After more than ten years of reform and construction, under the influence of the education philosophy of the university and the school, a curriculum system combining science and engineering has formed. It embodies the “foundation-emphasized, stage-parsed, multi-level, and modularity” construction ideas. We recruit students and cultivate them in a broad discipline of information science and technology, and construct the training system with 7 specialties and 12 training directions. It emphasizes the characteristics of comprehensive, research-oriented, innovative and personalized training.
In addition to the school common basic courses, the courses are divided into three levels: school-level computer science platform courses,professional core basic courses, specialized courses, respectively scheduled on the first grade, second grade and three-four grades. The characteristics of the cultivating program are embodied in the following points:
1) Education in a broad discipline of information science and technology: Since 2004, the school has been enrolling students in information major. Freshman are uniformly required to take basic courses in mathematics, physics, computer science and circuitry to strengthen their mathematical, software and hardware foundation. Sophomore students are free to choose their major directions, either electronics or computer science, taking corresponding professional basic courses. Higher grade students are divided into 7 majors: computer science and technology, data science and big data, software engineering, electronic information science and technology, telecommunication engineering, microelectronic science and technology, and machine intelligence. When students choose their major and courses, the researching direction during future graduate studies should be taken into account.
2) Strengthening the foundation and integrating the general knowledge with professional teaching: The revised curriculum system consists of 4 parts: common basic courses, specialized core courses, specialized restricted courses, public elective courses. While consolidating the students' foundation, we should focus on the specialized core curriculum system, strengthen the integration of professional education and general education, and carry out the concept of general education in professional education.
3) Promoting interdisciplinary development and cultivating high-level interdisciplinary talents: As for the practice of talent training mode, Peking University has gradually explored and established its training mode, including Yuan-Pei mode training, Discipline-level training, interdisciplinary talents training, minor double degree training model and interdisciplinary talents training mode. Adheres to the discipline-level training mode, the school has completely removed the barriers between four departments in lower-grade undergraduate education. Combining the university’s general elective courses on general education with double-degree mode (In Department of Chinese language and literature, Department of History, Department of Philosophy, School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences, School of Economics, School of Mathematical Sciences, etc.), School of EECS is determined to provide a variety of options for students who have the ability to learn more. In 2016, School of EECS opened an interdisciplinary major called “data science and big data”, in conjunction with School of Mathematical Sciences, Yuan-Pei College and School of Economics. Considering the development of students and promoting interdisciplinary communication, the school is committed into breaking the barriers between departments, improving and perfecting the training program of various professions through these efforts, from the perspective of comprehensively cultivating students.
4) Excellent undergraduate teaching: The school has always insisted professors to give undergraduates basic courses, and has constructed general education through courses, discipline-level platform courses, foreign-language platform courses and major basic courses to ensure the high standards of undergraduate teaching. With the advantage of high rate of teachers to students (4 to 1), the school insists of elite education, and takes some measures. New mentor system for students in the professional direction, curriculum, learning and living, psychology, academic planning and other aspects of guidance helps students achieve the transformation from the school quickly; "Large class teaching, seminar discussion, one to one Q & A" teaching mode helps students think independently, learn by themselves, learn group-working, learn communication and improve their comprehensive ability. Scientific training builds students’ rigorous scientific research attitude, scientific research interests, comprehensive practical ability and innovative entrepreneurial ability. Through a series of experimental classes and international platform construction, top-notch talent cultivating program enables better students to accept more in-depth training, reflecting the individualized training and selection of talents.
5) Strengthening international communication and broadening students’ horizons: To cultivate innovative talents with international vision, the school has always attached great importance to undergraduate international exchanges and established exchange programs with 250 universities in more than 50 countries and regions. At the same time, the school is also actively attracting teachers and students from top-class universities to Peking University to create an international campus atmosphere. Bilingual teaching courses have been taken about more than 200 times. In addition to the international exchanges resources, through the creation of English seminar, the introduction of foreign teachers, the international exchange programs, the setting of double tutors from home and abroad and supporting students to participate in international conferences etc. The school also carries out extensive international exchange activities to broaden the students’ visions. The school has signed a joint "3+2” training project with the University of California at Los Angeles, Cornell University and the University of Edinburgh respectively. The school also holds cooperative summer-research-internship programs with MIT, Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, University of Edinburgh and the University of California at Los Angeles and also recruits famous teachers of Carnegie Mellon University and California University of Los Angeles, Cornell University, University of California at San Diego, University of California at Berkeley and University of Illinois to open research study seminars.
