Peking University Report

 

I just returned from a trip to Peking University (PKU).  They have recently adopted CS:APP as the textbook for their course "Introduction to Computer Systems," (ICS) patterned after the course we teach at CMU, (the course for which CS:APP was originally written.)

They now require ICS for all CS majors.  Moreover, as part of an initiative by the president of the university, they are teaching it in a form where they have the usual lectures, but they also hold weekly recitation instructions taught by faculty members.  It is one of six courses being taught across the entire university in this format this term.  Here are some statistics for this term:

• 167 students
• 14 recitations sections (12 students each)
• 14 faculty doing recitations
• 8 faculty doing lectures

That's a lot of resources to devote to a single course!