Undergraduate Computer Science Education in China

Ming Zhang, Wenxin Li, Yao GuoSchool of Electronics Engineering and

Computer SciencePeking University

mzhang@net.pku.edu.cn

Outline

• 1. Undergraduate Computer Science Education in China

• 2. International Connections

1. Undergraduate Computer Science Education in China

• Computer science and technology plays a pivotal role in the rapid growth of China’s economy.

• Moving from an “elite computer education” model to a “mass education” model.

• Many issues of evolution of computer science education in China are worldwide faced regarding innovation, internationalization, and relevance to society’s needs.

Background in Computing Education in China• In 1956, the discipline Computer Science and

Technology established.• In 1996, the current curriculum was

proposed, emphasized computer software and computer applications.

• In 1998, the Ministry of Education (MOE) in China promoted the transition from “elite education” to “mass education” by dramatically increasing university enrollments.

CS Related Undergraduates is 5% of the Total Enrollment

Year Number of universities built up computer programs

1994 137 programs

2002 484 programs

2003 505 programs, an increase of 4%

2004 652 programs, an increase of 29%

2005 771 programs

2007 847 programs by 598 universities, with the total enrollment of over 430,000 undergraduates. In addition, more than 10 computing related disciplines, nearly 2,000 related specialty programs, near 1,000,000 undergraduates.

2013 960 universities, similar scale of students.

Discipline Number of Departments

Computer Science and Technology 771

Information Management and Systems 501

Information and Computing Science 441

E-commerce 280

Education Technology 202

Software Engineering 149

Geographic Information System 137

Network Engineering 115

Information Engineering 51

Information Security 49Table: Key Computer-related Disciplines(2005)

Background in Computing Education in China • In 2003, the Advisory Committee for the

Computing Discipline of the MOE kicked off a program for China’s Computing Curricula.– advise the MOE regarding strategic directions

for undergraduate disciplines– provide curriculum guidance to educational

institutions– supervise the evaluation of computing

education

Professional Computing Education for Majors

Science-oriented

Engineering-Oriented

Technology-oriented

Pyramid Model of Computing Education

Challenges for computing professional education• Broadening of the discipline’s intention

• Development of greater independence of sub-disciplines within the discipline of computing

• Addressing the diversity of society’s needs for information technology

• Coping with the popularization and huge scale of computing education

Fundamental Computer Science Education for Non-majors • Problems and challenges

– The growth of computing-related disciplines.– Relationship to professional education in

other disciplines.– The quality of fundamental computing

education.– Computational Thinking

2. International Connections• UCFCS – SIGCSE like conference

– Invited International Speakers

• ACM/CCF Joint Membership

• Feedback for CS2013 – Comments

– Emphasis on Labs

• Possibility to join in– CS, CE, SE, IT work groups

– Other ACM Councils

Labs

• Appendix 3:Labs for Core Tier 1 Course of Computer Science

• Appendix 3.1 Program Design• Appendix 3.2 Data Structure• Appendix 3.3 Database system• Appendix 3.4 Computer Networking• Appendix 3.5 Software Engineering• Appendix 3.6 Principles of computer

organization

UCFCS Keynotes in Recent Years

• 2009– Richard LeBlanc, Seattle University

– Barbara Owens, SIGCSE Chair

• 2010– Mark Guzdial, Georgia Tech

• 2011– Mehran Sahami, Stanford University

• 2012– Randal Bryant, Carnegie Mellon University

SIGCSE 2010, CPATHi18n Ming Zhang, Ginnie Lo, John White

http://www.cpathi18n.org/workshops/workshop2/photos/CPATH-20081026-Beijing.jpg

http://eecs.pku.edu.cn