Research on Blended Teaching Design of International Trade Practice Course Based on AIGC ()
1. Introduction
The application of AIGC technology in global higher education is driving the personalized, intelligent, and interactive development of education, bringing profound impacts to the field of education.
Personalized teaching: AIGC technology can generate personalized learning resources and paths based on students’ learning characteristics and needs. For example, by intelligently analyzing students’ learning behavior and effectiveness, accurately identifying students’ learning difficulties and interests, providing immediate feedback to teachers, helping teachers adjust teaching strategies, and achieving personalized teaching.
Dynamic generation of teaching resources: The application of AIGC technology makes the generation of teaching resources more dynamic and personalized. Teachers and educational institutions can use AIGC to automate the generation of learning materials, reducing manual burden and improving teaching effectiveness.
Teaching mode transformation: AIGC technology is reshaping traditional teaching modes, achieving personalized teaching, providing customized content and progress, enriching classroom interaction, increasing participation, and real-time evaluation of learning effectiveness and feedback.
On October 13, 2023, the People’s Daily published a full page article titled “Promoting Education Digitization”, which stated: “To promote innovation in education and teaching scenarios driven by digital technology, enrich the application of scenarios such as adaptive learning, intelligent diagnosis of learning situations, and intelligent classroom evaluation, promote the integration and interaction of online and offline, deep level classroom transformation, innovate learner centered teaching models, strengthen the popularization and application of intelligent teaching systems, intelligent teaching assistants, intelligent learning companions, etc.” [1].
“Blended teaching is the combination of online and offline teaching, which breaks the traditional mass and standardized talent cultivation mode, plays a positive role in personalized talent cultivation and balanced teaching resources” [2]. AIGC technology, through artificial intelligence technologies such as natural language processing, computer vision, and machine learning, can generate high-quality and diversified content according to teaching needs, providing strong support for blended teaching and is crucial for cultivating trade talents with international perspectives and practical operation abilities. The aim of this study is to explore a blended teaching design for the International Trade Practice Course based on AIGC, in order to enhance teaching effectiveness and learning experience. By introducing advanced AIGC technology, efficient interaction and multimodal content generation between teachers and students can be achieved. Teachers can use these intelligent tools as teaching assistants to build personalized educational service systems to meet the diverse learning needs of students.
2. Characteristics and Demand Analysis of the International
Trade Practice Course
The application of AIGC technology in the field of international trade is gradually expanding, demonstrating its unique value and potential. In terms of market analysis and forecasting, AIGC technology can generate market trend analysis reports and forecasting models by analyzing large amounts of market data and historical trading records. This provides important decision support for international trade enterprises, helping them better grasp market dynamics and formulate reasonable trade strategies. Language barriers are a common issue in international trade. AIGC technology can provide real-time language translation services to help trade partners from different countries and regions communicate effectively. International trade involves a large number of contracts, agreements, and documents. AIGC technology can automatically generate these documents and customize them according to different trade needs. AIGC technology is also widely used in customer service in international trade. For example, AI customer service systems can provide 24 Hours a day and 7 Days a week consultation and problem-solving for customers, improving customer satisfaction and service efficiency. These applications not only improve the efficiency of international trade, but also bring new business opportunities and competitive advantages to enterprises.
Therefore, the International Trade Practice Course has the characteristics of combining theory and practice. It not only covers the basic theories, policies and regulations of international trade, such as trade terms, payment methods, transportation, insurance, etc., but also requires students to master the operational processes and skills in international trade practice, such as filling out documents and handling customs clearance procedures. The course covers a wide range of topics, including various aspects of international trade, such as international market research, transaction negotiation, contract signing, and contract performance. Due to the global nature of international trade, the course content needs to keep up with the latest developments in the international market, emphasizing an international perspective and cross-cultural communication skills. This course involves knowledge from multiple disciplines such as economics, management, intercultural communication, law, etc., requiring students to possess interdisciplinary comprehensive analytical skills. Due to the frequent changes in international trade rules and policies, the course content needs to be constantly updated to adapt to the changing international trade environment.
Based on the above characteristics, students’ demands for the International Trade Practice Course mainly include:
1) Students hope that the course can combine abstract theoretical knowledge with practical cases to help them better understand and absorb. Students need to access learning resources from different channels, forms, and contents to meet their personalized and differentiated learning needs. Learn through a combination of online and offline methods.
2) Students need to deepen their understanding of theoretical knowledge and improve their practical skills through case analysis and simulation operations, so that they can quickly adapt to the workplace after graduation.
3) With the development of globalization, students need to have an international perspective, understand the trade habits and cultural differences of different countries and regions, in order to communicate and interact with people from different cultural environments.
4) Students need to understand the latest policies and rules of international trade in order to operate in compliance in practical work.
5) Students hope to plan their future careers and understand the career development path in the field of international trade through course learning.
Traditional teaching methods often focus on imparting theoretical knowledge, while neglecting the cultivation of students’ practical and innovative abilities. With the rapid development of information technology, especially the emergence of AIGC technology, new methods have been provided for the teaching reform of the International Trade Practice Course. The International Trade Practice Course needs to combine practical operations, interdisciplinary knowledge, international perspectives, and policy interpretations to meet students’ needs in skills enhancement, theoretical application, international communication, and career development.
3. A Blended Teaching Design for the International Trade
Practice Course Based on AIGC
This study introduces AIGC technology into the teaching of the International Trade Practice Course, and optimizes and innovates the teaching objectives, the teaching contents, the teaching methods and the teaching evaluation based on the characteristics of AIGC technology. The combination of online and offline has achieved a deep integration of artificial intelligence technology and professional course teaching. The rich and diverse teaching resources and learning methods generated through AIGC technology have achieved an organic combination of theoretical knowledge and practical operation, improving students’ practical operation ability and problem-solving ability.
3.1. Teaching Objectives
The blended teaching design of the International Trade Practice Course based on AIGC aims to achieve the following teaching objectives: 1) To enable students to master the basic theories, policies, and regulations of international trade practice, and understand the various links and operational processes of international trade. 2) To cultivate students’ practical and innovative abilities, enabling them to proficiently carry out practical operations such as document filling and customs declaration procedures. 3) To cultivate students’ teamwork spirit and professional ethics, and improve their comprehensive quality and competitiveness.
3.2. Teaching Contents
The blended teaching design for the International Trade Practice Course based on AIGC includes the following three teaching content modules:
1) Theoretical knowledge module: covering the basic theories, policies and regulations, and international trade practices of international trade. Teaching resources such as PPTs and videos generated through AIGC technology are presented to students in a vivid and visual form with illustrations and text.
2) Practical operation module: including practical operation contents such as document filling, customs declaration procedures handling, trade negotiation, etc. The virtual training scenario and virtual operation process created through AIGC technology allow students to learn and practice in a near real environment.
3) Case analysis module: Select typical international trade cases, generate case analysis and discussion materials through AIGC technology, guide students to conduct case analysis and discussion, and cultivate their ability to analyze and solve problems. Students are able to use AIGC tools for international trade market analysis, customer demand mining, and product promotion copywriting.
3.3. Teaching Methods
The blended teaching design for the International Trade Practice Course based on AIGC adopts a combination of online and offline teaching methods, which includes four steps: 1) Online self-learning, 2) Offline practical training, 3) AIGC tool assisted practice for individual trade links, and 4) Classroom discussion and interaction on comprehensive trade links. The blended teaching design guides students to think and hands-on to transform theoretical knowledge learned in the classroom into skills. At the same time, it enables students to understand that facing the huge opportunities and challenges of international trade, lifelong learning, honesty and trustworthiness are necessary. It cultivates students’ professional beliefs of facing difficulties and focusing on their profession, as well as their perseverance, hard work spirit, and work ethics of being observant and flexible.
•Step 1: Online Self-Learning
Students engage in self-directed learning through online learning platforms or apps, acquiring theoretical knowledge, watching instructional videos, completing online tests and assignments, etc. The virtual training scenario and virtual operation process created through AIGC technology enable students to conduct practical operations in a safe and controllable environment, improving their practical skills.
Virtual training scenarios refer to “the construction of simulated and realistic virtual scenes on a virtual simulation experimental teaching platform to meet the practical operational needs of various aspects of international trade” [3]. They provide students with an immersive learning experience to help them master the various aspects and practical operations of international trade. Typical virtual training scenarios include:
1) Customs Supervision Zone Scenario: In this scenario, students can simulate entering the customs supervision zone to understand the customs workflow and regulatory requirements. Students need to handle tasks such as declaration, inspection, and release of import and export goods, and learn how to prepare relevant documents and respond to emergencies.
2) Scene of the Inspection Bureau: In the virtual scene of the Inspection Bureau, students will experience the work of inspectors. Students need to inspect different types of goods, understand the relevant inspection standards and processes, and master how to write inspection reports and handle non-conforming goods.
3) Interbank transaction area scenario: This scenario simulates the actual operational environment of a bank, where students can learn the business process of cross-border foreign exchange settlement.
4) Logistics Management Center Scene: In the virtual scene of the logistics management center, students will learn how to manage international cargo transportation. Students need to coordinate transportation arrangements, monitor the status of goods, and handle any issues that may arise during transportation.
5) International market trading platform scenario: In this scenario, students can simulate online trading and experience the buying and selling process of the international market. Through these virtual training scenarios, students can not only connect theory with practice, but also develop the ability to solve practical problems, enhance their comprehensive quality and vocational skills in the field of international trade.
Table 1 concludes the above mentioned 5 virtual training scenarios and main training contents.
Table 1. Virtual training scenarios for international trade.
Virtual Training Scenarios for International Trade |
1. Customs Supervision Zone - Declaration, Inspection, Release - Document Preparation - Emergency Response |
2. Inspection Bureau - Inspect Goods - Understand Standards - Write Inspection Reports - Handle Non-Conforming Goods |
3. Interbank Transaction Area - Cross-Border Foreign Exchange Settlement - Banking Procedures |
4. Logistics Management Center - Coordinate Transportation - Monitor Goods Status - Handle Logistics Issues |
5. International Market Trading Platform - Online Trading Simulation - Buying and Selling Process |
The virtual operation process is a simulation of real international trade activities on a virtual simulation experimental teaching platform to help students understand and master various aspects of international trade. A typical virtual business basically includes the following process:
1) Market research: To select a suitable target market, students conduct market research to understand the demand, competition, and laws and regulations of the market. Utilize online resources to collect market data, including industry reports, consumer behavior analysis, etc.
2) Finding suppliers/customers: Use virtual platforms to search for potential suppliers or customers and conduct preliminary screening. Contact and communicate with potential partners through email, online chat, and other means to understand their needs and pricing.
3) Negotiation and Contract Signing: Negotiating prices and terms with suppliers or customers to reach a consensus. Draft a contract based on the negotiation results, specifying the transaction terms, including price, payment method, delivery time, and responsibilities. Electronic signing of contracts through virtual platforms to ensure legal validity.
4) Payment and Letter of Credit: Choose the appropriate payment method according to the contract agreement, such as letter of credit, remittance, etc. If using a letter of credit, students need to apply to the bank to open a letter of credit and understand the relevant procedures and fees.
5) Logistics arrangement: Select appropriate transportation methods (such as sea, air, or land) based on the nature and destination of the goods, and then arrange the packaging, loading, and shipping of the goods to ensure compliance with international transportation standards.
6) Customs declaration and clearance: Students prepare necessary customs declaration documents, including commercial invoices, packing lists, certificates of origin, etc., and cooperate with customs agents to complete the customs clearance procedures for goods, ensuring smooth customs clearance.
7) Arrival and acceptance of goods: Track the transportation status of goods through the logistics system to ensure timely arrival. After the goods arrive, students conduct an inspection to check if the goods comply with the contract and provide feedback to the supplier.
8) After sales service: Maintain communication with customers, handle after-sales issues, and ensure customer satisfaction. Collect market feedback, analyze customer satisfaction and room for improvement, and prepare for the next transaction.
Through the entire virtual operation process, students can gain a comprehensive understanding of various aspects of international trade, enhance their practical operational skills and market sensitivity. After online learning in virtual training scenarios and virtual operation processes, students should summarize the experiences and lessons learned throughout the entire virtual trading process and reflect on them. Teachers can ask students to share their experiences and discuss different operational strategies and effects in the classroom.
•Step 2, Offline Training Operation
When it comes to complex negotiation and communication, emergency response, and document review in international trade practice, virtual simulation scenarios and operation processes are difficult to simulate and practice in various situations due to the constantly changing actual scenes. Therefore, students can practice and respond on site under the guidance of teachers offline. The main skills for practical training are negotiation and communication, emergency response, and document review.
Practical training in negotiation and communication skills, such as simulating price negotiation scenarios. Exporters need to adjust prices due to rising production costs, while importers demand to maintain the original price. Both parties need to negotiate key terms such as the magnitude of price adjustments and changes in payment methods. Students are divided into groups, with two people each playing the roles of exporter and importer. They consult relevant international trade regulations, letter of credit terms, and industry practices, collect market trends, cost data, and other information to prepare adequately for negotiations. Then both parties will negotiate through face-to-face communication or written correspondence. Exporters should elaborate on the reasons for cost increases, the impact on their own profits, and the reasonableness of price adjustments, while proposing various payment method change plans for importers to choose from; Importers respond to exporters’ requirements from the perspectives of their own capital costs, market competitiveness, etc., and propose their own modification suggestions and acceptable conditions. After multiple rounds of negotiation, both parties have reached a consensus on the extent of price adjustment, payment method change time, and specific terms, forming a written letter of credit amendment agreement that clarifies the rights and obligations of each party. Teachers observe the entire training process and provide professional guidance to students in a timely manner. When negotiations reach a deadlock, students are prompted to seek new solutions based on the interests of the other party, or guided to use conventions and rules in international trade to enhance the persuasiveness of their arguments; After students reach a preliminary agreement, assist them in reviewing the completeness and accuracy of the agreement terms to ensure compliance with international trade norms.
Training in emergency response skills, such as simulating trading default events, where exporters are unable to deliver on time due to interruptions in raw material supply and importers demand compensation; For example, simulating a scenario of insurance policy changes, where goods encounter natural disasters during transportation and the insurance company refuses to fully compensate due to changes in insurance terms. After receiving the notification of an emergency, students should quickly analyze the cause, scope of impact, and possible consequences of the event. For transaction default events, exporters need to assess the specific reasons for the interruption of raw material supply, the expected recovery time, and the impact on their reputation and customer relationships; Importers need to account for losses such as production stagnation and loss of market orders caused by delayed delivery. In the scenario of insurance policy changes, students should carefully study the changes in insurance terms, compare the differences in insurance liability before and after the accident, and determine whether the insurance company’s reasons for refusal of compensation are reasonable. On this basis, students need to develop reasonable coping strategies as soon as possible. Exporters proactively communicate with importers regarding trade default events, explain the actual situation, propose reasonable remedial measures, such as accelerating raw material procurement, finding alternative suppliers, providing partial delivery of goods, etc., and negotiate compensation plans in accordance with contract agreements and international trade practices; Importers should make clear compensation claims to exporters based on contract terms and relevant laws, and keep relevant evidence. In the scenario of insurance policy changes, students need to negotiate with insurance companies on behalf of exporters or importers to obtain reasonable compensation amounts, while considering whether they need to protect their own rights through legal means. Students should learn to communicate and coordinate with relevant parties to promote the resolution of events. In the handling of transaction default events, both parties shall sign a supplementary agreement based on the negotiation results, clarifying the implementation details of remedial measures and the payment method of compensation amount; In the scenario of insurance policy changes, students can reach a compensation agreement with the insurance company, or assist clients in preparing litigation materials and entering legal proceedings if negotiations fail. Teachers closely monitor students’ response speed and handling methods to unexpected events during the practical training process. Timely point out and supplement key information for students’ omissions in analyzing events; Provide professional legal and international trade knowledge support to students when formulating coping strategies, helping them assess the feasibility and risks of the strategies; During the event handling process, guide students on how to effectively communicate with all parties, how to properly handle potential new conflicts and problems, and ensure that the event is satisfactorily resolved.
Practical training on document review skills, such as providing a complete set of international trade documents, including commercial invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, insurance policies, letters of credit, etc., intentionally setting some common errors and discrepancies, such as discrepancies in amounts, dates, and discrepancies between document content and letter of credit requirements. Students check the contents of other documents item by item according to the requirements of the letter of credit. Check whether the amount, currency, and description of the goods on the commercial invoice are consistent with the letter of credit; Verify whether the packaging quantity, specifications, and other information on the packing list are accurate; Review whether the ship name, voyage, loading port, destination port and other elements of the bill of lading comply with the provisions of the letter of credit; Check whether the insurance amount, insurance type, claim period and other terms of the insurance policy meet the requirements. During the review process, students need to apply their knowledge of international trade documents and combine it with practical business scenarios to identify errors and discrepancies in the documents. Students need to analyze the causes and potential risks of errors and discrepancies discovered. If there is a typographical error or negligence during the document production process, promptly contact the relevant parties for correction; If there are problems with the terms of the letter of credit itself or if they do not match the actual business situation, negotiate with the issuing bank or beneficiary to modify the terms of the letter of credit. When dealing with problems, students should follow international trade practices and relevant regulations to ensure the accuracy and validity of documents. Teachers provide detailed document review guidance to students during the practical training process. During the stage of familiarizing students with documents, supplement and explain the professional terminology and special terms in the documents; During the review process, point out the details and common review misconceptions that students tend to overlook, and help them improve the accuracy and efficiency of the review; In the problem-solving stage, guide students on how to communicate and coordinate with all parties, how to write correction notices or modify letter of credit applications and other documents, to ensure that problems are properly resolved.
Through the above practical training and on-site response training, students can systematically master key skills such as negotiation and communication, emergency response, and document review in a simulated real international trade environment, improve their ability to solve practical problems and comprehensive quality, and lay a solid foundation for future smooth international trade work.
•Step 3: AIGC tool assisted practice for individual trade links
To enable students to better master the application of AIGC tools in this field, the AIGC tools can be deeply integrated into the course teaching through three methods: teachers generating output results in advance, demonstrating the input and output process, and students’ practical operation.
Method 1: teachers generating output results in advance
Before the course begins, the teacher makes thorough preparations for different AIGC tools. For instance, when explaining the market research section, the teacher uses tools such as MonkeyLearn and TextRazor, inputting a large amount of text data related to electronic products in the European and American markets, such as industry reports, news, and social media comments. Through the automatic text analysis and modeling of these tools, a detailed market research report is generated in advance, covering the demand trends of electronic products in the European and American markets, the characteristics of competitors’ products, potential opportunity analysis, etc. In class, the teacher presents this complete report and explains to the students the sources and analysis logic of each piece of data in the report, allowing students to understand the valuable results that AIGC tools can produce in market research and laying the foundation for students to operate the tools themselves later.
For the writing of product descriptions and advertising copy, teachers use tools such as OpenAI GPT-3 and Copy.ai to input basic information about the product, such as product features, characteristics, target customer groups, etc., and generate multiple versions of product descriptions and advertising copy in advance. During classroom presentations, teachers compare the styles and effects of different versions of copywriting, analyze the differences in target customer groups, guide students to think about how to choose appropriate copywriting based on product and market demand, as well as the advantages and limitations of AIGC tools in copywriting.
Method 2:
Teachers operate AIGC tools on site to fully demonstrate the input-output process to students. Taking the use of image generation tools to design product promotional posters as an example, the teacher first opens the tool and introduces the basic interface and functional modules of the tool to the students. Then, clarify the goal of this poster design, such as designing a promotional poster for a new type of smartwatch, targeting young and fashionable consumers. Next, the teacher inputs relevant key information, including product images, core selling points of the product (such as ultra long battery life, health monitoring function, fashionable appearance, etc.), design style requirements (such as simple and fashionable, bright colors), etc. During the input process, the teacher provides a detailed explanation of the purpose and selection criteria for each input item.
After completing the input, the teacher launches the tool to generate posters, allowing students to visually see how the tool can generate multiple posters of different styles based on the input information in a short period of time. Subsequently, the teacher analyzed the generated posters one by one, explaining the advantages and disadvantages of each poster from aspects such as color matching, composition design, and copywriting layout, guiding students to think about how to optimize input information to obtain output results that better meet their needs. In this way, students not only understand the operation process of the tool, but also learn how to accurately input information according to actual needs, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of tool use.
When using the Google Cloud Translation API for document translation, the teacher selects an actual international trade contract and inputs the contract text into the translation tool, demonstrating how the tool can quickly and accurately translate the contract into the target language. At the same time, the teacher compares the text before and after translation, explains the performance of machine translation in terms of professional terminology processing, language expression fluency, as well as possible problems and areas that require manual review, so that students understand the practical application and precautions of AIGC tools in translation work.
Method 3:
After students have gained a certain understanding of AIGC, arrange for them to participate in practical operations. Divide students into groups and practice using the corresponding AIGC tools for different international trade tasks. For example, a group of students use MonkeyLearn and TextRazor for market research. They need to collect text data related to a specific product (such as new energy vehicle parts), determine input keywords and filtering criteria, and run the tool to generate a market research report. In this process, students need to learn how to filter effective data, interpret the analysis results generated by tools, and write a complete market research report based on the results.
Another group of students used OpenAI GPT-3 and Copy.ai to generate product introductions and promotional emails. They need to think about how to input accurate instructions based on the given product information and guide the tool to generate attractive copy. Students need to evaluate and modify the generated copy to make it more in line with actual marketing needs. When using image generation tools to design product promotional posters, students need to clarify the product positioning and target customer group, input appropriate information, and repeatedly adjust parameters until a satisfactory poster work is generated.
During the practical operation of students, teachers and industry mentors conduct inspections and guidance. When students encounter problems such as unfamiliarity with tool operation, inaccurate input information leading to unsatisfactory output results, etc., they should be given timely answers and assistance. Guide students on how to optimize input strategies and how to utilize the tools’ functions to achieve better results. After the practical operation is completed, each group will showcase their practical achievements, engage in mutual communication and evaluation. Teachers summarize and evaluate students’ practical achievements, point out their strengths and weaknesses, and further deepen students’ understanding and mastery of the application of AIGC tools in international trade.
Through the above three methods, AIGC tools will be fully integrated into international trade curriculum teaching, allowing students to fully understand the value and application methods of AIGC tools in theoretical learning and practical operation, and improving their ability to use AIGC tools to solve practical problems in the field of international trade.
•Step 4: Classroom discussion and interaction on comprehensive trade links
In the International Trade Practice Course, a comprehensive trade links classroom discussion and interactive section is introduced to enable students to deeply understand and apply the AIGC technology learned in previous sections, and carry out comprehensive market research, customer development, and product promotion work. Set up a comprehensive business scenario, such as a company planning to export a new electronic product to the European and American markets. This product has high-tech content and innovative functions, but has not yet established brand awareness in the European and American markets. The company needs to develop a comprehensive market entry strategy, including market research, customer development, and product promotion, to ensure that the product successfully enters the target market and gains a competitive advantage. Divide the students into several groups of 4 - 6 people each. Ensure that each group member has different professional backgrounds and skills to promote diverse thinking collisions. Clearly define the task requirements for each group, which is to use AIGC technology to develop a detailed comprehensive trade links plan, covering three key aspects: market research, customer development, and product promotion.
Market research: Teachers or industry mentors provide macroeconomic data, industry reports, consumer behavior research, and other materials on the European and American markets, as well as application cases of AIGC technology in data processing and analysis. After using the questionnaire survey template and data analysis tool generated by AIGC, students develop detailed market research operation steps, including questionnaire design, data collection, data analysis, and report generation, to collect market data and conduct real-time analysis. The expected results of market research should be clear from the beginning, such as understanding the demand characteristics, competitive situation, consumer preferences, etc. of the target market, providing a basis for subsequent customer development and product promotion.
Customer development: Teachers or industry mentors provide a list of potential customers, industry contact information, social media data, and application cases of AIGC technology in customer relationship management (CRM) and intelligent customer service. By using AIGC to generate an intelligent recommendation system, students can analyze the characteristics and needs of potential customers, develop detailed customer development steps, including customer information collection, marketing strategy development, and customer follow-up, to achieve precise marketing. The expected results of customer development should be clear, such as improving customer response rates, increasing the number of potential customers, and enhancing customer satisfaction, laying the foundation for product promotion.
Product promotion: Teachers or industry mentors provide information on product features, competitive advantages, brand image, and application cases of AIGC technology in content creation, advertising placement, and social media marketing. By using the graphic and text generation tool, video production tool, and advertising platform generated by AIGC, students can design product promotional posters, videos, and advertising copy based on detailed product promotion operation steps, including content creation, channel selection, advertising placement, and effectiveness evaluation, and carry out precise placement. The expected effects of product promotion should be clear, such as increasing brand awareness, boosting product sales, and increasing market share, to ensure the success of the product in the target market.
Each group selects representatives to present to the whole class their AIGC tool selection, operational steps, and expected results in market research, customer development, and product promotion. The display format can be PPT presentation, poster presentation, or video presentation, etc. Other group members can ask questions and comments, question, supplement, or provide improvement suggestions for the presentation group’s proposal. During this process, teachers guide students to engage in in-depth discussions, encourage them to think from different perspectives, and cultivate critical thinking and innovative consciousness. The teacher evaluates each group’s proposal, points out its strengths and weaknesses, and provides professional improvement suggestions. Teachers’ comments should focus on the feasibility, innovation, and practical application effects of the plan.
3.4. Teaching Evaluation
The blended teaching design of the International Trade Practice Course based on AIGC adopts a diversified teaching evaluation method, which evaluates students’ knowledge mastery and ability level through final exams, practical operation assessments, peer evaluations, and self-evaluation. Specifically, it includes:
1) Process evaluation: Collecting students’ learning data and behavioral performance through AIGC technology, such as online learning time, homework completion status, classroom participation, etc., for process evaluation.
2) Consequential evaluation: Evaluate students’ knowledge mastery and ability level through final exams, practical assessments, and other methods.
3) Peer evaluation: The peer evaluation tool generated through AIGC technology guides students to conduct peer evaluations, cultivating their teamwork spirit and communication skills.
4) Self-evaluation: Encourage students to engage in self-reflection and self-evaluation, and use the self-evaluation tool generated by AIGC technology to guide students to self-summarize and reflect, cultivate their self-learning and innovation abilities.
In terms of teaching evaluation, teachers should establish a diversified evaluation system, weaken direct assessment of AIGC generated results, focus on testing students’ problem analysis logic, data filtering ability, and critical thinking of AI results, and encourage students to actively participate in the learning process. At the same time, information ethics education is carried out to help students establish awareness of the correct use of AIGC tools, clarify the importance of intellectual property protection and academic integrity, and cultivate their ability to maintain independent thinking and professional ethics in the digital age through typical cases in international trade, such as AI generated false trade data and infringing copy.
4. Conclusions
After a semester of implementation and evaluation, the blended teaching design for the International Trade Practice Course based on AIGC has achieved significant results, manifested in the significant improvement of students’ learning outcomes through assessments such as final exams and practical operations. Students’ knowledge mastery is more solid, and their practical operation ability has been significantly improved. The rich and diverse teaching resources and learning methods generated through AIGC technology stimulate and enhance students’ interest in learning. Students are more actively participating in online self-directed learning and offline practical operations, and their learning initiative and enthusiasm are enhanced. Teachers continuously learn and explore new teaching methods and techniques during the implementation process, and their teaching abilities are improved. Teachers can better utilize AIGC technology to design and produce teaching resources, improving teaching effectiveness and quality. Through diversified teaching evaluation methods, students’ learning outcomes and ability levels can be comprehensively and objectively evaluated. Meanwhile, through peer evaluation and self-evaluation, students can be guided to engage in self-reflection and summarization, cultivating their ability for self-directed learning and innovation.
Although the blended teaching design of the International Trade Practice Course based on AIGC has achieved certain results, there are still some problems and challenges:
1) The teaching resources generated by AIGC technology may lack realism and interactivity, making it difficult to completely replace traditional teaching methods. In addition, the accuracy and reliability of AIGC technology also need to be further improved to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of teaching resources.
2) Challenge of Teacher Technical Literacy: The blended learning design based on AIGC requires teachers to possess certain technical literacy and teaching abilities. However, some teachers may lack relevant technical background and knowledge, making it difficult to effectively utilize AIGC technology for teaching design and implementation. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the training and guidance of teachers by organizing training, seminars, and other methods to help them master the application methods and teaching skills of AIGC technology, improve their application ability in blended learning design, and enable them to better adapt to new teaching methods and approaches.
3) Differences in students’ self-directed learning ability: There are differences in students’ self-directed learning ability and learning habits, which may affect the effectiveness of AIGC based blended learning design. Some students may lack awareness and ability for self-directed learning, making it difficult for them to adapt to online self-directed learning. Therefore, personalized teaching design is needed for different students’ needs and ability levels, providing more accurate learning resources and paths to meet the needs of different students.
4) Digital literacy and ethical education have not received the attention they deserve, and teachers should “guide students to abide by academic ethics, avoid excessive dependence, and improve rational and critical thinking in the process of using AIGC technology. This not only helps to improve students’ cognitive level of artificial intelligence technology, but also helps to create a healthy learning atmosphere” [4]. Students need to focus on ethical issues during the learning process. To prevent students from overly relying on artificial intelligence, the curriculum should emphasize tool assisted positioning, guiding students to view AIGC as an assistant to improve efficiency rather than a substitute for their own thinking and decision-making. For example, in the practical operation stage, students are required to complete preliminary tasks such as data collection and analysis, and then combine them with AIGC results to form the final plan.
In the future, we will continue to conduct in-depth research and exploration on the application and improvement of AIGC based blended teaching design in the International Trade Practice Course. By continuously optimizing and improving teaching methods and techniques, we aim to enhance teaching effectiveness and learning quality, and contribute to the cultivation of high-quality international trade talents with international perspectives and innovative abilities. At the same time, we will also pay attention to the latest developments and application trends of AIGC technology, better integrate it into the teaching practice of the International Trade Practice Course, and promote the continuous innovation and development of course teaching.
Conflicts of Interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest.