“Hello everyone, welcome to our probability and statistics class. It’s a new way to meet you all and have our special class online.” After an opening remark in English, lecturer Luo Li from the School of Science started the first live-streaming of probability and statistics class for international students.

At 2:00 p.m. Beijing time, March 2^nd, second-year undergraduate students from Morocco, Ghana, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, etc. entered the first online classroom of this semester. Despite long physical distances, students and the lecturer successfully completed an online class.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some international students remained in their home country. Offering remote teaching to these students encountered many difficulties and challenges, because their accessibility to online classes was restricted by time differences and network bandwidth. The School of Science has carefully studied the feasibility, and decided to provide live-streaming of the classes and set up WeChat group for after-class discussions, supplemented by courses offered on MOOC platforms. With years of experiences in international student teaching, the School has worked out dedicated remote teaching plans and conducted auditions and tests one week in advance.

For her overseas education in USA, Lecturer Luo has undertaken the teaching of fundamental mathematics courses for undergraduate international students since 2017. “My students and I all have our own accent”, said Luo, “However, I have taught them for one semester, and we have already been familiar with each other’s accent.”

Being curious of the new experience, students re-united in the online classroom at the agreed time. All 50 students in the course attended the lecture.

At the end of the first lecture, students expressed their love and support for the online version of their mathematics course. Meanwhile, some students say they hope the pandemic will end early so that they can return to our campus which they have been missing for so long. (Contributed by the School of Science)

Live Streaming of the Probability and Statistics Class by Lecturer Luo Li at Home

Mou Yi’er, Freshman from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Attending Lessons at his Home in Pakistan

Hu Liwei, Year 2018 Student from the School of Computer Science Watching the Online Lecture from Indonesia

Year 2019 Student Hassin from the School of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering in Bangladesh

Titila (Stayed in the Uni during Winter Holiday) from the School of Civil Engineering and Geomatics Attending the Lecturer in Her Dormitory

International Students Participating in In-Class Discussion

Feedback from Students after the First Online Lecture