For the past two weeks, the SIGS Engineering Professional Master’s program and Tsinghua Institute for Hospital Management (IHM) have moved its oral defenses online to ensure that students can graduate on time under the impact of COVID-19.
"Cloud Defense” for Engineering Professional Degree Students
"Professional practice allows us to apply what we have learnt, and trains our practical skills and resilience. Affected by the epidemic, this year's professional practice defense has gone online, but the entire process was planned rigorously,” said Xiang Xingchun, a Computer Technology major at Tsinghua SIGS.
From March 9 to 15, 377 Engineering Master students completed their professional practice defense. A total of 23 online sessions in 12 professional fields were held. Professional practice or internship is an integral part of the SIGS Engineering Professional Master’s degree, allowing students to gain an in-depth understanding of the industry. The school began planning since mid-February to make sure that the defense could be carried out as usual.
Students completing their defense
Although the process moved online, students’ requirements and grading standards were not lowered. There were at least 3 panel members in each of the defense sessions, with a strict time limit for presentation and questions. Associate Prof. Yuan Bo who was on the panel shared that although students were miles away, he could see how much knowledge, confidence, and maturity they have gained through the professional practice experience.
The online defense not only enabled students to carefully summarize and share what they have accomplished during their professional practice, but was also a necessary decision to ensure students’ timely graduation during these special circumstances.
Tsinghua IHM organizes Online Pre-defense for thesis students
From March 14 to 20, Tsinghua University Institute of Hospital Management (IHM) organized 5 online pre-defense meetings for 60 thesis students. Dean of Tsinghua School of Law Shen Weixing, IHM Associate Deans Xue Lei, Qiu Hengjia and others served on the pre-defense panel.
In the meetings, students presented their thesis research and received comments from panel members. Students will then modify their dissertations based on suggestions received before submitting their work for final review.
IHM holds online pre-defense meetings
"Any research done by students must be combined with the current situation," said Qian Qingwen, who is currently in Taiwan and was among the pre-defense panel. He asked students to provide more information about the epidemic situation in their writing, and to inform readers on epidemic prevention to improve the social value of the article. With regards to a student’s topic on “Emergency Events”, Prof. Qian suggested that he focus on the COVID-19 epidemic.
Affected by the outbreak, students faced various problems when writing their dissertations. Some had difficulty with collecting data from medical institutions, and some even joined the frontlines to help fight the epidemic. Liu Wang, a current IHM student, has been bringing intelligent robots to help with medical care at frontline hospitals. Yet, with the support and guidance of instructors, 60 students have successfully completed their dissertations during this time.
Also participating in the pre-defense meeting were Yang Yansui, Hao Hongshu, Qian Qingwen, Zheng Bowen, Yuan Kehong and others from IHM, as well as faculty members such as Kong Ying, Liu Guangling, Ni Shiguang, and He Jun from the Division of Social Science and Management. Meanwhile, online pre-defense meetings for other disciplines at Tsinghua SIGS is currently underway.
Edited by Karen Lee
