Several issues and possible solutions in compulsory project-based course

In 2009, a 12-week-long project-based course Optoelectronic Instrument Experiments (OIE) was launched at the School of Opto-Electronics, Beijing Institute of Technology. During the classes, the students are assigned to teams and each team chooses one project to implement in twelve weeks. Through the mini simulative 'Cycle of Professional Practice', students will learn how to integrate the knowledge and techniques they have learned previously, and use different kinds of components and devices to construct an optoelectronic instrument. The main difference from the other project-based courses is that the OIE course is compulsory, which means every student must take this course. Here comes the problem. Young students usually are rebellious somehow. They would be enthusing about what they choose to do, while would be reluctant to even the same thing if they were arranged to do it. Moreover, students from China are good at theoretical knowledge but lack of initiative. Most of them prefer working alone to being a team member. These are stereotypes but also partly truth. Inactivity with repellent mood and initial resistance to team-based approaches became the biggest barrier in obligatory project-based courses. Aiming to solve those issues, several approaches were tried out during the OIE course design and the progresses, including the design of based projects, aptitude digging process and teamwork pedagogy, which seemed promising and inspiring in both stimulating students' enthusiasm and encouraging their team spirits. In this paper, we will give the detail of our tryout and analyses. The OIE course has been carried out for five academic years by now. Surveys conducted among the students who have taken the course and analyses are also included.