The guiding principle of higher vocational colleges should be to emphasize not only theoretical teaching but also the cultivation of students' practical technical and vocational skills. This cultivation encompasses many aspects. For automation students, the application of configuration software technology, practical skills, hands-on abilities, and the ability to analyze and solve problems on-site are essential. The Ministry of Education has repeatedly emphasized the importance of cultivating and improving students' abilities and qualities. Based on our actual teaching situation in the automation major, let's discuss the application of configuration software in the PLC course. I. Adjusting Course Content and Improving Time Allocation 1. Adjusting Course Content The original teaching plan generally favored theoretical teaching hours, which could not guarantee the required professional teaching hours and practical teaching. Many aspects of students' practical skills, such as internships and training, were not implemented. Based on the above factors, we have made significant improvements to the curriculum of "Mechatronics Control Technology": while ensuring the needs of subsequent professional courses are met, we have appropriately reduced the teaching hours for theoretical foundation courses and increased the teaching hours for practical components, with particular emphasis on practical teaching: internships and practical training course design for professional courses, and actual on-site teaching internships for major professional courses. This ensures students learn useful and cutting-edge professional technologies and skills, improves their comprehensive professional qualities and social employability, and ensures that their learning is practical and applicable. Through several semesters of verification, the reform and improvement of the teaching plan have achieved quite ideal teaching results. Students' interest in learning has increased, their enthusiasm for learning has grown, and their employment opportunities have increased. Students and parents are also satisfied, achieving the desired teaching effect. 2. Improvement of teaching hours: The ratio of theoretical teaching hours to practical teaching hours has reached 1:1, greatly strengthening the cultivation of students' practical skills. Specifically, this will be implemented in the following aspects: 1) Strengthen the time, effectiveness, and quality of laboratory experiments. Responsible professional teachers and laboratory technicians must personally conduct the experiments, truly teaching by doing. They must diligently guide students in conducting experiments, ensuring that students not only deepen their theoretical knowledge but also improve their practical skills. 2) Emphasize the arrangement of students' practical training content and their ability to adapt to actual work environments. During practical training, the content will be effectively implemented. Under the guidance of instructors, students will independently complete the training content as required, solving problems and troubleshooting themselves. During debugging, they will be able to analyze and resolve problems encountered on-site in a timely manner. 3) The arrangement of off-campus and on-campus internships will be compact, combining varying levels of difficulty to comprehensively develop professional skills. The goal is to ensure that during internships, students not only understand, master, and deepen their professional knowledge but also gain exposure to cutting-edge knowledge and technologies applied to their professional knowledge. Practical experience will cultivate students' strong interest and desire for professional knowledge, using real-world applications to demonstrate and illustrate the practical value of their expertise. II. Improvements in Teaching Methods Professional course instructors strive to teach in practical training rooms, laboratories, and actual work sites, aiming to achieve: on-site teaching that combines theory with practice; intuitive and vivid teaching methods; and active student participation in hands-on activities. 1. Theoretical instruction and practical skills training are organically combined. Teaching content is organized and implemented in laboratories, training rooms, and actual work sites (such as thermal power plants and related enterprises, focusing on the practical application of this course). It is not limited to textbooks, but combines professional knowledge and skills, guiding students to learn and master practical, field-applied professional technologies and skills. Only when students are familiar with the practical application of professional knowledge and skills can they develop a strong desire to learn. Through teaching methods that link theory with practice, one hour of theoretical instruction is followed by one hour of practical skills training. Teachers "teach by doing," and students "learn by doing." We use this teaching method in the Electrical Control Technology course. Electrical control technology for mechanical equipment is taught around the production site, with explanations and demonstrations, greatly improving students' hands-on skills and practical abilities. This cultivates graduates with a certain theoretical foundation and strong practical skills, making automation graduates in high demand. 2. Use animated courseware to simulate the scene: For example, courseware made using KINVIWER software (see attached figures 1-6): Electroplating process flow: First, motor M1 pulls conveyor belt 1 to start, transporting the workpiece to be plated. At the same time, traction motor M2 starts, dragging the lifting mechanism to the left. When it reaches the position above the workpiece, lifting mechanism motor M3 drags the gripper down. When it reaches the position of the workpiece, it grabs the workpiece and moves it up a certain distance, then moves it to the right a certain distance. When it reaches the top of the plating tank, it lowers the workpiece into the plating solution. After staying for a certain period of time, the gripper grabs the workpiece and moves it to the right a certain distance. When it reaches the top of the plating tank, it lowers the workpiece into the plating solution. After staying for a certain period of time, the gripper grabs the workpiece and moves it to the right a certain distance. When it reaches the top of conveyor belt 2, it lowers the workpiece. At the same time, traction conveyor belt 2 motor M4 starts, sending the plated workpiece away. If this process is taught solely through classroom instruction, focusing on sequential instructions, students will find it difficult to understand, let alone successfully write programs, debug, monitor, download, and wire. Developing skills such as wiring, debugging, monitoring, and other technical skills is challenging. Using animated courseware simulating the actual process to teach programmable controller sequential instructions is highly intuitive, easy for students to understand, and achieves excellent teaching results. This approach combines theoretical knowledge with practical, hands-on teaching, ensuring that vocational education is directly relevant to real-world applications. For example, animated courseware created with FIASH software simulating the process flow of an automated loading and unloading system (see Figures 7-11) uses a vivid teaching method to allow students to experience the control requirements and production process, facilitating their understanding and mastery of professional skills and practical programming. This truly achieves the ideal teaching method of linking theory with practice. 3. Integrating teaching aids to enhance the learning experience. The teaching process completely changes the traditional classroom teaching model, combining theoretical knowledge with practical teaching activities, both in laboratories and training rooms. Through ideal and practical teaching aids—such as PLC-controlled automated parking systems, automatic sorting lines, and elevator models—students develop a strong interest in learning and a desire to explore new areas of professional knowledge through on-site demonstrations, explanations, and the use of specific instructions. This approach is highly persuasive. 4. Improved Assessment Methods: The teaching process is divided into theoretical lectures and practical teaching; naturally, the assessment methods should also be divided into theoretical examinations and practical assessments. Especially for a professional course, if only theoretical knowledge is mastered while neglecting the development of professional skills and hands-on abilities, the gap between graduates and employment will widen. Therefore, the assessment method for the "Mechatronics Control Technology" course is improved: a theoretical exam accounts for 50 points, and a professional practical skills assessment accounts for 50 points. The professional practical skills assessment involves selecting topics within a certain range, combining specific process requirements, and performing program writing, downloading, debugging, monitoring, and actual wiring, thus achieving the training and improvement of professional skills by linking theory with practice. 5. To ensure students' employability is closely aligned with industry requirements, relevant laboratories and training rooms are opened during off-hours for this course. This provides graduating students with more opportunities to enhance and consolidate their classroom knowledge and skills. Through years of teaching experience, students' professional competence and employability have significantly improved, with excellent results. III. Emphasizing the Improvement of Professional Teachers' Professional Competence and Cutting-Edge Vocational Skills, and Cultivating Advanced Teaching Philosophy Professional teachers should not only possess a solid theoretical foundation but also strong practical teaching abilities. This is primarily due to the characteristics of vocational education and the high demands placed on teachers by societal needs. If professional teachers do not possess the professional knowledge required by today's society, including cutting-edge technologies and advanced scientific and technological knowledge and applications, how can they keep pace with the times and cultivate and improve students' practical skills? For example, when teaching machine tool electrical control technology, professional teachers must instruct students on-site at the machine tool. They must possess not only theoretical knowledge but also the ability to operate the machine tool, understand its processing technology and structure, and connect theory with practice. The practical application of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) must be taught on-site in the factory, combining theory with practice to truly achieve a teaching method that integrates theory with practical application. This enhances students' learning interest and practical, professional, and on-site application skills. To achieve this, professional teachers must possess rich theoretical knowledge and strong practical skills, constantly updating and improving their own knowledge. In particular, they must be able to lead students or technical team members in solving and completing practical problems in actual work environments. Only by truly achieving "teachers teaching by doing, students learning by doing" can effective teaching be achieved. "Learning" is essential to cultivating capable students. Therefore, the professional competence, practical skills, and advanced teaching concepts of professional teachers directly affect the quality of teaching and the college's survival. IV. Integrating Industry, Academia, and Research to Conduct Scientific and Technological Practice Activities 1. Professional teachers should have their own research content or projects, providing technical support and service to society. Teachers of "Mechatronics Control Technology" should study PLC control theory, practical application software, and programming languages ​​to adapt to the development of new technologies and applications. This will ensure that their professional knowledge keeps pace with the times and remains cutting-edge and applicable. Furthermore, whenever possible, they should frequently go online to learn about new knowledge and applications, search for relevant professional materials, and learn advanced experiences and technologies. 2. Professional course teachers should purposefully establish extracurricular "science and technology interest groups," regularly organizing research activities and participating in social practice, aiming to maximize students' practical skills and lay a solid foundation for their future ability to establish themselves and serve society. Creating a strong "brand name" effect will provide future momentum for the school's development. This positive social feedback will further enhance our school's reputation. With education as our goal and science and technology service as our guide, we will promote and develop each other. The prospects are bright and the significance profound. V. Practical Significance: Students are the school's "product." The quality of this "product"—whether it can withstand the test of society, whether it can establish itself in society, and whether it can be accepted and recognized by society—is extremely important for a school. Yes. Everyone knows very well that "product quality is the lifeblood of a company." Similarly, for schools, the quality of students, their mastery of vocational skills, and their practical abilities are the very lifeblood of the school. For vocational colleges, improving students' practical skills is indeed one of our key survival factors. Therefore, for us professional teachers, the fundamental task is to improve teaching methods to maximize students' practical analytical and problem-solving abilities, enhance their hands-on skills, and enable them to pass the tests in the real world, find their place in society, adapt to and meet the demands of social development for professional talent, and ultimately satisfy students and parents. This is the lifeblood of the school. In short, the syllabus and teaching methods for professional courses must be improved and perfected in today's society where technical skills play a dominant role, especially for higher vocational colleges. Advanced teaching concepts are crucial for professional teachers. Our educational mission is to cultivate technical backbones who can directly participate in frontline production, and these personnel must possess strong practical skills to solve real-world production problems and survive and thrive in a competitive job market. Therefore, how to improve students' technical application abilities and their pre-employment practical skills within the limited time they spend in school is an urgent problem facing higher vocational colleges and their teachers. Only by strengthening practical teaching, having a group of professional teachers who can "teach by doing," having a group of technical backbones who are passionate about scientific research, focusing on students' ability development, and ensuring that society, students, and parents are satisfied with the school, can our higher vocational colleges have a bright and vibrant future.