Exploring Practical Teaching Reform in Food Packaging Courses Based on Open Comprehensive Experimental Projects (OCEP)

To address shortcomings in the practical teaching components of Food Packaging courses, over the past 3 years, we have centered our efforts around faculty research directions. Taking biodegradable functional food packaging materials as our entry point, we have explored experimental teaching reforms centered on Open Comprehensive Experimental Projects (OCEP). Students completed the preparation of starch-based biodegradable food packaging films through literature research and raw material screening. Subsequently, advanced characterization techniques such as ATR-FTIR and SEM were employed to analyze the film’s structure and properties. Ultimately, through practical application in fruit preservation processes, students gained hands-on experience translating research outcomes into real-world applications. Compared to traditional experiments, this project demonstrated greater comprehensiveness and interdisciplinary nature, placing higher demands on students’ experimental skills, teamwork, and communication abilities. Combined with an assessment model emphasizing hands-on practice and comprehensive reporting, the project effectively cultivated students’ critical thinking and complex problem-solving abilities. Furthermore, sustained and deep engagement throughout the experimental process sparked students’ research interest in cutting-edge food packaging fields, enhanced their integrated practical capabilities, and truly transformed laboratory experiments into a bridge connecting theory with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.