To improve practical education, strengthen international students’ hands-on engineering skills and broaden their academic horizons, Dr Liu Ping from the School of Engineering and Computing, Sino-British College, ran an engineering practical course on 31 October. Many international students took part in the hands-on learning.
Connecting study with real engineering work can greatly raise students’ interest and drive them to explore. This is a clear goal of the course. Different from classes with only lectures, this course focuses on practical work, as engineering subjects are highly practical. During the class, Dr Liu Ping explained operation rules, key skills and safety rules. She showed students how to deal with difficult steps and gave help on the spot, guiding international students to turn book knowledge into practical skills.
The international students were active and focused. With careful guidance from Dr Liu Ping, they followed the steps to do practical work, thought actively and talked with each other when they met problems. Through hands-on work, group work and discussion, students became more skilled. They strengthened their theoretical knowledge and got better at solving engineering problems.
Many international students in our college like to explore based on real engineering problems. Dr Liu Ping shared one story: one student found that there were not enough PLC workstations in the lab, so students had to take turns to test programs and this slowed down practice. The student spent his free time building a simulation platform and made an early simple industrial digital twin model. He shared screenshots of his work with relevant teachers at 2 a.m. This simulation tool is a digital solution for the limited equipment. It helps shorten the time for program testing and checking. This example shows that real engineering problems can push students to think creatively, take action and use engineering knowledge to solve problems outside class.
Students from different countries and cultures joined this practical class. They helped each other and worked together in the lab. While improving their skills, they communicated across cultures, understood each other better and made new friends. They showed the good spirit of SBC international students: hard-working, thoughtful and practical.
Sino-British College has always valued practical engineering teaching. It keeps improving the practical teaching system and holds regular practical training classes. The college believes learning improves through practice. It keeps building different practical platforms, encouraging students to solve real engineering problems and make new tries. These opportunities help international students build practical skills and improve their overall ability. The college aims to train high-quality engineering talents with solid professional knowledge and an international vision.
