Monday 14th September marked the start of a new journey for the inaugural class of 2020 at the SWUFE-UD Institute of Data Science as students formally started classes. After spending a few days completing orientation activities and familiarizing themselves with the university campus, students were raring to get started with their studies. Faculty staff arrived at their respective classrooms early in the morning, eager to communicate with students and start getting to know them on a personal level. To ensure a smooth transition to learning for the inaugural class of students, the Institute organized a supervision group, led by the Dean, Professor Yang Shilei, tasked with guaranteeing the effective implementation of teaching. Judging from student feedback, online teaching was carried out smoothly and the offline teaching operation was stable.

The Introductory Physics course was arranged to be delivered online this semester. Institute staff worked tirelessly to maintain close contact with  Professor Shah, who is based in America. Thanks to the efforts of all staff, the arrangements for delivering the online class were finalized in advance to ensure the best experience possible for students. At 08:30a.m. Beijing time, 90 students successfully entered the "Cloud Classroom". This course closely complies with the orientation of our education model around the discipline of data science, and it will certainly build a solid foundation for students in their future study.

In Oral English class, Thomas, the English-speaking teacher from the UK, took care to greet all students and gave an introduction to his course.  Although students on the course are from different areas of the country and have various interests, they shared their anecdotes and ideals in the same language. This is the first speaking English lecture, which is also a new beginning for their English learning. Thomas will take them to explore a new stage of English study.

All in all, the online and offline classes on the first day were a great success. With this promising start to the new semester, everyone at the Institute is looking forward to a bright and successful future for students and staff alike.

Editor：ZHOU Rui

Proofreading：LIU Xiaona