From popularization to application: How Fudan University builds its AI courses

In the exam room, students become "question setters," using ten questions they designed themselves to take turns "grilling" three of the most cutting-edge AI models; outside the classroom, the intelligent mathematics teaching platform is automatically generating capability maps based on each person's historical question-and-answer data and precisely pushing learning resources—this two-way exchange of "humans testing AI, AI assisting humans" has gradually become part of daily life for Fudan students.

On the morning of September 28, 2026, The Paper reporters learned from Fudan University that since 2024, the university has successively launched versions 1.0 and 2.0 of its "AI Grand Courses," guided by the goal of building future teachers, future classrooms, future schools, and future learning centers, integrating the latest digital and intelligent technologies into the entire process of "teaching-learning-evaluation-creation." To date, more than 110 AI-BEST courses have been offered, with a cumulative 17,000 enrollments by undergraduate and graduate students; from 2024 to 2026, a total of 45 "X+AI" dual bachelor's degree programs have been approved, covering all first-level disciplines, the largest number among domestic universities.

"Our construction of the AI Grand Courses is currently divided into three main directions, and we have achieved some phased results," introduced Feng Wei, deputy director (on secondment) of the Academic Affairs Office of Fudan University and professor in the Department of Chemistry. The university has built more than 100 AI courses, basically achieving the popularization of AI education for all students; at the same time, it has launched "X+AI" dual degree programs across all majors in the university, allowing students to choose to combine their own major with AI.

In addition, the university has established a series of platforms on which teachers and students can carry out AI co-creation activities. "Fudan University was the first to propose the concept of 'teacher-student co-creation,' promoting the transformation of the teacher's role from a traditional transmitter of knowledge to a creator of the learning ecosystem, a guide for autonomous learning, and a pathfinder at the academic frontier," said Feng Wei.

Fudan University's "Fudan Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program," which has been implemented for 28 years, is an academic research funding program that encourages undergraduates to participate in academic research and innovative practice as early as possible. In 2025, the university newly established an AI+ teacher-student co-creation special project within this program, supporting students and high-level faculty to collaboratively carry out innovative research and practice in multiple AI-related fields. "AI4Math," an intelligent mathematics teaching agent, is one of the standout achievements. In May 2026, the Ministry of Education launched the first batch of 18 higher education intelligent agents at the "2026 World Digital Education Conference," and "AI4Math" was successfully selected, showcasing the innovative energy of Fudan teachers and students to the world.

"Through AI4Math, we hope to, on the one hand, provide a trustworthy intelligent learning companion function, and on the other hand, through AI empowerment, realize the transformation of student assessment from outcome-based evaluation to process-based evaluation, and from knowledge assessment to capability assessment," said Zhu Donglai, the project's supervising instructor, associate professor at the School of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Innovation, and deputy director of the Center for AI Education and Teaching Innovation. This not only conforms to the current development direction and trend of AI+education, but also combines the research hotspot of formal mathematical proof, giving it a certain advanced nature.

"At present, we have already achieved the popularization of AI education, which is the first stage," said Feng Wei. Next, the hope is to apply the results of AI teaching popularization to various disciplines, and to promote the practical application of AI in the process of continuously finding and solving problems. "We are launching teacher-student co-creation AI projects on a large scale also in the hope that, through the research and application of AI, everyone can truly experience how AI is changing the education and teaching ecosystem."

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