eng Science and Education Publishing American Journal of Educational Research 2327-6150 2016-12-10 4 19 1285 1288 10.12691/education-4-19-1 EDUCATION20164191 article Peiyue Li lipy2@163.com, peiyueli@chd.edu.cn 1 Hui Qian 1 Jianhua Wu 1 School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Chang'an University, No. 126 Yanta Road, Xi'an 710054, China Some new situations in China due to student-expansion policy, lack of experienced teachers and inadequate financial support have urged a reform or an update to the old educational system so that talented students in various disciplines can be cultivated. This study reported an updated educational system for cultivating talented students in Hydraulic Engineering. This system was updated in three main parts: updating education concept, establishing integrated practical training system, and improving teaching approaches. After implementation of the updated system, fruitful achievements have been obtained in the university in the field of Hydraulic Engineering education. Experiences and practical applications proved that the updated system is more efficient and effective to cultivate talented students in Hydraulic Engineering. The system reported in this study may be adopted by other universities in China to cultivate talented students in Hydraulic Engineering and related disciplines. http://pubs.sciepub.com/education/4/19/1/education-4-19-1.pdf educational system talented student Hydraulic Engineering innovative approach field teaching practices