Course Schedule and Catalog
Course Schedule - Spring Semester 2027
Meeting location information can now be found on student schedules in ESTHER (for students) or on the Course Roster in ESTHER (for faculty and instructors).Additional information available here.
Meeting location information can now be found on student schedules in ESTHER (for students) or on the Course Roster in ESTHER (for faculty and instructors).Additional information available here.
ELEC 379 001 (CRN: 26698)
INTRO TO FOUNDATION MODELS
Long Title: INTRODUCTION TO FOUNDATION MODELS
Department: Electrical & Computer Eng.
Instructor: Qiu, Wei
Meeting: 11:00AM - 12:15PM MW (11-JAN-2027 - 23-APR-2027)
Part of Term: Full Term
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Lecture
Language of Instruction: Taught in English
Method of Instruction: Face to Face
Credit Hours: 3
Course Syllabus:
Course Materials: Rice Campus Store
Restrictions:
Must be enrolled in one of the following Level(s):
Undergraduate Professional
Visiting Undergraduate
Undergraduate
Section Max Enrollment: 40
Section Enrolled: 0
Enrollment data as of: 2-NOV-2026 5:01AM
Final Exam: Scheduled Final Exam-OTR Room
Description: An undergraduate introduction to foundation models, including representation learning, transformers, large language models, vision and multimodal foundation models, model adaptation, retrieval-augmented generation, agents, evaluation, efficiency, reliability, safety, and responsible use. Students gain practical experience through three assignments, guided research-paper discussions, and a compact team project. Recommended Prerequisite(s): Basic programming experience (e.g., Python), introductory linear algebra, and familiarity with probability or machine learning are recommended but not required.