Teaching quantum information technologies and a practical module for online and offline undergraduate students

Abstract: Quantum Information Technologies and a Practical Module is a new course we launch at Shanghai Jiao Tong University targeting at the undergraduate students who major in a variety of engineering disciplines. We develop a holistic curriculum for quantum computing covering the quantum hardware, quantum algorithms and applications. The quantum computing approaches include the universal digital quantum computing, analog quantum computing and the hybrid quantum-classical variational quantum computing that is tailored to the noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) technologies nowadays. Besides, we set a practical module to bring student closer to the real industry needs. The students would form a team of three to use any quantum approach to solve a problem in fields like optimization, finance, machine learning, chemistry and biology. Further, this course is selected into the Jiao Tong Global Virtual Classroom Initiative, so that it is open to global students in Association of Pacific Rim Universities at the same time with the offline students, in a specifically updated classroom. The efforts in curriculum development, practical module setting and blended learning make this course a good case study for education on quantum sciences and technologies.