of the branch committee and studying battle plans after receiving tasks. The training content at this stage mainly includes practicing organizing swearing-in meetings or mobilization before a battle, reading out various orders, carrying out activities of expressing determination and accepting battle, announcing battlefield discipline and fine examples of meritorious service as well as the conditions for joining the Party at the battlefront. The third stage is combat implementation, which focuses on the training of related subjects, including battle mobilization, battlefield propaganda and agitation, adjustment and supplement of key personnel, joining the Party at the battlefront, rectifying battlefield discipline, public opinion information identification, mass work, and prisoner work. The fourth stage is the end of the battle, which focuses on subject training such as battlefield evacuation, organization of battle evaluation, refight education, military news release, etc. Overall, the above four stages are devoted to the training of the whole process from entering combat readiness to battlefield evacuation. All training contents should be carefully arranged to achieve all-weather, all-season, all-round, and full-process deep integration with military operations. In the training process, the teacher is both the executive director and the teacher in charge. Therefore, during the phased teaching and training, teachers should be responsible for organizing and carrying out on-the-spot prompt teaching, and clearly explaining the background, objectives and tasks, main procedures, contents, and methods related to training. Meanwhile, teachers should demonstrate in person to organize students to practice and conduct observation and evaluation in due course. [4]

Practice Expansion Based on Military Exercitation to Build a New Channel Featuring an Accurate Connection
Serving the army's combat effectiveness construction is not only a distinct school-running and educational orientation of military academies but also the starting point and foothold of talent cultivation in military academies. Therefore, it is urgent to expand new paths and channels to realize the accurate connection between the supply side of talent cultivation and the demand side of the army as well as the matching between the supply and demand of outstanding military talents. The military training practice presents a series of characteristics, such as close to actual combat, complete weapons and equipment, frequent training activities, and a strong battlefield atmosphere. For this reason, it plays the most direct and concrete role in the cultivation of military talents. Moreover, it is also the most practical and effective method that helps to connect military talents with specific posts. In short, it can promote students' transformation and application of theoretical knowledge, continuously push students to turn theory into practice, knowledge into ability, and extend from classroom to battlefield. [5] Admittedly, graduate students generally reflected "two kinds of incompetence", namely, the "inadaptability" shown by some students after being assigned to the army and their failure to quickly become competent for their positions. Regarding the foregoing two shortcomings, the practice teaching of political theory courses should make full use of the platform of military practice and training, and open up a brand-new channel to accurately connect the talent base of military colleges with the "users" of the army in terms of supply and demand. The following issues should be paid special attention to during the specific organization and implementation process. More precisely, the first point is to carefully choose the location. The selection of practice location is of paramount significance. The selection of a good location is conducive to inspiring students' faith and determination to devote themselves to national defense, strengthen the army, and take root at the grassroots level. Conversely, improper location selection can not achieve the expected practical effect, and even affect students' follow-up study and work after graduation. As a general rule, companies with glorious traditions, excellent style, active political work, and advanced management should be given priority, so that students can establish a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the work and life of grass-roots units. The second point is to carefully choose the "master" of students. It is well known that a "great master" can cultivate an "excellent apprentice". Despite the high enthusiasm of students during their internship in the army, they inevitably lack work experience. Therefore, the key cadres of grass-roots companies are needed to help them get familiar with their posts as soon as possible. Especially, outstanding key cadres at the grassroots level with a strong sense of responsibility, active working attitude, excellent style, and high military and political quality can play a good role in demonstration and guidance. In this regard, the more convincing outstanding key cadres among the previous graduates of the same military academy can be selected as the practice "teachers" of students in priority, thus making students feel more cordial. The third point is to carefully choose "teaching materials". The glorious history, advanced experience, effective management methods as well as rules and regulations of grass-roots companies are all excellent "teaching materials" for students in military practice. More importantly, the glorious history of companies can be used to motivate them to devote themselves to national defense, while advanced management experience can be used to lay a solid foundation for their future work.